Pediatric Eye Exams: Everything You Need to Know

In this video, we review the #1 mistake that even the best parents make without realizing it. Discover how pediatric eye exams are essential to ensure proper development and well-being for your children!

As parents, we all want the best for our children, but did you know that many parents are unaware of how their child's eyes work and develop?
Children are often naturally farsighted, and while they might pass basic vision screenings at school or the pediatrician's office, these screenings can miss significant issues. Your child could be straining their eye muscles to compensate for vision deficiencies, leading to potential problems down the road.

In today's video, we review essential components of a comprehensive pediatric eye exam, including:
- Eye muscle testing to ensure proper eye alignment and function.
- Screening for amblyopia, commonly known as "lazy eye," which can lead to permanent vision loss if left untreated.
- The use of dilation or cycloplegic eye drops to get a complete and accurate assessment of your child's eye health.

We also discuss the recommended intervals for children to see an eye doctor, based on the guidelines from the American Optometric Association. Regular eye exams are crucial in detecting and addressing issues early, ensuring your child has the best possible vision for their learning and development.

Curious about healthy foods and supplements to help with children's growing eyes and brains?
Check out the new Children's Lutein Supplement research!

Pediatric Eye Exam Guidelines:

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[DoctorEyeHealth]

Please share with other parents and caregivers so we can help spread the awareness together!
- What else would you like to know about pediatric eye exams? Let me know!

[Travelers]

I’m almost 70 and have amblyopia in my right eye. Like you say in your video I don’t know what it’s like to see normally. I started wearing glasses for (myopia) during my freshman year of high school. But as I think back I should have had them sooner. Apparently a world renowned ophthalmologist in my area at that time didn’t catch it when I was young. From 1st grade on, during annual eye screening from the school nurse she would tell my folks about my right eye being (weak) as she put it. My Mom would, every year take me to this same ophthalmologist and he missed the amblyopia every time. Unless someone has it, it’s hard to explain it. During my annual eye exam I’ve learned to tell the eye doctor to project just one or two letters at a time on the screen and I can do fine reading them with my glasses on. But with a whole line of letters it, “confuses” the eye and I can read only the far left or far right letter and maybe one letter in the middle. I read somewhere that in some cases it can be fixed with eye exercises to some degree in adults.

[cellgrrl]

Had I been born several decades later, I would not be blind in one eye now. I was born with something wrong with one eye, it was "weak" Don't need to get into it, but in the end I lost that eye. Now in old age facing my inevitable cataract surgery. Fingers crossed. Great message for parents.

[melrhea]

This happened to me. My parents never took me to the eye doctor bc it seemed like I could see just fine. Became an adult, went to get eyes checked, got glasses, and was SHOCKED how crisp the world was!

[theresalally]

Gm doc, I ♥️♥️♥️your channel🎉my daughters are 33 and 31 respectively.I never missed a well care visit or dentist appt proud to say my daughters have beautiful teeth and never had a cavity.However, my younger daughter was having problems in grade school.I was recommended to take her to an eye specialist and there was a problem with how her eyes were focusing.I was guilty of not doing eye testing once a year.I just thought like many that the exams they did at school and well care visits were enough.Ty for the advice as always!

[susieinthecountry]

Thanks doc for explaining this. When you have the information it's less scary, all those big words and instruments can be intimating for adults and children. Again, thanks♥

[kdzidoc]

Thanks for spreading the word... some of the problems I see are screeners/photoscreeners at the Pediatricians/school are ABSOLUTELY not adequate. Kids cheat, sneak, and want to answer the questions "correctly". The good news is that I get more referrals for wrongly diagnosed poor vision. Amblyopia is mostly a nasal to temporal motion processing problem. The role of cycloplegia is good for looking for eye diseases. Paralysis of the ciliary body is not a real valuable tool in my tool box. Unless they are walking around all day paralyzed. ;-)

[FinestWinterCold]

My son has esotropia, which was discovered because he had plagiocephaly as an infant. The doctor thought he had a weak neck muscle on his right side, but it was actually because of his vision. He also has astigmatism and is far sighted. He's been getting eye exams since he was 1.

[CasaLandego]

I would love a video on scripting children. How they determine what script to put on. When a child needs a full prescription. Ages of eye development. I have a 4 yr old with a cateract in one eye and farsighted.

[Joyful_Michelle]

Thank you for explaining this. My niece has been wearing glasses since before she was 1. It took her a long time before she would keep them on all day. She still has a lazy eye (much less than it was) but is being watched by an eye dr, so I hope she won’t have any issues later on.

[MẮTKÍNHTlTAN]

Great information, great video! The explanation is very easy to understand! Thank you for sharing about Pediatric Eye Exams!
This video is exactly what we need.

[ttube]

This is one of the best videos I've watched from you yet. Thank you for all the important information.

[joeyk]

I got my daughters checked from age 2 trying to normalise getting tested as I have always had vision problems and nothing done for me as a child.

[carguy]

Wow very informative. Explains a lot about my eyes when I was a kid.

[TheUncounteredFilms]

Hey Doc, are you aware of the studies, that tea tree oil destroys melobian glands. Is this true? Could you potentially make a vid about it. Thanks in advance

[saintbenedictscholacantorum]

The other #1 thing I believe parents need to be careful about is limiting screen use for their kids... When I was seven years old, in order to become myopic, I had to be nerdy and read books and avoid sports or other outdoor activities. But today your average non-nerdy two year old can easily become myopic by staring at cartoons on their parent's cell phone which they may be holding eight inches away from their face. If a kid is diagnosed with myopia, it may be just a temporary muscle spasm due to overuse of the ciliary muscle which the doctor mentioned... you can get the muscle to relax by taking he kid away from screens, no cartoons except on a large TV across the room, and get them involved in outdoor activities for several hours a day... need to try this before condemning the kid to a life sentence of glasses!

[BunnaySango]

NHS do not offer much other than monitoring height and weight, in depth eye exams are just never offered because we assume kids will be fine. I want to monitor my kids for signs of astigmatism because I have it, but Im only offered basic eye exams.

[val]

My 6 year old child had 3 different prescriptions from 3 different ophthalmologists. Dilated each time. The third one said the auto refractor should settle the discrepancy and to go with that. I believe the tools utilized make a big difference.

[bunnymom]

Thank you doctor for making this video ❤️

[l-dog-]

Can you do a video on choroideremia eye disease