Eye exam?

carladillon · February 2011

I has my annual eye exam yesterday (I go every year). I've been seeing this doc for six years and we have a good dr-patient relationship (doesn't hurt that he's cute too, but I digress...). Anyway, he said kids should have their eyes checked at one year. Granted, my two nephews needed glasses by 3 y.o. And DH and I are nearsighted. Are you or have you done this? And it's not that he's looking to make some more money since he doesn't see small children.

lynnshey · February 2011

S had an eye exam at 9 months old, but it was more as a "baseline" for future visits. She will need to have an eye exam every year due to her CMN. Bascially, he just tested to see if she would reach out to things and if her eyes would react to different stimulus. It was pretty interesting.

Daisiesinmygarden · February 2011

Nope, we didn't.

LyndaCarter · February 2011

DD#1 just got her eyes checked at her 3 year ped. appointment with the handheld device that they have them look into for a few seconds. They didn't do anything before that and never mentioned anything to me.

robynlesley · February 2011

We checked A to rule out ocular torticollis along with muscular (eye muscle imbalance) that he had. Also because both my mom and DH had surgery for weak eye muscles when they were young. DH has "lazy eye" and my mom has something rarer where she uses only one eye at a time. So I plan to keep on top of Aaron's vision--as I also wear glasses and have since I was 10, for Myopia (nearsightedness) and we have a family history of Glaucoma.

mama.bear · February 2011

Robby did but his situation was different. My other kids have never seen a eye doctor. They just get the routine eye exam with their Pedi.

vanverth · February 2011

Tim and I have terrible vision, I have had glasses since age 5. But I have heard that until the child could tell you if one lens was better than another, the eye doctor could not really examin the eyes for the need for glasses. I am interested to hear more from you ladies about what other people say.

rsd12 · February 2011

Our pediatrician starts the eye exams at 3 (unless there is a obvious problem) & then will refer us if necessary. Owen needed to be referred, he has Duane Syndrome. Liam was just tested for the first time a couple months ago, no issues.

robynlesley · February 2011

Oh, and the 2nd eye doctor Aaron saw (who I liked better)--for the tearing, which cleared up once I went there, lol--said he wouldn't expect to see him back until he was 3 unless there was a problem.

&& · February 2011

M has to go to Wills Eye Center in Phila, PA every year to follow up with her Horner's Syndrome. (one pupil dialates more than the other) If it weren't for that, I would guess we would just go to her pedi and count on her well appts until she was older...

&& · February 2011

vanverth:
Tim and I have terrible vision, I have had glasses since age 5. But I have heard that until the child could tell you if one lens was better than another, the eye doctor could not really examin the eyes for the need for glasses. I am interested to hear more from you ladies about what other people say.

oh and FYI~ I think they do have better machines now that can tell if the child's vision is being affected....M was only about 3 months old and they could tell me that her vision was not being affected by the Horner's Syndrome...

carladillon · February 2011

Thanks for the responses. My doc said that they should be checked at one year, and unless there is an issue, next would be three years. Of course he told me what to watch for as well - strabismus, covering one eye to see better, etc.

lookinfor2 · February 2011

Yes, it is a very good idea to check them by one year. Often times amblyophia (lazy eye) is missed. If missed then this can lead to blindness in the "bad" eye. I know, this happened to me. Strabismus (cross eye) is pretty common and strabismus can also lead to amblyophoia and must be treated to save the eye. Amblophia basically means the brain turns that eye off, if you catch it in time you can reverse the damage.

Sorry for so much info but I do feel strongly that all little ones should have eyes tested.

ateytelb · February 2011

I assume the pedi does the routine check and if anything is wrong the pedi sends them to a pediatric opthalmologist. Maybe your opthalmologist was referring to this rouitine check?

ScoobyM · February 2011

Our pedi offered us an optional exam at Ellie's 1 and 2 year appointment where they use a machine that reminds me of an old Viewmaster; the nurse held it and we just had to get Ellie to look at her. The nurse said it doesn't really detect a lot other than I think maybe physical problems with the eye or something like that - they also said she'd have a "real" eye exam at 3 years. Also, her preschool did an early vision screening just a few weeks ago - it's part of some Texas state initiative that they offered. I'm terribly nearsighted, have been wearing glasses since I was about 9, but DH has pretty good vision. He is supposed to wear glasses when driving but he usually doesn't except at night. So I guess our LOs have a 50/50 chance of good vision.

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