Signs Your Child May Need Pediatric Glasses

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Seeing clearly is vital in everyone’s life, but it is essential as it shapes your child’s future. Poor eyesight can impact how your children learn, play, grow, and overall well-being. Not being able to participate with their friends and peers in important developmental activities could have an impact later on in their adult years.

The talented team at Family Vision Center PA of Wellington, FL, is proud to serve the local community with well-crafted eyewear and optometrist services, positively impacting your child’s future.

 

What are Pediatric Glasses?

Pediatric glasses are specially designed for children. They have durable frames and materials that can withstand the bumps and tumbles of an active lifestyle.

Is your child picky? No problem! They come in various fun and colorful options to appeal to children and encourage them to wear their glasses comfortably and confidently.

 

Signs Your Child May Need Vision Support

While some vision problems may be easy to spot, some are not so obvious. Here are three key signs to watch for that might indicate your child needs pediatric glasses:

  1. Squinting or Closing One Eye: If your child frequently squints to see objects at any distance, this could be a sign of nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. Closing one eye to see better might also indicate vision problems.
  2. Difficulty Seeing Near or Far Objects: Pay attention to how your child interacts with their surroundings. Do they struggle to see objects on the board at school, hold books very close to their face while reading, or have trouble spotting objects at a distance, like signs or toys? These behaviors could signal vision difficulties.
  3. Frequent Headaches or Eye Strain: Does your child complain of headaches, especially after reading or screen time? Excessive eye rubbing or fatigue might also be signs of eyestrain caused by uncorrected vision problems.

Your Trusted Local Optometrist

It is important to detect your child’s needs early on. The quicker they are noticed, the easier and faster they are to correct. If you can’t remember the last time your child received an eye exam, it may be time to schedule a visit for a check-up.

During your next appointment with the professional team at the Family Vision Center PA of Wellington, FL, you can rest assured that you and your family receive the best care and guidance you deserve.

Family Vision Center PA: How To Know Your Toddler Needs Glasses

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You know when you need glasses because your eyes are tired and strained. You might even have a headache. But…what about your child? How can you know if your toddler, who may not be able to express themselves well yet, needs glasses?

You don’t have to wait until your child’s in school to get them an eye exam. In fact, getting a vision test by the age of one can help identify problems with vision early.

 

Symptoms of Eye Problems in Toddlers

In the first seven to eight years of a child’s life, their eyes are still developing. Young children often have signs of vision problems, but they can be easy to miss.

Look for symptoms of vision problems such as:

  • Squinting, which can be a sign that your child is having trouble focusing
  • Sitting closely to the television or getting very close to a book can be signs of trouble with nearsightedness
  • Complaining about headaches, which can be caused by overexertion of the eyes
  • Rubbing the eyes, which can be a sign of eye strain or fatigue

Regular Vision Care Matters for Kids

Regular pediatric eye care in Wellington, FL, is important for identifying when children need glasses, contacts, or other kinds of vision therapies. In our office, we can identify common problems with eye function, such as:

  • Eye teaming issues
  • Refractive errors
  • Amblyopia (lazy eye)
  • Strabismus (crossed eyes)
  • Myopia

Tests are painless and easy for children, and they can help identify simple solutions to improve their vision, such as wearing glasses, using an eye patch to support eye development, or ordering vision therapy.

Would your child benefit from pediatric eye care in Wellington, FL? Reach out to our team today to set up a vision checkup.

What’s the Best Lighting for My Child’s Vision

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As your child’s eyes develop, it’s important to have a basic understanding of what they need to maintain their visual health. We’ll look at how to both choose and adjust thelighting for your child’s eyes in Wellington, FL, so there are fewer issues as they age.

