Written by True Eye Experts
Your baby has a beautiful future in store – make sure they can see it. Once your baby is born, their eyes are developing so that they can see the world around them. But sometimes, their eyes need a little help.
Understanding how baby vision development works will help you know whether things are going well and when it’s time to seek professional help. Read on to learn what parents need to know about their young children’s eyes.
Once they are born, babies should be seeing medical professionals who will track their development and be on the lookout for any problems. The first few years of life play such a large factor in having a healthy life and spotting problems early on.
Just as you would take your newborn to a pediatrician, scheduling a first eye exam is also an important step in your child’s life. Even if you haven’t noticed anything is wrong, having an eye exam at 6 months old will encourage healthy baby vision development.
At a first exam, an optometrist will test the eyes for:
Regular eye exams will ensure any problems that escape your notice are treated. However, there are ways you can be proactive in helping your child’s vision develop well.
While baby’s eyes will develop on their own, there are important ways you can help create the best conditions for their growth. Here are our top tips:
You can do everything possible for your baby, but that doesn’t ensure there won’t be problems. Keeping an eye on your child’s development is key to avoiding larger issues in the future. So as your baby’s eyes develop, look out for these common signs of problems:
While not all of these are symptoms of serious problems, they will all require help from a medical professional. The sooner you provide help, the better things will be for your child’s long-term vision.
If you want to provide the best environment for your baby’s vision development or spot problems before they are serious, it’s important to understand how your child’s eyes are developing. By knowing what milestones should be met, you can spot which are missed and get help from your child’s optometrist.
When firstborn, babies can typically only see an arm’s length distance. Eyes will often be kept close. While some babies may look directly into faces (likely after they hear an exciting voice), it’s not abnormal for babies not to make direct eye contact at this age.
Vision is improving, but little ones still can’t see very far at this age and their sight remains blurry. This is especially true for premature newborns. Children may start to recognize faces at this point and will begin seeing hues of colors.
A child’s eyes may still not seem focused and may regularly wander, but this is normal. Just look out for excessive turning.
Children are learning how to better control their eyes, focus in, and use hand-body coordination. Eyes are now working together and can track objects. They should be able to see several feet. They will even be able to recognize regular faces they see. Children are now seeing colors and may even express a preference for their favorite color.
As speaking with your baby is always best for developing language skills, use verbal language to help them make connections with words and what they’re seeing.
Babies are now moving more, and you’ll see lots of crawling, grabbing, and even walking. Their eyes should be adjusting to seeing both near and far away. Hand-eye coordination, an important part of a baby’s vision development, is coming in faster than ever, and you may catch them moving and throwing items.
This is a great time for engaging with your child through play like hide-and-seek with toys and encouraging them to track and reach for objects.
At 1-year-old, your child’s vision is powerful enough to see similarly to adults. They see colors, objects, and things at a distance. By 2 years old, their hand-eye coordination and depth-perception are developed.
Although vision is developed by 2 years old, a child’s eyes continue to grow into their 20s. So it’s still important to get regular eye exams and get glasses as needed.
Want to ensure the best vision for your child? Contact us to schedule an eye exam for your baby today and make sure their eyes are ready to see the world.
Our mission at True Eye Experts is simple — provide the best possible care to our patients. We make sure we’re doing this a few different ways. Our V-Eye-P Exam is one of the most comprehensive eye exams in the industry. We use state-of-the-art medical technology to screen, diagnose, and treat more conditions than most other providers in the area. We have an extensive collection of designer eyewear that can complement any patient’s face, style, and budget, and our advanced contact lens fitting process can help even “hard-to-fit” patients wear contacts comfortably. Book an appointment online at one of our True Eye Experts locations, conveniently located throughout Central Florida. Have questions or prefer to book over the phone? Give us a call today.
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