How To Tell If Your Child Has Eye Problems – You Are Parents

However, there are other asymptomatic pathologies that can go unnoticed, such as amblyopia or lazy eye, whose diagnosis and treatment over time are the key to avoiding the aggravation of these pathologies.

To learn how to detect if your child has eye problems, it is important to pay attention to the warning signs and a series of symptoms and signs that may indicate the presence of an eye pathology or disorder in the child. .

For example, if the child does not correctly identify people over long distances, distant objects do not attract attention, objects are very close to the face, and an eye is turned away, especially in the area. states of fatigue or weakness, there could be a visual problem.

It is also important to pay attention to symptoms such as fever, drowsiness, or if you repeatedly rub your eyes, or if you have difficulty keeping your eyes open while reading, writing, or drawing.

Another indication of eye problems is when you tilt your head back to see better, when you have a whitish spot in the pupillary area, when you complain of a headache or blurred vision, when the light of the eye. sun is excessively bothersome or you adapt poorly to the dark.

All of these are obvious symptoms in children with eye problems. Seeing two of all of these symptoms in your baby is reason enough to decide to consult an expert.

Learn to Pay Attention to Your Baby’s Ophthalmic Development

To get a clearer idea of ​​a child’s normal visual behavior during the first months of life and to compare it with your toddler, know that in the first 6 weeks they are already responding to facial expressions.

When a baby is three months old, he can already perceive movement and is able to follow a shiny object with his gaze. From 3 to 6 months he looks at his hand and is able to follow the activities of his environment, in addition he smiles at his own image reflected in the mirror.

At 6 months, he is already chasing small objects with his eyes and reaching for them. At 7 months old touches his image in the mirror. A 9 month old child looks at an object. At the age of 12 months he is looking for toys and objects that disappear from his eyes.

With this short guide to behaviors focused on the first 12 months of a child’s life, you will be able to compare whether your child reacts favorably to different stimuli by focusing on what is described and comparing according to the months of your child.

Eye problems are very common

Many times there are problems that go unnoticed or are not associated with visual pathologies. To prevent this from becoming chronic and irreversible visual impairments in the future, it is important to carry out a complete ophthalmological examination of the child from the age of 4 years.

This examination should not be delayed beyond 8 years, especially if there is a family history of eye disorder.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the most common problems that affect vision such as nearsightedness or farsightedness affect more than 20% of school-aged children. This percentage means that one in four children suffers from a visual problem.

Reasons like these are enough for children to have their vision checked by their pediatrician and examined by an ophthalmic expert at the age of three, which helps identify possible visual problems that could interfere with their academic development. among others.

If your child has a headache when leaving school or reading for more than half an hour, if they have itchy eyes when doing homework, or if they frown when they go read, he probably has a problem with his vision.

The main refraction problems in children are myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Others suffer from strabismus, which is characterized by crossed eyes; amblyopia known as lazy eye and ptosis which causes sagging upper eyelids, have a lower incidence in young people.

Early detection of vision problems in your child is important for its future correction. Therefore, if you think that your child is not seeing well or if you notice any deficiencies, see your specialist as soon as possible.

Watch out for any of the signs described above, they can save you from problems in the present and in the future. Ophthalmic specialists recommend checking your child’s vision regularly. In principle, it should be your pediatrician who performs the first checks in order to refer you to a specialist.

On the other hand, remember that your child’s number one specialist is you, so pay attention to the symptoms to treat them on time and successfully.