What to Expect During a Kids’ Eye Exam

Regular comprehensive eye exams for kids are significant to ensure your child’s eyes are healthy. When your child’s eyes are healthy, they are likely to perform better in their school work, sports and are not at risk of safety issues associated with eye problems.

Some of the visual abilities that are beneficial to your kid include:

• Comfortable and accurate eye-teaming abilities
• Excellent visual acuity
• Correct eye movements
• Accurate focusing abilities

When Should I Get My Kid’s Eyes Examined?

Optometrists recommend the first pediatric eye exams at six months after birth. However, ocular health starts from the first day at the nursery since some kids might be born with eye problems.

The kid can then undergo eye exams at three years and before they enter first grade. Once the child has had the eye exams, you can consider visiting a pediatric optometrist every two years if your school-going child does not require visual correction treatments. If the child is at risk of developing eye problems, you can consider eye exams after a year.

Preparing Your Child for an Eye Exam

If your child is grown enough to understand what is happening, you can discuss with them what to expect during the examination, based on your experience. You can make sure that they know the optometrist or eye doctor will ask them to look at objects, identify them, and distinguish different color shades.

You can explain to the kids that the doctor might ask them to open their eyes and put droplets in them, but it won’t hurt. Once the kid knows what they can expect, they feel less nervous and more comfortable during the procedure.

When scheduling an exam for your child, you can choose when they are alert and happy.

During the Eye Exam

Your optometrist will examine the child’s eyes depending on their age. Therefore, what to expect might vary.

Once you have scheduled an appointment, the eye specialist might recommend filling the child’s case history form. The child’s eye health history helps the specialist evaluate the kid’s risk of developing eye problems.

The optometrist might ask you questions about the child’s birth. For proper diagnosis, ensure that your teeth the specialist if your child displays the following:

• History of prematurity
• Frequent eye rubbing
• Blinking excessively
• Failure to maintain eye contact
• Delayed motor development
• Eye-tracking skills that might be poor

You can also mention if your child has failed eye test at school or with their pediatrician.

For Infants

An infant’s eyes should be able to focus, color depth, and perception. To assess if your child’s eyes are developing typically, the optometrist might recommend the following:

• Check if the pupils open and close appropriately in the presence and absence of light
• Fixate and follow, whereby the optometrist checks if the child can fixate and follow an object as it moves
• Preferential looking

Eye Testing for Preschool Children

When you are getting a children’s eye exam in Castle Rock, CO, you can expect the following:

• LEA symbols. The test is similar to the regular eye tests that involve the use of charts with letters. However, in this test, the optometrist using special symbols.
• Retinoscopy. Retinoscopy is a procedure that involves shining a light into the retina to observe the reflection. The retinoscopy test checks for congenital cataracts or refractive error.
• Stereopsis. Random-dot stereopsis utilizes a unique pattern of dots and 3D glasses to check how your child’s eyes work together as a team.

Other than checking for astigmatism and farsightedness, and nearsightedness, your pediatric eyed doctor might check for the following eye problems:

• Amphylobia or lazy eye
• Eyes misalignment
• Convergence insufficiency
• Color blindness, poor depth perception, and focusing difficulties

Your Castle rock optometrist might also check if your kid’s eyelids function properly, infected eyelash follicles, discharge, and swelling around the eyes.

With the above tests, the optometrist can identify the potential risks of developing eye problems and offer beneficial treatments for your child throughout their lives.

Finding a Pediatric Optometrist near You

Having a primary eye care provider for your child has several benefits. Therefore, if you are searching for an eye clinic in Castle Rock that provides comprehensive eye exams for kids, you can consider visiting us at Founders Eyecare.