Children Eye Health
Q. When Should Children Have Their First Vision Examination?
A. Between Six and Twelve 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.
Q. What should you expect for your infant?A. 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
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 head8 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.
- 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.
- Allow infants to explore with their hands to provide all stimuli including texture, size, weight, and form.
- Allow infants to help hold their bottle and offer clean, smooth objects to explore with their mouth to reinforce learning through multiple sensory modalities.
- 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.
*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.
Early detection is critical in preventing and treating vision conditions that can have adverse lifelong effects.
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
InfantSEE® Helping Infants to Establish a Lifetime of Healthy Vision– www.infantsee.org