| Vision contributes a great deal to an infant's perception | | | | helps with their depth perception. |
| of the world. Many parents naturally are concerned | | | | The first eye exam takes place in the newborn |
| about their child's vision. In infants, however, serious eye | | | | nursery. The pediatrician performs a screening eye |
| conditions and blindness are rare. Babies can, however | | | | exam to check for infections or structural problems |
| have eye problems, so an eye checkup is still an | | | | with the eyes: malformed eyelids, cataracts, glaucoma |
| important part of well-baby care. Here are a few eye | | | | or other abnormalities. When the baby is 6 months old, |
| conditions that can occur in babies. | | | | the pediatrician should check the baby's eye alignment |
| Two weeks after conception, the eyes begin to | | | | and visual fixation, or how it focuses its gaze, and |
| develop. Over the next four weeks all of the major | | | | follows an object. |
| eye structures form. During this time the eye is | | | | Pediatricians can treat simple eye problems such as |
| particularly vulnerable to injury. If the mother takes | | | | pinkeye. If you or your pediatrician believes your baby |
| drugs or becomes infected with German measles, for | | | | has a more serious eye problem, which may require |
| example, the eye can be malformed or damaged. | | | | medical or surgical treatment, the infant should be |
| During the last seven months of pregnancy the eye | | | | referred to an ophthalmologist. No child is too young |
| continues to grow and mature, and the nerve that | | | | for a complete eye exam. |
| connects the eye to the brain (the optic nerve) is | | | | An eye doctor's examination of a baby is similar to |
| formed. | | | | that performed on adults. The doctor evaluates the |
| At birth a baby's eye is about 75 percent of the size | | | | baby's medical history, vision, eye muscles and eye |
| of an adult eye. The next few years of life are very | | | | structures. Obviously, the baby can't talk yet, to say |
| important to the development of the eye. During the | | | | how well it sees. Therefore, the doctor must rely on |
| first two years of life, the optic nerve, visual function | | | | the baby's reaction to different things. |
| and internal eye structures continue to develop. | | | | The doctor assesses the baby's vision by observing |
| Whereas an adult with perfect vision is said to have | | | | the following. Does the infant react to light shone in the |
| 20/20 vision, the newborn's visual acuity (sharpness of | | | | eyes? Will the baby look at a face or follow a moving |
| vision) is approximately 20/400. This is equivalent to | | | | toy? Other, more sophisticated vision tests may be |
| seeing only the big letter "E" on an eye chart. By the | | | | used if needed. |
| age of two, their vision has slowly improved to that of | | | | Eye drops are used to temporarily enlarge the pupils |
| 20/20. Color vision is present at birth, unless a child is | | | | for closer examination of the eyes. The drops may |
| born colorblind. | | | | take 30 to 90 minutes to work. The eye doctor then |
| Newborns at first don't pay much attention to the | | | | uses an instrument to test the baby's eye for |
| visual world but normally will blink when light shines in | | | | nearsightedness (better at seeing things close up), |
| their eye. The will also focus on a caregiver's (such as | | | | farsightedness (better at seeing things far away) or |
| a mother or father) face, especially when eating. At | | | | astigmatism (where the rays in the eye don't align, |
| that point, they are close enough to see it clearly. By 6 | | | | resulting in blurred vision). Most children are farsighted |
| to 8 weeks of age, infants will fix their gaze on an | | | | at birth but usually not to a degree requiring glasses. |
| object and follow its movement. | | | | However, a baby even a newborn can wear glasses |
| A baby's eyes should be well aligned (working as a | | | | if needed. |
| team) by 4 months of age. As the eyes become | | | | Finally, the eye doctor uses a lighted instrument with a |
| aligned, three-dimensional vision develops. This also | | | | magnifying glass to look inside the eye. |