See the Whole Picture With a Children’s Eye Exam

The eyes are constantly growing until a person reaches their 20s. That’s why it’s so important to check in on the development of a child’s eyes early and often.

Visual skills begin to develop as soon as we are born. Children reach different visual milestones as they age, but can experience vision problems or refractive errors (blurry vision) during their early years.

At McGugan Eye Care, we want to make sure your child’s vision is developing and progressing as it should. The best way to ensure your child’s eyes are developing properly is to have regular eye exams.

Why Children’s Eye Exams Matter

Children rely on their vision to learn from their surroundings. In their youngest years, they are exploring what their parents look like and learning hand-eye coordination, and eventually they begin identifying shapes and colours. As children reach school age, they will use their sight to see the whiteboard, learn literacy and numeracy, and play sports.

Children don’t always complain about poor vision, since they don’t have anything to compare their sight to. Without regular eye exams, refractive errors, like being nearsighted or farsighted, might go unnoticed, and developmental issues could arise.

Common vision issues children experience from a young age include:

Myopia (nearsightedness)
Strabismus (crossed eyes)
Amblyopia (lazy eye)
Astigmatism (blurred vision at all distances)

When to Have Your Child’s Eyes Checked

It’s important for children to have their eye health, visual acuity, eye growth, and muscle development checked regularly to ensure they can see clearly and any vision issues are corrected as soon as possible.

6–9 Months

Your child’s first eye exam should be when they are 6–9 months of age. At this time, our friendly optometrists will check to make sure your child’s eyes are working together and developing properly.

2–5 Years

Children between ages 2–5 should have at least one eye exam, preferably before they begin school. Our optometrists will be able to get your child set up with their prescription and a pair of glasses before they begin school, and start identifying and treating symptoms like strabismus (crossed eyes) and amblyopia (lazy eye).

6–19 Years (School-Age)

Children’s eyes will continue to develop through their youth and teen years, therefore it’s important they have annual eye exams between ages 6–19.

Vision & Life Skills

Children who do not see well may underperform in their academic studies. Vision is essential to learning to read and write and advancing their education.

In fact, 88% of Canadians who have a visual impairment have said their educational experience was directly impacted by their sight, leading to impacts in their education, career choices, and employment.

A lack of visual coordination may also impact a child’s participation in recreation, and they might not excel or have fun in sports or other activities.

Visual skills required to excel at sports include:

Clear distance vision
Depth perception
Wide field of vision
Good hand-eye coordination

Occasionally, children may be misdiagnosed with learning discrepancies like ADHD due to their visual impairments.

Set Your Child for Success With an Eye Exam

Make sure your child is set for success by scheduling regular eye exams with your optometrist. The sooner your optometrist can evaluate and diagnose vision errors, the easier it will be to treat any issues.

If you think your child may have a visual error, or they are having trouble seeing clearly, book an appointment with our friendly team.

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