How do you know if your young child needs Glasses?

[MyM&W]

Dh and I both have vision issues so we had dd checked out at 2. She did need glasses. Ds on the other hand was fine. most eye doctors will see a young child if genetics are concerned.

[blossomgoat]

we had both of our girls checked early. Our oldest was on recommendation by her pedi for failing the vision chart at her 5 year phyical. Our youngest went in at 3 because she was avoiding ANYTHING having to do with sight. Hated TV, wouldn't read books, refused to learn the alphabet, etc. The younger's vision is twice as poor as my oldest! Well, what do you know... They gave her a picture chart to "read" and it went well from there.

[ralenth]

A pediatric ophthalmologist is who you want to see (I think). I had DD's eyes evaluated at 3 or 4, because someone recommended it. They were fine. She also tripped and fell alot. When she hit kindergarten, her teacher flagged her for an IEP because of it. Turns out she had something called apraxia which also effected her fine and gross motor skills. She's been getting PT and OT through the school once a week, and it has made a HUGE difference for her. Her Pediatrician was no help, was not concerned at all. I wish I had known what to look for, I would have had her evaluated for by PT years ago.

[DesertRat]

Originally Posted by abunchoflemons Can you just ask him if he can see things? My kids feel/fall over everything and nothing too. Some of it when little is from just not watching where they are going / going to fast...... You could just ask pedi on you're concern for other ideas to see if they think it needs more thinking....

My 4 year old squinted at the TV. We asked him if squinting helped him see better and he said no. So we just thought it was an odd behavior. When my mom mentioned his squinting we starting holding up fingers and asking him to tell us how many. From 10-15 feet away he was getting it wrong! His rx is +7 and +7.5. I took my other kids for checkups and they were fine. But it wasn't until then that I heard that getting oxygen at birth can be related to needing glasses. DS was early and in the NICU. If I had thought his vision would have been affected, I would have taken him in years earlier! Maybe I just missed that info from the NICU. But I feel bad he went so long with such horrible vision!

[craigwick]

Originally Posted by abunchoflemons Can you just ask him if he can see things? My kids feel/fall over everything and nothing too. Some of it when little is from just not watching where they are going / going to fast...... You could just ask pedi on you're concern for other ideas to see if they think it needs more thinking....

At that age he might think how he sees is normal...I got glasses at 7 and I didn't know how bad my vision had gotten since the previous years' eye exam until I put my new glasses on, I thought everyone saw like I did!

We started off going to the optometrist with DD1 & 2, but DD2 now sees a pediatric opthamologist for her issues (lazy eye, astigmatism, far sighted). They use lots of toys and different tools to gauge their vision and the eye chart is comprised of simple shapes that most toddlers can name (though my DD2 couldn't, so we had to do homework and teach her the 4 basic ones they use)