Pediatric Eye Exams

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Raising children is a job and a half from the moment you bring them home. It is easy to over look simple things that you know you should be doing like setting up their first eye exam and establishing good eye care habits. Lafayette Eye Associates is ready to be your family eye doctor and stands ready to help your children. From grandchildren to great-grandparents, we have the staff and experience needed to take care of everyone you love.

The Importance of Pediatric Eye Care

What makes a pediatric eye doctor so important? The challenges of childhood often create different issues and symptoms than those facing adults. Children are not always good at recognizing what is not working quite right or communicating it if they do. In fact, children are unlikely to complain or even understand that they are suffering from poor vision. An experienced pediatric eye doctor recognizes early warning signs of possible problems and learns to communicate effectively with young patients.

Healthy eyesight is essential to early learning, even before children enter school. In times of remote learning and increased screen time, proper eye care is even more important. Having a family eye doctor who is always willing to listen, answer questions and treat the whole patient can reduce stress, alleviate frustration and ensure a healthier family.

Pediatric Eye Care: When Should It Start?

It is never too early to schedule your child’s first eye exam with our family eye doctors. Children should be seen by their eye doctor as young as age three unless you have concerns earlier. The latest your child should get their first eye exam is prior to entering Kindergarten.

If your child is going to succeed in school, play a musical instrument, participate in sports, read for pleasure or otherwise grow up and develop normally, his or her vision must be cared for regularly. Early detection is critical in so many situations, whatever your age. It is even more important for our children. A vision screening in school or at a pediatrician's office does not replace the need for an eye health and vision evaluation with a trained eye care specialist.

What A Pediatric Optometrist Looks For

Our doctors will measure how well your child can see at different distances. We will check teaming skills (how well the eyes work together) and check eye movement for anything out of the ordinary. We will look for early symptoms of things like amblyopia (lazy eye), myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism, diplopia (double vision), pediatric cataracts, and numerous other health issues.

Regular eye exams throughout childhood can also detect problems not typically associated with your child’s vision. Diabetes, some forms of cancer, multiple sclerosis, and various vitamin deficiencies can be detected during regular eye exams. These are conditions that we hope we never have to deal with for our children, but all of them are easier to manage with early detection.

Back to School Exams and Eyewear

Send your children back to school after their summer and winter breaks equipped with maximum vision and eye health for improved classroom performance and peak learning! Children (and even adults) may not realize that their vision is impaired and will often not complain. The best form of intervention is through regular eye care prior to going back into the classroom. If the doctor finds that your child will benefit from improved vision through the use of eyeglasses or contact lenses, we have you covered!

Schedule Your Child’s Pediatric Eye Exam 

We live in complicated times, but there are some things that we can control. Proper pediatric eye care is one of them. Call our team at Lafayette Eye Associates today at (610) 825-3937 to schedule an appointment with one of our doctors today.

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