As my husband and I drove away from our childs’ first eye appointment, we were both shocked and a bit saddened by the results; our little one, only 7 months old, was significantly farsighted, and would need glasses to correct his vision. If your child has received a similar diagnosis, you probably have many questions that you were not prepared to ask at their appointment. Let’s try to find some answers.
1. What is farsightedness (hyperopia)?
Farsightedness, also called hyperopia, indicates that a child sees things at a distance clearly, but objects up close are blurry. If the level of farsightedness is high, objects at any distance could be difficult to bring into focus.
2. How can the doctor diagnose refractive errors in infants?
Typically, an opthamologist will dialate your babies’ pupils and use a retinoscope to shine a light into the pupil to the back of the eye. Depending on where the light reflects back, the doctor can then determine your childs’ prescription by holding varying lenses in front of the eye until the light is centered.
3. But my child shows no symptoms?
Here’s where it’s tricky. Children, especially very young children, have amazing powers of accomodation. This means that they can essentially take all that blurriness and force their eyes to bring it into focus. So if your child seems like he sees just fine, that’s because he does. BUT, the extra effort required to see clearly can cause all kinds of problems, including crossed eyes, strabismus (wandering eyes), and even amblyopia (lazy eye). These problems could result in surgery or patching therapy, and your child would still need to wear glasses.
4. Could wearing glasses make my childs’ vision worse down the road?
No, absolutely not. All it could do is improve their prognosis.
5. Will my childs’ vision ever get better?
There are conflicting opinions on this, but the general consensus is that hyperopia does tend to improve as a child ages. Farsightedness is the result of a shortened eyeball. As your little one grows, their eyes will grow as well, and may lengthen just enough for the farsightedness to improve or even disappear. There is a chance your child will not need glasses when they are older, but only time will tell. Catching the problem and correcting it early gives them a better prognosis overall.
6. What are our options for lenses?
Most opthamologists recommend lenses made from polycarbonate or Trivex material due to its strength. There are many options for scratch coatings, lens tinting, and UV protection.
If your child has a high prescription, you want to look into ASPHERIC lenses, which will sit “flatter” against the eye, and you may even be interested in using high index materials as opposed to poly or Trivex. These are, technically, not as strong of materials, but still much better than glass or regular plastic. They are much thinner and lighter than other materials. Combined with the aspheric lens, this will help prevent “coke bottle” lenses and high levels of magnification of the eye. Always discuss lens options with your childs’ opthamologist.
7. What are our options for frames?
It may seem like the selection for infant frames is grim, and to some extent, that’s true. You won’t see many options in your local optics store, so you’ll need to shop around online to get the best variety. Very durable, flexible frames are available through both www.miraflexglasses.com and www.solobambini.com. While very safe and durable, these frames are sometimes hard to adjust and can brush against an infants’ eyelashes, making them uncomfortable. Other options include Jungle Eyewear www.jungle-eyewear.com (for infants, try the Impala), Pez Eyewear (Pez 44 might work for you) www.rxframesnlenses.com/product1.php, or Easytwist Eyewear (Easytwist 796) eyeglasses.go-optic.com/store/eyeglasses/details.asp. Make sure you have a good optics shop that will work with you and your child for a good fit; all glasses must be adjusted and fit for the individual, regardless of their age!
For excellent information on glasses for children, please visit www.achildseyes.com.
8. Ok, how the heck am I supposed to keep glasses on a baby?
For infants, the set and distract method works best. Put em’ on, hand your child a toy. If they take them off, put them on again, distract again. If they take them off yet AGAIN, set them aside and try later. You don’t want to make this a struggle or a game, but you do want to be persistent and firm. Just like anything else, your child will learn to keep them on, and it’s up to you to make it a positive experience.
9. I still don’t know how I feel about all this.
That’s completely normal. As parents, we want to fix things, and we really can’t make this go away. We all want the best for our children, and nobody wants to cover up those adorable little faces with a pair of specs. But really, they’re still going to be adorable. Maybe more so. And vision is such an important part of their development. Pretty soon, those glasses are just going to be a part of them, just like they may be for you or someone you love. And there are lots of support systems out there for you. Look up www.littlefoureyes.com or www.babieswithglasses.org for some great personal stories, adorable pictures, and parent-to-parent advice. Best of luck to you and your little one!
