Children’s Eye Exams | Overlake Family Vision

Comprehensive Care for Your Child

Regular eye exams are vital for children as they grow, helping identify problems and ensure their vision is functioning at its best. However, we understand your little one may be nervous about their exam. We want all our patients to enjoy their time at our office, so we take extra care to ensure they feel comfortable.

Visit us in Bellevue, and we can help care for your child’s vision from kindergarten to graduation. We’re here to meet your family’s vision and ocular needs.

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The Importance of Eye Exams for Children

Your child’s vision constantly develops as they grow, helping them read, learn, play, and interact with others. With how important your child’s vision is, an undiagnosed eye problem can affect their school performance, self-esteem, and social interactions.

It can be difficult for your child to notice an eye or vision problem when they’re younger. They may assume that everyone has the same vision and that their struggles are normal. Your child may not even tell you if they’re experiencing an issue, making it imperative that you watch for signs of a vision problem or changes in their vision.

Your child may have an undetected vision problem if they have any of the following struggles:

Is a year or more behind in reading skills
Headaches while reading or doing close-up work
Eyes tire quickly when reading or doing homework
Eyes water when reading
Head moves when reading across the page
A finger is needed to keep place while reading
Skips lines, words, or letters when reading
Spends a long time doing homework that should only take a few minutes
Closes or covers one eye for near work
Difficulty copying from the board
Complains of double vision
Rubs eyes when reading
Excessive blinking
Holds book close to face when reading
Reduced attention span, can only concentrate for a short amount of time
Covers one eye by leaning on a hand
Reverses words or letters (b for d or was for saw)
Must re-read material several times to understand what has been read
Avoids activities that include reading or close-up work

If your child has two or more of these symptoms, call us to schedule a functional vision evaluation to check for vision problems. Functional vision examinations are more in-depth than most regular eye exams. The examination tests how the eyes work together in addition to testing visual acuity and checking the eye health.

If problems are detected, Dr. Baker provides the necessary treatment which may involve the use of lenses, prisms, and special instrumentation to improve eye coordination, focusing, and tracking skills. We work closely with your child to eliminate visual stress and make learning, reading, and close-up work less tiring.

Children’s Eye Exam Frequency

Eye exams are important as your child grows up—their vision changes as they go through school. Even in their first 12 months of life, your child experiences several visual developments. Our exams become more comprehensive as your child develops new vision-related skills.

According to guidelines from the American Optometric Association, children’s eye exams should follow this schedule:

Their first exam between 6–12 months old
At least one exam between 3–5 years old
Annual exams from ages 6–18

Common Children’s Eye Problems

Many eye conditions can develop in childhood, affecting your child’s vision and eye health. We can help spot many of these problems in their earliest stages with our diagnostic technology.

Children can develop several eye conditions such as amblyopia, astigmatism, hyperopia, myopia, and strabismus.

Amblyopia

Amblyopia (lazy eye) occurs when one eye has poor vision due to an uncorrected eye problem in childhood. The brain begins to favor images from the stronger eye, causing vision in the other eye to weaken.

Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a refractive error where the cornea or lens of the eye has mismatched curves, leading to blurry vision. Eyes without a refractive error will look like a baseball or basketball. With astigmatism, it’s more like an egg shape.

Hyperopia

Hyperopia, or farsightedness, is a common refractive error where you can see faraway objects clearly while nearby images appear blurry.

Myopia

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a refractive error where you can see nearby objects clearly, while distant images are blurry. This eye condition can worsen with time, increasing the risk of eye disease and leading to poorer vision.

Strabismus

Strabismus (crossed eyes) occurs when one eye looks straight ahead while the other turns inward, outward, up, or down. If left untreated, the brain may begin to ignore the turned eye to avoid seeing a double image.

Eye Care for the Whole Family

The importance of regular eye exams extends to every member of your family. We’re here to provide quality eye care, from parents to children and everyone in between. Book an appointment, and schedule your child’s next comprehensive eye exam.