Kid’s Eye Exams

Keeping an Eye on Your Whole Family

Regular vision care isn’t just for adults; annual eye exams are crucial for children’s eye health and vision, too. The vision test at your pediatrician’s office only checks distance vision; it is NOT an eye exam!  Failure to detect and treat vision disorders such as problems with eye muscle function, depth perception, and near vision, in children affects development, learning performance, self esteem, social-emotional behavior, etc.  Are shin pads, shoulder pads, and shoes, more important than a back to school comprehensive eye exam? We can hear you saying, “I had no idea!” all the way over here.

Kid’s Eye Health

At a stage in life when every minute is an educational experience, why risk missing a single moment? Early detection of issues is crucial to preventing eye problems later. Children should have their eyes examined at least annually, or as recommended by your doctor, even if they don’t indicate that there are any problems. Kids usually don’t realize that they aren’t seeing optimally. You can help protect your child’s eyes by starting eye care at a young age.

Our Doctors recommend the following timeline for kids’ eyecare:

• ​Infant screening as young as age 6 months
• At least one eye exam between the ages of 3 and 5 to check for any conditions that could have long-term effects
• An eye exam starting before first grade, and yearly after that

Some notes regarding this timeline:

Our infant screening program (for infants age 6-12 months) includes dilation. If the parent is noticing a problem they want addressed, it will be a full exam or office visit billed to insurance or self pay. Please notify our office when scheduling your infant’s appointment.

Patients age 1-3 should only need to be seen if the parent is noticing a problem like the child is running into things, was injured, rubbing eyes, red eye, etc.

Patients age 3 and up can be scheduled with any doctor, and please note that if all testing cannot be completed on the same day due to patient cooperation, we can always have the child come back another day to complete the exam or refer if indicated!