Set Your Child Up for Success with Annual Eye Exams
The minute your child is born, they learn and interact with the world around them through their sense of sight. As they grow, children’s visual systems continue to develop and change, giving them essential skills to learn and play.
Eye exams are vital for monitoring your child’s visual development and catching eye diseases or vision problems that could impact their ability to learn.
According to the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO), children should undergo eye exams to match their needs as they age. While we recommend following the CAO’s frequency schedule, each individual is unique, so we may recommend a different schedule for your child.
Children should receive their first eye exam between the ages of 6 and 9 months. This age is generally when your child will gain eye muscle control and start developing hand-eye coordination. This stage in life is also when issues like crossed eyes (strabismus) or lazy eyes (amblyopia) will begin to surface.
Children between the ages of 2 and 5 should receive at least 1 eye exam. This exam will allow us to check your child’s visual development and uncover and treat potential issues before entering school.
Your child’s learning and development are primarily tied to their vision during these years. There are various activities you can use to help your child develop essential visual skills.
Your child’s dependency on their eyes will only increase once they enter school. They should undergo annual eye exams between the ages of 6 and 19 to help monitor vision changes, diagnose refractive errors, and detect potential eye conditions or diseases.
