When it comes to children’s eye health, parents should remain watchful to ensure that their kids’ vision is developing accordingly.

The first three years of their children’s life certainly provide an engaging time for parents to observe their toddlers’ eye health.  By this time, their kids would have already developed their eye-hand coordination as well as their depth perception, so they now have the visual, perceptual, and fine motor skills to perform tasks such as scribbling.

Eye Issues to Look Out For

Children may develop vision problems, but many of them can be fixed if caught early on. What are some signs of eye issues you should watch out for?

•         Holding items too close to their eyes or sitting too close to the television.
•         Rubbing eyes, squinting, or tilting head to see better.
•         Losing concentration or interest more quickly than what is typical for the age.
•         Displaying sensitivity to light.
•         Having a hard time with eye-hand-body coordination as in playing with a ball.
•         Avoiding visual activities such as working on puzzles and coloring.
•         Focusing and tracking poorly.
•         Showing abnormal eye alignment or movement after six months of age.
•         Having chronic eye redness.
•         Tearing up frequently outside of crying.
•         Manifesting a white pupil instead of black or showing haziness or cloudiness in the pupil.

Eye Care Professionals to Consult

If you feel that there’s something wrong with your toddler’s eyes, follow your gut and consult an eye doctor. The following are the different eye care professionals whose services your child might require:

•        Ophthalmologists are medical doctors. They are eye experts who can provide comprehensive eye care, including surgery. Some of them may specialize in pediatric eye care.
•       Optometrists provide services similar to those provided by ophthalmologists, but theirs don’t include surgery. Some of them may also have special training in kids’ eye care.
•        Opticians are professionals who fit and adjust eyeglasses.

Eye Care Tips to Apply on Your Toddler

There are steps you can take to help boost your children’s eye health. The following are some ways for you to protect your children’s vision.

1.   Healthy Diet

Feed them healthy meals packed with nutrients such as vitamins C and E, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and lutein. Plenty of fruits and vegetables as well as fish can help keep your toddlers’ eyes healthy.

2.   Helpful Toys

Give your toddlers toys that promote visual development such as bright balls, shape sorters, and fat crayons. Don’t allow them access to toys with points or sharp corners or any sharp objects that may poke them in the eye.

3.   Stimulating Games

Play games that stimulate the sense of vision with them. Activities that require hand-eye coordination such as playing catch and building with blocks work really well.

4.   Outdoor Time

Get them outdoors. Studies say that spending time outside helps prevent the juvenile onset and progression of short-sightedness or myopia.

5.   Sun Protection

Provide protection from the sun when they do spend time outdoors. This is especially crucial for light-eyed kids. Let them wear UV coated lenses. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat also helps.

6.   No Screens

Get them away from screens. Children under two are discouraged from watching TV as it messes with natural toddler growth and development. Limit their exposure to mobile devices as well. Excessive screen time is detrimental to eyesight as well as to general health, no matter the age.

Eye Emergency First Aid

Accidents may also harm your child’s vision. What are you supposed to do in case of the following scenarios?

•         When an eye is hit with a blunt object, examine it closely. In case of bleeding or an inability to lift the eyelid, go to the doctor immediately.
•         When toddlers suddenly seem to experience pain in an eye, rub it nonstop, persistently tear up, or tell you that things are blurry or that they’re seeing double, call the doctor. In the interim, help the injured eye by covering it with a cold (not icy) pack.
•         When injured with a sharp object, absolutely do not press on the eye. If the object is still in the eye, do not remove it. Either way, cover the eye with some sort of deeply concave eye shield such as the cut-out bottom of a foam cup and call for medical attention right away.
•         When toddlers get some harmful unidentified liquid in their eyes, flush their eyes with water while somebody calls the doctor or the poison control hotline. Unless instructed otherwise, keep doing this until medical help arrives.

The Eyes Have It

The eyes are such important organs and yet so delicate. Make sure that you are proactive in your children’s eye care. Do what you can to boost their health as well as protect them from harm.