Use Layered Lights 

Ideally, you’ll have a combination of lighting based on what the child is doing at the time. Task lighting is great for homework or structured playtime (e.g., crafts, etc), while accent lighting can be used to create different moods. For instance, you might dim the lights as a routine before your child goes to bed. Regardless of your personal preferences, it’s important to know what your child’s preferences are. So, if you want the lights off by a certain time, but they choose to read by their nightlight, this can cause short-term strain in their eyes.

Light Colors 

Experts usually recommend either yellow or white bulbs in the bedroom and diffused lighting during active play. However, the best lighting is still natural, so it’s important to open windows, curtains, and blinds whenever possible. Plus, you should limit your child’s screen time and encourage as much outdoor play as possible. Anoptometrist in Wellington, FL, will tell you that exposure to screens before the age of three is likely to result in myopia.

How to Care for Your Child’s Eyes in Wellington 

At Family Vision Center PA, our staff knows that it’s not always easy to keep track of your child’s habits. It’s all too common to walk into a semi-dark room if they’re too distracted to turn on the lights. If you want to get more specific recommendations based on the overall development of your child’s eyes, contact us to make an appointment.

Pediatric Eye Care: Addressing Common Concerns and Optimizing Vision Health for Children

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Ensuring your child is as healthy as possible involves tending to all of their physical needs, including ensuring they get pediatric eye care in Wellington, FL, as needed. Take a look at a few of the most common concerns about pediatric visual health below.

Managing Digital Device Use and Its Impact on Children’s Vision
Managing digital device use in children is crucial for safeguarding their vision. Excessive screen time, especially without breaks, can lead to digital eye strain, characterized by symptoms like eye fatigue, headaches, and dry eyes.

Understanding and Addressing Eye Strain and Fatigue in Children
Intervention measures may be important if you notice your child is struggling to see or act like their eyes are tired. If screen time is causing the problem, implementing strategies such as the 20-20-20 rule—taking a 20-second break every 20 minutes to look at something 20 feet away—can help. Do what you can to alleviate strain and reduce the risk of long-term vision problems, but never hesitate to schedule an eye exam to ensure nothing more serious is happening.

Recognizing the Signs of Vision Problems in Infants and Toddlers
While children may not always tell you that something is off with their vision, there may be symptoms you can catch as a parent, such as:

Difficulty focusing on objects or tracking movements
Frequent eye rubbing or squinting
Excessive tearing or eye drainage
Red or encrusted eyelids
Extreme sensitivity to light
Delayed development of visual skills, such as reaching for objects or making eye contact
Talk to an Optometrist in Wellington for Guidance
Children should have a check-up with a Wellington, FL, eye doctor as soon as possible if they suspect problems. Reach out to the Family Vision Center PA team to schedule an appointment.

Hidden Signs Your Child Needs Vision Correction

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Children often have no idea that there’s anything wrong with their vision. They’ll just assume that everyone sees the same way they do. It’s up to parents to detect the hidden signs that vision correction may be needed. Here are some things to look for:

Chronic Headaches
Your child should rarely experience a headache. If you find that they frequently complain about their head hurting or they are holding their head, the problem may be caused by poor vision. Poor vision causes the eyes to strain to focus, leading to headaches. In some cases, the headaches may be so severe that they resemble migraines.

They Refuse to Participate
if your child adamantly refuses to engage in certain activities, despite cajoling, threats or offers of a treat, it could be that they’re embarrassed or trying to hide the fact that they can’t see well. This vision challenge can cause a child to avoid activities where they can’t possibly excel.

They Don’t Enjoy Reading
Some people like reading, and others don’t. That’s okay. But if your child doesn’t like to read, you must consider the possibility that the reason has to do with them not being able to see up close. If they’re nearsighted, then reading becomes a chore, not an enjoyable pastime. There may be other reasons, but you should rule out a vision problem by bringing them to get aneye exam in Wellington, FL.

New Anger Issues
If your child’s personality changes after entering school, the problem could stem from many things, including poor eyesight. Not being able to see well will cause frustration, and your child may react with misplaced or overblown anger.

