Infant and Child Exams
A Lifetime of Healthy Vision Starts Now.
Infant and Child Exams
Children do not generally complain when they are not seeing as they should, since they don’t know any differently. It is not uncommon for a child to appear to function normally, when they are actually only seeing from one eye. Eye disorders children are susceptible to, like amblyopia, strabismus, and binocular vision dysfunction can be treated much more successful when they are caught early.
The following behaviors in children may indicate an eye or vision problem:
- Frequent headaches
- Squinting
- Closing one eye
- Sensitivity to light
- Tilting or turning the head habitually
- Hard blinking
- Poor attention span
- Not performing to their potential in school
- Eye wanders in or out, even sometimes
- Red or watery eyes
- Rubs eyes often
- Unequal ‘red eye’ reflex in photographs
- White pupil
- Holding reading material very close or far
- Fine or gross motor delays
School screenings and pediatrician screenings are falling out of favour. They are easy for the child to “cheat” on by memorizing lines on a paper vision chart, and very few aspects of the eye and vision are actually being tested. When your infant or child has a complete eye exam with an optometrist, the entire visual system is being evaluated. We use our expertise to determine visual acuity at different working distances, colour vision, the ability of the eye muscles to coordinate and team efficiently, tracking abilities, focussing strength, prescription, and eye health—and believe it or not, it can all be done without the child saying a word!
Foresight Optometry is a proud participant in the Eye See, Eye Learn program , providing eye exams and free glasses (when prescribed) to every 4 year-old child enrolled in a Junior Kindergarten, Pre-School, or Homeschool program.
Myopia, or near-sightedness, is one of the more common focussing disorders that develops in childhood and often increases through early adulthood. New research into myopia control has provided insight into several ways to slow down this progression. Check out our Myopia Control page for more information!