Pediatric Eye Exams Specialist

When do my children need to start having pediatric eye exams?

Your children should start having annual routine eye exams when they’re around five years old. Since this is when they typically start school and learn to read, these annual eye exams provide a way for your physician to check for vision problems that need to be corrected. Otherwise, your children can end up having trouble with academic achievement when they strain to read off of boards or screens in the classroom, or material that’s too close to them, making it difficult for them to learn.

Do children need eye exams if they pass kindergarten screenings?

Kindergarten screenings provide a way to catch vision problems in children early, but they’re not comprehensive. Even if your children pass their kindergarten screenings, they might have other problems with their eyes or vision that these screenings cannot detect.

The team at Stockdale Optometry provides your children with thorough pediatric eye exams for detecting problems such as binocular vision, or developmental issues involving vision. If your children have any eye or vision problems, your physician can have them corrected or treated to ensure that your children can see clearly.

What are the signs of pediatric vision problems?

Young children sometimes don’t realize that they’re having trouble seeing, so detecting evidence of vision problems can be difficult. However, there are more noticeable symptoms that you can watch for, including the following:

• Frequent eye rubbing
  
• Squinting
  
• Trouble following moving objects
  
• Holding books or reading material close to their face to see it
  
• Covering one eye to see better
  
• Sensitivity to light
  
• Trouble focusing
  
• Chronic eye redness
  
• Headaches
  

If your children have any of these symptoms or exhibit any of those behaviors, a pediatric eye exam would evaluate their eyes to determine the cause.

What happens during a routine annual pediatric eye exam?

When your physician examines your child's eyes, they’ll perform certain tests that check the child's ability to see clearly and track objects, such as visual acuity tests and eye muscle coordination tests. They’ll also look for physical signs of eye problems, including those that affect the eyelids. Your physician will also provide refraction tests to see if your child needs corrective lenses.

If your child is due for an annual pediatric eye exam, please call or book your appointment online today with Stockdale Optometry.