Pediatric Eye Health

If a child does not complain, this does not mean that everything is in order. Children cannot assess and explain their condition, so adults are often unaware of their vision problems.

An examination by an ophthalmologist helps to notice the deviation in time and to do the correction. Babies of the first year of life are required to visit a doctor at 1, 6 and 12 months. Premature babies begin to be observed by a specialist even earlier. Until the age of 18, the child’s preventive visits to the ophthalmologist are carried out once a year. In case of visual impairment – every six months.

The fact that a child does not see well can be suggested to parents by his behavior. Without waiting for scheduled examination, a child should be shown to a doctor if he:

• often blinks, rubs the eyes or looks at one point for a long time without blinking
• squints when looking into the distance or examines an object
• quickly gets tired of drawing, reading, sculpting and other activities that require eye strain
• complains of headache
• eyes watery and redden
• newborns may not react to bright objects, toys, not follow their movement with their eyes
• before the age of one year, myopia can be manifested by divergent strabismus.