Bring your child in to see anoptometrist in Wellington, FL, whether or not you notice any hidden signs. But if you do see any of these clues, the sooner, the better you get them treatment.

What Can a Child Symptom Questionnaire Tell Me About My Child’s Vision?

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When children are young, a child symptom questionnaire can tell the staff at an eye doctor more about the child’s vision. A child symptom questionnaire is designed to get better insight into how a child’s eyesight functions on a day-to-day basis. It’s a good way to call attention to what’s really happening at home, which may or may not be easily tested for in an office. We’ll look at what questions are generally covered, what they say about the questionnaire-taker, and what pediatric optometrists in Wellington can derive from the answers.

What’s Covered on a Symptom Questionnaire?
At Family Vision Center, the questionnaire covers the following areas:

Close work: These questions typically cover reading, but they can be applied to any activity at close range. If the child seems to tire after a while or complains of blurriness or headaches, these symptoms can be noted by the doctor.
Observations: Do your child’s eyes start to drift or cross while you’re talking to them? Do they water or turn red easily? These observations can give doctors an idea of what types of symptoms aren’t showing up on the day of the exam.
Performance: If your child is easily frustrated during academic tasks or mixes up letters or numbers, they may have a vision disorder. Even something like sloppy handwriting can be an indicator that they’re having a difficult time perceiving objects.
Find a Pediatric Optometrist in Wellington
An optometrist in Wellington, FL, won’t always be able to get reliable answers from children, either because they’re too young or because the child won’t understand what’s happening to their eyes. At Family Vision Center, we prepare for this by thinking ahead. Contact us today to take the survey and start getting your questions answered.

Can Eyedrops Help Improve My Child’s Vision?

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Parents who want their kids to see better will likely think about what type of glasses to purchase. The next question might be whether there are other options available that can give their kids the gift of sight. If you’ve heard of eyedrops helping a child see, we’ll look at what exactly that means and whether the treatment would be right for your family.

Do Eye Drops Improve Eyesight?
Eye drops in Wellington, FL, don’t directly lead to better eyesight. What they can do is help control certain conditions, and that treatment can then lead to stronger sight. The most common eye drop for children is atropine. This treatment will relax the eye muscles, which can reduce nearsightedness. Also called myopia, this condition occurs when the eye becomes more oval-shaped than round. (These drops cannot correct nearsightedness, but they can potentially stop their prescription from getting worse.)

Atropine can also be used to treat lazy eyes because the eye drops can blur the vision in the non-lazy eye, forcing the lazy eye to work harder and strengthen itself over time. Finally, a doctor might use atropine or another type of eye drop (e.g., mydriatics, etc.) to dilate the child’s eye. This can help control inflammation, which can eventually fight off the short-term issues that lead to long-term effects.

Find a Family Optometrist in Wellington, FL
Eye drops are one tool in an arsenal of potential treatments for your whole family, one that can stave off further eye damage. No matter what your child is currently dealing with, the right eye doctor in Wellington, FL, can give you peace of mind about their long-term eye health. If you’re concerned about helping your child see better, contact the staff at Family Vision Center PA to make an appointment today.

How to Protect Children’s Eyesight

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Your child’s eyesight is still developing. Any problems that may develop later on in life might be prevented with the implementation of the following ideas to help protect your child’s eyesight as they grow.

Plenty of Sleep
Children need lots of sleep in order for healthy growth, and that includes their eyesight. Tired eyes aren’t just a fairy tale. Weariness causes eye strain, which is bad for everyone, including children.

Proper Distance
Teach your youngster how far away to hold reading materials so their eyes aren’t strained. If they insist on holding things far or near, it could be a sign that they need to see a pediatric eye doctor in Wellington, FL, for an eye exam.

Adequate Lighting
Be sure that there are well-lit areas in the home for your child to read. Reading in low light causes eye strain, which can have permanent effects on your child’s eye development. Emphasize the need for good lighting so your child doesn’t try to read in darkness or bad lighting.

