What Should You Know about Children’s Eyecare

Your child’s eyes—just like the rest of their body—are still growing and developing. Their vision care needs are not the same as yours, and those needs can change from one year to the next. It’s extremely important that parents know how to properly care for their kids’ eye health, and having a basic understanding of how children’s vision develops over the years is a major part of that. Keep reading to learn what you should know about proper southwest Orlando eye care in Orlando, FL, for kids.

Babies’ Vision Is Still Developing

Babies are not born with great vision. While newborns can see objects directly in front of them, anything more than a few inches away is difficult for them to focus on. This is because they still form connections between their retinas and brain. They may also struggle with visual coordination, leading to eyes crossing or wandering to the sides from time to time. Thankfully, this is completely normal at this age and not a cause for concern. However, if it continues to happen consistently beyond the first three months of life, speak to your child’s pediatrician.

By three months, babies should get better at tracking objects with their eyes, and by five months, they begin to develop depth perception. This makes it easier for them to judge the distances to objects, which will be demonstrated in an improved ability to grab at objects.

Toddlers Are Prone to Visual Misalignment

As we stated above, most children have better eye coordination by three months of age. However, even if your child reaches that normal milestone, it’s not uncommon for them to develop misalignment of their eyes during toddlerhood. Lazy eye (amblyopia) and crossed eyes are both common eye-related health issues for toddlers and occur in about 4% of kids in the US. If you notice any signs of misalignment in your child’s eyes, speak to their doctor. Early intervention can make treatment faster, easier, and much more successful.

Know the Sign of Childhood Vision Struggles

Kids can have a hard time communicating when something is wrong with their bodies. After all, your child doesn’t know how well they should be able to see the words on the board at school, so how can they communicate to you that their vision is the real reason they’re struggling in school? Oftentimes, it falls to the parent to recognize signs of vision troubles. Here are a few to watch out for:

• Quickly losing interest in activities that require eye use
• Frequently losing their place when reading
• Avoiding activities that require up-close focus (reading, drawing, coloring, etc.)
• Turning their head to the side to look at something in front of them (looking from the corner of their eyes instead of straight ahead)
• Frequent complaints about headaches, eye strain, or rubbing of the eyes

If you notice these specific signs in your child, take them in for an eye screening as soon as possible. Contact Bay Hill Eye Care to schedule your appointment with one of our experienced pediatric optometrists. We are highly experienced in working with children and provide a comfortable, welcoming environment to help your child feel at ease.

If your child does need glasses, we can direct you to one of our eyeglass stores in Orlando to get your child properly fitted for a pair. Our eyeglass stores are equally child friendly, and we can provide you with tips for continuing to meet your child’s eye health needs. Contact us today to schedule your child’s eye screening!