I often am asked by parents “when should my child be seen for his or her first eye exam?”. They are usually quite surprised when I tell them the American Optometric Association recommends children have their eyes first examined between six months to one year old. By six months old, babies should have developed almost adult-like eye movements, their eyes should be consistently be working well together as a team, and they should be reacting to things at both near and far.
Six One Six Vision Center participates with the InfantSEE public health program that provides no-charge comprehensive eye assessments to infants between six months to one year old. No, your baby will not be able to tell us “which is better, one or two?”, but babies at this age make absolutely fantastic patients! All they want to do is look at our lights and toys that enable us to make sure there are no major eye issues that could potentially impact baby’s development. These things include: an excessive or unequal amount of nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism in one or both eyes, issues with eye movement abilities, or eye health problems.
One in every 10 children is at risk from undiagnosed eye and vision problems. Early intervention is vital to successful treatment. The good news is that a trip to the optometrist doesn’t involve shots or cold stethoscopes. And while there may be some bright lights and possibly drops, most babies are smiling bright after their appointment with us.
If you would like more information for how to prepare for an InfantSEE eye assessment at our office, please click here:
If you would like to know exactly the things we’re looking at during your baby’s evaluation, please click here:
To schedule an appointment with myself, Dr. Lauren Huber, or Dr. Ryan Huber, please give us a call at (208) 518-1858 or schedule your appointment online here.
