From the moment of birth onwards, your child’s eyes are constantly changing and developing. However, some of these changes can affect your child’s eye health and vision in the long run.
Get help preserving and protecting your child’s eyes, and book their eye exam today!
For infants and toddlers, it can be tough to spot problems with their eyes and vision. However, these issues can eventually develop into something more serious if there’s no intervention.
Myopia, strabismus, and amblyopia are some common eye problems children face at a young age. However, by ensuring your children have regular eye exams, you and your optometrist can spot these problems before your child’s eyesight is permanently damaged.
You don’t have to wait for your child to tell you they have a vision problem. You can help spot problems in their vision by watching for signs of vision problems, including:
You should take your child for their first eye exam while they are still an infant — around the time they are 6 months old.
At Vision Care Center, we are proud members of the AOA InfantSEE program which provides no cost eye examinations for all infants – up to age 1. This exam is meant to ensure that your child’s eyes are working and developing as expected. This is a great opportunity for new parents to learn about their child’s eyes and to know what issues they should be monitoring.
The next eye exam is recommended when your child is around 3 years old. Certain eye conditions, like astigmatism, myopia, amblyopia, and strabismus, have a risk of developing around this age. However, our optometrists can spot these problems with an eye exam and recommend a course of action to treat them.
The AOA recommends your child undergo an eye exam just as they start school, and annual eye exams until they are 18. In the state of Illinois, all children entering Kindergarten are required to have a comprehensive eye exam prior to starting school. Myopia, amblyopia, and astigmatism commonly develop around this age and can turn into more serious issues if not treated.
Before starting the eye exam, we’ll first have an in-detail discussion regarding your child’s health history, eye health history, and family health history. This discussion will help us customize the exam to suit your child’s needs.
Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want so we can address any concerns you or your child may have. The more initial information we have, the better we can accommodate your child.
The next step is to begin the exam by assessing your child’s visual strength and acuity.
Our doctors use tried and tested methods along with cutting-edge technology to provide an accurate assessment of your child’s visual strength and acuity. This process will help determine your child’s optical prescription and detect any binocular vision problems or other visual skill problems that your child may have.
We then test your child’s eyes for eye diseases which are fortunately rare in children.
After completing the eye exam, we will provide recommendations for a range of prescriptions, medications, or therapies to help your child manage any symptoms or issues.
Some of these solutions can include eyeglasses or contacts, prescription medications, or our comprehensive vision therapy program.
It’s never too early to promote excellent eye health for your child. Please, book an appointment for them today!
Find us just south of the Sheridan & Glen intersection, on the same side of the road as Marco’s Pizza and across the street from Walgreens.
Find us just south of the Sheridan & Glen intersection, on the same side of the road as Marco’s Pizza and across the street from Walgreens.
You can find our office on North Cummings Lane, right next door to Rock Valley Physical Therapy. We offer plenty of parking in front of our clinic with accessible parking stalls.
Closed for lunch 12-1pm
You can find our office on North Cummings Lane, right next door to Rock Valley Physical Therapy. We offer plenty of parking in front of our clinic with accessible parking stalls.
Closed for lunch 12-1pm
Peoria
Washington
