Thursday, May 21, 2009

FYI: Free Eye Exam

As you can see, Devin now wears glasses. We found out last week that his farsightedness has gotten worse and he now can benefit from wearing glasses all of the time. We also took Aubrey in for her FREE infant eye exam and we found that she is also a little farsighted. Yes, a baby between 6 months and a year can get a free eye exam! Pediatricians can miss things like lazy eye or other more serious eye problems that can be found with this exam. Many of you have asked how we know that Devin, Logan and Aubrey are farsighted and how the doctor can know their eye glass prescription. Well, the optometrists shines a light in the baby's eyes (I believe they are looking at the reflection that then comes back out of the eye) and they also do a few other things to check visual acuity, motility, alignment and overall eye health. Logan sees a pediatric ophthalmologist, but that doctor does a lot of the same things. Logan and Aubrey are supposed to go back when they are three because they were found to be a little farsighted but, for now, they do not need glasses. Their doctors recommended that they come back when they are three. I have also heard it recommended that kids see an eye doctor at 6 months, 2 years and 4 years, but our doctors have recommended 6 months and then 3 years if no problems were found as a baby. (Logan went at 6 months and again around a year and has been cleared til 3 yrs old)

1 comment:

Jeanette said...

We did the eye exam thing at 18 months. Who knew that you can tell so much by looking at a baby's eyes.