For anyone with children, one thing you’ll naturally want to look out for is their health. As a parent, caring for and protecting your children is an essential part of parenthood. It is, for all intents and purposes, your “job” as a parent. However, for many people, one significant problem they tend to run into when it comes to helping their children is looking out for their eye health.
Unlike say something like a physical ailment or something like weight gain, you can’t spot the signs. A child with poor eyesight is something that you won’t know until they tell you. That’s why we highly recommend you keep an eye out for the following issues. It might just be a sign that your child needs help with their eye health, and should consider either glasses or contact lenses to try and keep their eyes healthy (www.pureoptical.co.uk and https://www.contactlenses.com.au/ are great options if you are looking to buy contacts).
Regular eye rubbing
A common sign that something might be up with your child is a regular desire to rub their eyes. If you notice them doing this more than you would yourself, it might be time to ask them if their eyes are feeling OK.
Lack of focus
One thing to notice is what your child talks about as much as what they see. So, listen out for little cues that your child might not be seeing clearly. Things like misunderstanding the colour of what someone is wearing, saying something is blurry when it shouldn’t be, and struggling to read or see things which are in their direct line of vision.
A loss of focus is a sadly common issue for many young children, and simply trying to strain and see through the problem can lead to even more issues in time.
TV proximity
A good sign that your child has eye problems comes from how close they have their TV/smartphone to their face. If you notice they are buried deep in the screen, then it might be down to the fact that they cannot see it properly from a small distance further back.
This is something to really focus on as a parent, as their solution – sitting even closer – will only worsen the problem. So, do what you can to try and convince your children to stop sitting so close to the TV; it’s only ever going to do them harm rather than good.
Regular redness
Looking for a sign that your child might have vision problems? Then you should look at their eyes. A child with chronically red and/or bloodshot eyes should be taken to an optician ASAP. They likely need some kind of eye support to help protect their eyes.
Redness of they eyes indicates eyes which are under considerable and constant strain. Naturally, you want to do everything that you can to solve that problem. So, make sure you consider the redness as a sign that something could be wrong. At that point, it’s essential that you take action.
Distance troubles
Another common issue for many children is having problem spotting things at a distance. If you want to test this, simply ask your child what a sign says which is a fair but readable distance away. As an adult, if you can read it then they should definitely have the eyesight to be able to read it.
It’s a good test to find out if your child is having eye problems or not. At the very least, it lets you make sure that they are aware of their surroundings and are taking in as much information as they can.
Reading inconsistency
If you worry your child has eyesight problems, then an easy way to solve this is to ask them to read something to you. Make sure it’s something they can actually read, though; handing them a Masters degree thesis isn’t going to be much use!
Ensure the language is something they can easily read and ask them to take over. You should be able to quickly notice if they have any difficulty when it comes to reading. This should really help you to understand if reading issues are down to the material, or down to their eyesight in general.
Squinting
Probably the most common sign for a parent to notice in a child with visual problems, though, is squinting. A child who spends all day doing a squint to see the TV, or anything else, probably has vision problems and needs to go and see a medical professional.
Really, squinting is something that one must keep an eye on. It’s a clear sign that their eyes are under duress, and likely means that you should be looking for some kind of lasting support. Once squinting becomes common, it’s probably best to start looking for help via glasses or contact lenses.
Headaches
Lastly, and this is one that we would only recommend linking to eyesight if its combined with some or all of the above, are headaches. A child who has headaches could be caused by anything from someone who has been in the sun too much without hydration to someone who has simply been feeling under the weather.
However, a child with regular headaches that goes along with the other symptoms listed above is probably a good example of a child who needs some support and some assistance. Keep that in mind as you move forward to help your child.
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