Keep Your Kids Seeing Well into the Future

Unlike adults, children often can’t tell they have a vision problem. They aren’t aware that they are seeing the world differently. Additionally, many eye issues, like myopia, develop in childhood. In order to catch these issues early to prevent them from impacting your child’s learning, your child should have an eye exam once per year.

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What to Expect During Children’s Eye Exams

Typically, a children’s eye exam takes about an hour. During the appointment, we use methods tailored to your child’s age and abilities to test all aspects of their vision and eye health. We can even assess the vision of infants as young as 6 months old, who can’t speak and don’t know their letters yet.

How Often Should Your Child Visit the Optometrist

Your child should have their first eye exam at 6 months old. Assuming they aren’t showing any signs of vision problems, they should have at least one exam during their preschool years, between the ages of 2 and 5. From then on, school-aged children should have an eye exam once per year to monitor their sight for any problems that could develop as the grow up.

Depending on your child’s age, their exam will likely differ from that of an adult. We use specialized techniques and tools to assess children’s vision. For children who can’t speak yet, we use methods like patterns and pictures to measure their visual acuity. We also check kids for common childhood issues like amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed eyes), and for congenital ocular health defects, like congenital cataracts.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, develops in childhood and is becoming increasingly common. While there is no cure for myopia, there are techniques available to control it and help slow its progression. Known as myopia control, these techniques include specialized contact lenses, glasses, and eye drops.