Children’s eye exams
Annual eye exams are recommended for children under the age of 19. Babies are recommended to have their first exam at 6 months. Annual exams are recommended after this. It is especially important that children have their pre-school eye exam at 4 to 5 years of age.
There are several eye conditions that must be evaluated in childhood. Conditions such as strabismus (crossed eyes or eye turns), and amblyopia (lazy eye) must be detected and treated early to ensure proper visual development.
A child’s exam starts with an auto-refraction to measure their prescription. The doctor then tests visual acuity, fine tunes the prescription, and checks into ocular health. In addition to the usual health checks, pupillary reflex testing, stereo-vision, cover test, extraocular movement, and color vision testing are an important part of a child’s eye exam.