Limit Screen Time
Kids these days spend inordinate amounts of time looking at screens, even at school. Put hard limits on screen time since screens emit blue light, which is bad for the eyes over extended periods of time. Since much of the latest technology is relatively new, we’ve yet to find out the long-term effects of looking at screens all day.

Protective Eyewear During Sports
Whether your child is practicing their pitch in the backyard or in the schoolyard, it’s important that they wear protective eyewear. Goggles for swimming and other eyewear for sports will ensure that an accidental sports injury doesn’t turn into a permanent injury.

For more information about ways to protect your child’s eyesight or to book an eye exam, make an appointment with your child’s eye doctor in Wellington, FL.

8 Signs of Toddler Vision Problems

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Your child’s eyesight is an important aspect of their development. Vision helps to shape how your child perceives and interacts with their surroundings. Unfortunately, toddlers often don’t have the knowledge, verbal skills or capability to let parents know when they’re having trouble with their eyesight. Yet, it’s important to catch problems with eyesight so they can see a pediatric eye doctor in Wellington, FL for treatment. Here are eight signs of toddler vision problems to look for:

1. Holding/ Hitting Head
Vision problems often manifest as persistent headaches. Holding the head could mean that your toddler is in pain in that part of the body.

2. Bloodshot or Watery Eyes
Eye strain causes increased blood circulation to the eyes, which may make your toddler’s eyes look red or watery.

3. Mood Swings
If your toddler is having trouble seeing, it may make them frustrated, causing unusual mood swings or a persistent grumpy mood.

4. Avoidance of Certain Activities
Your toddler may refuse to engage in activities that require focus, like picture books, watching TV, coloring etc.

5. Excess Sleeping
If your toddler all of a sudden wants to spend lots of time in bed, they may be feeling sad or depressed because they can’t see well enough to do their favorite activities.

6. Rubbing Eyes
Your child may rub their eyes excessively in an effort to “fix” their eyesight.

7. Lack of Intellectual Development
If your toddler doesn’t seem to be keeping up with peers in terms of development, it could be that they need vision correction.

8. Holds Items Very Close to See
Nearsighted toddlers may try to focus by holding books, toys, crayons and more very close to their eyes.

Be sure to bring your toddler in to see their eye doctor in Wellington, FL for routine eye exams and potential vision correction treatment. Contact us to book your appointment now.

Why is My Child Cross-Eyed?

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Strabismus is the official medical term for crossed eyes. This condition is more common in children than you may realize. Thankfully, it’s not like long ago when a person had to live their entire lives with crossed eyes. Many treatment options exist today, including special lenses, therapies, and surgery, depending on the case. If your child has crossed eyes in Wellington, FL, contact your optometrist for help as soon as possible.

What Causes Crossed Eyes in Children?

Children have varying degrees of muscle development and coordination. The eyes function with a synergy of muscle movement. Each eye has muscles that control eye movement. Normally, the muscles in each eye are coordinated. It’s a complex system, which is why, in some children, one eye’s muscles are more developed than others. When one muscle is weaker than the other, crossed eyes can develop.

Sometimes genetics plays a part, too. If a parent had crossed eyes, their child has a higher risk of having it. Then there are some health conditions that can play into it, like Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, premature birth complications, and so on.

The Importance of Treating Crossed Eyes

Contact your optometrist in Wellington, FL, as soon as possible for crossed eyes treatment. If it’s left untreated for too long, a lazy eye can develop, where the brain ignores information from one eye, or the weaker eye muscles fail to get stronger over time.

There are many treatment options, but the first step is to bring your child in for a pediatric eye exam. A possible cause may be determined, and then a course of treatment can begin.

If your child has crossed eyes, whether it’s mild or moderate, contact us to book an appointment. The sooner treatment starts, the sooner your child’s eyes can get better.