Children’s Eye Care
Children need regular eye exams to support healthy vision development. Pediatric eye care uses techniques and technology designed to provide accurate testing for young children.
Vision plays a major role in learning, so difficulty seeing clearly can affect a child’s development. This is especially true for infants, who rely on vision to learn about their surroundings. To support normal development, an eye doctor should check your child’s vision at key stages.
According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), children should have eye exams at 6 months, 3 years, at the start of school, and every year after. If a child shows signs of a vision problem or has risk factors such as developmental delays, premature birth, or a family history of eye conditions, an eye doctor may recommend more frequent exams. A child who wears eyeglasses or contact lenses should have annual eye exams. Children’s eyes can change rapidly as they grow.
Eye Exams in Infants: Birth - 24 Months
A baby’s visual system develops gradually over the first few months of life. They learn to focus, move their eyes, and use them together. The brain also learns to process visual information, helping children understand and interact with the world. Vision development supports motor skills such as crawling, walking, and hand-eye coordination.
You can ensure that your baby is reaching milestones by keeping an eye on what is happening with your infant’s development and by ensuring that you schedule a comprehensive infant eye examination at 6 months. During the exam, the eye doctor checks vision development and looks for conditions such as strabismus, farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism.
If your infant was born prematurely or shows developmental delays, your eye doctor may recommend more frequent visits to monitor progress.
Eye Check-Up in Preschool Children: 2-5
The toddler and preschool years are a period of rapid intellectual and motor development. During this time, children develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and visual abilities that support reading, writing, sports, and creative activities. These skills depend on strong vision and visual function.
At this age, parents should watch for signs of lazy eye (amblyopia), when one eye does not see clearly, or crossed eyes (strabismus), when one or both eyes turn inward or outward. The earlier we treat these conditions, the higher the success rate.
Parents should also watch for delays in recognition, color identification, or coordination, as these may be signs of vision problems. If your child squints, rubs their eyes, sits very close to screens or reading material, or avoids activities like puzzles or coloring, schedule an eye exam.
Eye Exams in School-Aged Kids: Ages 6-18
Undetected or uncorrected vision problems can affect children and teens academically, socially, athletically, and personally. If your child is having trouble in school or after-school activities, there could be an underlying vision problem. Learning, motor development, and reading depend on both clear vision and how well the eyes work together. Children who have problems with focusing, reading, eye teaming, or hand-eye coordination may experience frustration and behavioral issues. Many children do not realize their vision is abnormal, so they may not express that they need help.
In addition to the symptoms written above, signs of vision problems in older children include:
- Short attention span
- Headaches
- Frequent blinking
- Avoiding reading
- Tilting the head to one side
- Losing their place while reading
- Double vision
- Poor reading comprehension
The Eye Exam
In addition to basic visual acuity (distance and near vision, or refractive errors), an eye exam may assess the following visual skills that are required for learning and mobility:
- Binocular vision: how the eyes work together as a team
- Focusing
- Peripheral Vision
- Color Vision
- Hand-eye Coordination
- Tracking
The doctor will also examine the area around and inside the eye to check for disease or other conditions. You should tell the doctor any relevant personal history of your child, such as a premature birth, developmental delays, family history of eye problems, eye injuries, or medications the child is taking. This would also be the time to address any concerns or issues your child has that might indicate a vision problem.
Children's Eyeglasses, Contacts & Other Treatments
If the eye doctor determines that your child has a vision problem, they may discuss a number of therapeutic options, such as eyeglasses or contact lenses, an eye patch, vision therapy, or ortho-k, depending on the condition and the doctor’s specialty. Since some conditions are much easier to treat when they are caught early, while the eyes are still developing, it is important to diagnose any eye and vision issues as early as possible.
Following the guidelines for children’s eye exams and staying alert to any signs of vision problems can help your child reach their potential.