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Salmon Creek Vision Centre - Children

Some things you should know:
Milestones of Infant Visual Development

Visual Guidance Recommendations

When You Should Seek Professional Help

Interesting Facts

Helpful Links

Q. When Should Children Have Their First Vision Examination?

A. BY SIX MONTHS

Surprised?

Vision develops from birth and can affect the overall development of infants and children. In fact, vision problems are one of the leading causes of handicapping conditions in children. Most of these can be detected, prevented, or treated during the infant years.

“When vision is working well, it guides and leads; When not, it interferes.”
John Streff, OD

What should you expect for your infant?
A comprehensive visual evaluation for your infant should include:

Developmental Patient History
Visual Acuity Assessment
Refractive Analysis (farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism)
Visual Motor Development (Eye movements, focusing, teaming, and eye-hand integration
Full Assessment of Eye Health

Young children may not be able to communicate something that is not quite right with their vision. With our patience, expertise and state-of-the-art instruments, we can communicate any problems to you.

If we find anything compromising the healthy development of your infant’s vision, some of our recommendations may include:

Visual Guidance Activities
Developmental Vision Therapy
Prescribing of Developmental Lenses
Referrals for Further Assessment
Consultation with other Disciplines

Milestones of Infant Visual Development
5 Weeks – Momentarily follow an object with eyes or head
8 Weeks – Bring both hands together
3 Months – Hold and sustain direct eye contact with you
4 Months – Turn both eyes together and locate near objects
5 Months – Make the sounds “p”, “b”, “t”, “d”, and “m”
7 Months – Roll over independently
8 Months – Sit without support
9 Months – Creep and crawl

Visual Guidance Recommendations

From Birth

Talk and interact every chance you get to provide continuous learning communication and eye contact.
Provide “tummy time” every day to help develop neck and back muscles, which will lead to proper development of their visual systems.

1 Month

Hold and feed infant from alternating sides to encourage adequate visual development of both eyes.
Place infant in crib facing different directions and occasionally change the location of the crib to offer the many sights of their new world.

2 Months

Allow infants to explore with their hands to provide all stimuli including texture, size, weight, and form.

4 Months

Allow infants to help hold their bottle and offer clean, smooth objects to explore with their mouth to reinforce learning through multiple sensory modalities.

6 Months

Play peek-a-boo to develop memory and recall.
Tie bells on their booties so they can learn about their body through sound and movement patterns.

All these experiences provide children with a foundation from which they continue to develop and build their knowledge. Please ask for a more extensive list at our office.

When You Should Seek Professional Help
If you notice any condition below or have concerns:

Noticeable delays in development*
Eyes turning outward or inward for more than a few seconds**
Excessive rubbing of the eyes
By the age of six months for a comprehensive well baby vision examination.

Early detection is critical in preventing and treating vision conditions that can have adverse lifelong effects.

*Interferences in a child’s motor development can influence the development of healthy vision.
**The cause is frequently motor or sensory and can be a manifestation of an underlying disease process.

Interesting Facts

Infant development is cyclic, not linear. Children move forward and backward while reorganizing and achieving higher developmental levels. Children rehearse this growth process throughout life.
Infants are born without color vision; it develops by the age of six months.
Infant eyes are straight (When You Should Seek Professional Help)
Infant vision is about 20/400 after birth; then about 20/40 by the age of one.
Infants and toddlers are usually farsighted (When You Should Seek Professional Help)

Helpful Links:

College of Optometrists in Vision Development – www.covd.org
Optometric Extension Program – www.oep.org
Parents Active for Vision Education – www.pavevision.org
American Optometric Association – www.aoa.org