Taking care of your kid’s eyes starts in the first year! As an optometrist and mom, there are several questions that I am always asked. I’m going to answer the most common ones you need to know.
When should my child have an eye exam?
Typically, I recommend one exam between 6 and 12 months of age. At this exam, I am making sure each eye is developing correctly, both eyes are working together, and that there is no congenital defects concerning the health of the eye. There is a program called Infant See where you can search your zip code and find an eye doctor who will give your infant an eye exam at no cost to you! Here is the link: https://www.infantsee.org/find-a-doctor.
Many times, a school vision screening does not detect vision problems, they only detect if the letters are blurry. Eye doctors are looking at many different parts of the vision and eye to make sure the child is on track. If you have a concern of your child having reading struggles, I would recommend you seek out a provider who specializes in binocular vision or pediatrics. Here is a link to search near you: https://nvminstitute.org/find-a-provider/.
I think my child has pink eye, what do I do?
The wording of “pink eye” is confusing. Keep in mind, just because an eye is pink or red, does not mean it is contagious. Contagious pink eye is only one diagnosis out of hundreds of why the eye is pink. I always recommend seeing an eye care provider for eye related concerns.
“Pink eye” could really be allergies, bacterial, or viral most commonly and depending on that diagnosis will decide how we treat the eye. There is no one magic drop for all of them, and your eye doctor can tell you risk of passing along infection or not.
What should I look for as a mom to know if there is a vision problem?
After four months of age, the eyes should work together. Take notice if both are tracking you at the same time. Vision does not really start to thrive until six months of age and does not completely develop until about age 5. Read books together to help the vision develop.
Lastly, think of eye care for your child as a regular to do just like a well child check up with your family doctor or dentist. Vision and health change yearly and sooner detection is always better.
