What age did you take your child to the eye dr. for the first time?

Question

I was wondering a few things and thought I would ask everyone.
1. When did you take your child to the eye dr. for the first time?
2. Does your child's school offer eye screenings, if so what state are you from?
3. At what age do you think you should take your child to the eye dr.?

NOTE: I know that peditritions do check their eyes with a chart, but I want to know when they went to an actual eye dr. Not just the ped.

I was just wondering if other people knew. We took our daughter to the eye dr. just because I thought we should. Everyone thought I was crazy since she had no visible problems. She was diagnosed with amblyopia. (common name lazy eye) Lazy eye does NOT mean it turns in or out (that is something else), just one eye sees worse than the other. She passed every eye test the ped. gave. Our state doesn't test for eyes in the schools (Indiana).
I now know that you should start around age 3, or at least before they start school. Note she sees 20/15 with both eyes together, and never had any problems with school or sports. She sees 20/15 in the good eye and 20/400 in the bad. Don't wait until the child says they have problems. They don't know that there eyesight is wrong!!! It has been this way her whole life. She thought it was normal. She wears cute glasses now and has to wear an eye patch to strengthen the bad eye.
Thanks for letting me vent!!!

Answer 1

I had all my children checked before they were a year old. There are programs that will payt for the babies first exam.

I also took my son in at age 6 as his peditrician want something checked on them. I was told to bring him in annually as he has eyes that will eventually need glasses. My daughter doesn't need to go back for 5 years unless we see her squinting at the board or t.v.

Information from our local apage center
Infant, Toddler & Preschool Eye Exams Frequently Asked Questions

Everyone knows that the earlier a problem can be handled the more successful will be the outcome. That is why dental and medical exams are required before going to school. Despite this understanding, the visual system is often forgotten. It is the most important system for learning (most researchers indicate that 75-80% of learning occurs via the visual system), yet most children do not have a formal visual examinations. Do to this lack of care, children often adapt to the level of vision they have. Parents often never suspect a problem, even a serious one.

Obvious problems such as strabismus (crossed or wall eye) are usually caught by the pediatrician. However there are too many cases of amblyopia (lazy eye) that are not detected by pediatrician screenings. Many of these problems also get past school screenings. The result is that parents feel everything is normal from a visual perspective. The reality, however, is not as rosy. For example, lazy eye affects approximately 5% of the population. This means that a classroom of 20 kids will have 1 with lazy eye. This means that this child will probably have reduced reading comprehension because of decreased depth perception. This child may also not try various ball sports because there is an uncertainty of where the ball is in space. Expected visual performance at the various age groups can be found here.

Children typically do not receive this care. It is estimated (Indiana University) that only fourteen percent of children under 6 are likely to have ever had a vision examination and only thirty-one percent of children aged 6 to 16 years are likely to have had an exam. A recent retrospective study of comprehensive pediatric eye examinations reported the following as the most common disorders in children 6 months to 18 years of age seen in an optometrist’s office:
• Hyperopia (farsightedness): 24.8%
• Astigmatism: 22.5%
• Myopia (nearsightedness): 18.2%
• Nonstrabismic binocular disorders: 14.3%
• Strabismus (crossed or wall eye): 12.1%
• Amblyopia (lazy eye): 7.1%

Answer 2

1. I took my daughter at age 5. But,I have known smaller children that have gone to the eye doctor,around three years of age.

2. Yes,your child's school offers eye screenings. I'm,from California. This is how I knew that I should take my daughter to the eye doctor.

3. It,doesn't hurt to have any tests run on your child. Regardless of their age. It,is better to be safe than sorry. I,would venture towards the age of five. They have better focus than a smaller child.

4. Today,they have many wonderful frames for the smaller ones. Just remember if they are not on your face,they must be in your case.

5. Have a wonderful weekend......dimples

Answer 3

While I don't have children of my own, I guess I can speak on behalf of my parents. I first went to the actual eye doctor when I was in forth grade. My teacher noticed that I was having problems seeing the chalkboard (for example, I was squinting a lot). My school also did annual vision screenings (as well as scoliosos(sp) checks, hearing checks and the occasional head lice check). All my schooling occured in the state of Ohio.

Answer 4

I think you should take them before they start kindergarten at the latest. I have seen kids have problems in school only to find out later that it was their eyes not a learning disability. There were no screenings at our school but I would recommend age 4 or 5, unless you think there is a problem earlier.

Answer 5

We took my youngest at the age of 4. The eye doctor told us she needs glasses, but was reluctant to give them to her because she did not need them very badly and he said he has had bad luck giving kids younger than 5 or 6 glasses for the first time.

Answer 6

With all of my children I waited until the pediatrician or the school told me that I needed to. If you get yearly checkups for your child then you might just want to wait like I did. Of course if you have a specific concern then you might want to take them no matter what age they are.

Answer 7

Age 5. Of course he had screenings with the pediatrician and school. They will tell you if you need to do anything further.