Is Pediatric Eye Care Necessary for Every Child?

Eye care and overall eye health are important for everyone. Unfortunately, many people ignore their eyes’ healthcare needs until they see signs of a vision issue. This is especially true in children. When babies are born, they have very poor vision. That visual acuity gradually develops over the first several years of life, so diagnosing basic vision issues like nearsightedness is difficult at this stage in life. However, that doesn’t mean that they never need to see a pediatric eye doctor in Orlando. Keep reading to learn more about why every child needs to see a children’s optometrist early in life.

Ensure Good Overall Eye Health

Eye health is about far more than visual acuity. Visiting an optometrist within the first year of life allows your child to be tested for a variety of eye health problems, proper eye movement patterns, astigmatism, and more. Ideally, you should take your baby to an optometrist within the first year of life, then again around the age of 3. Regular exams should occur after the age of six when visual acuity fully develops.

Test Visual Development

Though children’s eyesight is not yet fully developed until about six years old, there are still certain milestones that your child should be reaching with their visual development. Just as you would expect your child to be hitting certain milestones regarding their physical and intellectual capabilities, their eyes and vision should also develop at a certain pace. Taking your child to the optometrist in the first year of life and around three years old allows you to ensure that their vision is developing as it should be. If there are early signs of nearsightedness or farsightedness, your optometrist can address those issues immediately to improve your child’s overall growth and well-being.

As a child is learning to read, going to school for the first time, and engaging in other important early-childhood activities, good eyesight can aid them in many ways. They’ll be able to focus more easily, learn more quickly, and better engage with the world around them, which leads to better all-around development for your child.

Correct Crossed or Lazy Eyes

Crossed or lazy eyes are a common childhood ocular condition related to the development of the muscles controlling the eyes. In some cases, those muscles develop unevenly, causing one eye to drift outwards or cross inwards. The good news is this can be corrected quite easily through the use of an eye patch. However, this treatment is most effective if applied early in the condition’s development. Seeing a pediatric optometrist regularly and as early as possible makes it more likely that these noninvasive treatment methods will effectively correct your child’s condition.

Schedule an Appointment with an Experienced Optometrist

At Bay Hill Eye Care, we are highly experienced in working with patients of all ages, including our littlest patients. We create a comfortable and relaxed environment where your child can feel at ease, and our doctors strive to ensure that you and your child always have a positive experience in our clinic. If you haven’t yet brought your child in for an eye exam with a pediatric optometrist, we invite you to reach out to us today.

Professional eye care in Orlando, FL, is essential to every child’s overall health and well-being. Don’t put off their eye care until later in life. Contact us to schedule your child’s first eye exam today.