kids eye exam

[zoemurr]

There are too many parents who do NOT take their kids to the Dr. unless forced too so I guess it is good that they do screen. One of m DD's did/does have a slight curve to her spine. I refuse (signed the paper) to have the School exam her. I explain she has a slight one and is under Dr.s care..Otherwise I will end up being required to take her to the Dr.

Don't you need to take them to the dr. every 2-3 years for them to attend school? We have to turn in the forms signed by the doctor (and now dentist) saying they had a full physical before they can walk in the door.

Is this different in other places? They have a form stating that my kid just went to the dr. and is fine. Then they check her, say there is an issue, and I'm supposed to take her back. (The second time I just said that we are aware, and thank you.) I'm not sure we had an option to sign her out. Probably did but not one I remember seeing.

 

[kacaju]

Don't you need to take them to the dr. every 2-3 years for them to attend school? We have to turn in the forms signed by the doctor (and now dentist) saying they had a full physical before they can walk in the door.

Is this different in other places? They have a form stating that my kid just went to the dr. and is fine. Then they check her, say there is an issue, and I'm supposed to take her back. (The second time I just said that we are aware, and thank you.) I'm not sure we had an option to sign her out. Probably did but not one I remember seeing.

I am in NJ and no...I have had 3 kids go through the schools (college, 12th grade and an 8th grader) and no other then the Kindergarten papers and I think in 5 grade before the camping trip I had to make sure they were up to date with everything. But that is about it. Never had to prove they went to the dentist

 

[zoemurr]

I am in NJ and no...I have had 3 kids go through the schools (college, 12th grade and an 8th grader) and no other then the Kindergarten papers and I think in 5 grade before the camping trip I had to make sure they were up to date with everything. But that is about it. Never had to prove they went to the dentist

Interesting.. not sure if it is local or state.. but we have certain years (K,3,5,7,10 I think) where we need to prove they have had a full exam (both dr. and dentist) and are up to date on all of their shots or they will be stopped on arrival and sent home.

For children (and places) that this is not required I certainly see the value of school screenings. But in our case it seems to be overkill.

Sorry to change the topic...

 

[disney1990]

I have known at least 2 families that their children needed glasses by the age of 3 -- these issues were not picked up by their pediatrician.

My one friend, when her son put his glasses on, he said, wow, I can see.

She said she felt so bad that she cried because she didn't realize that he couldn't see before that.

 

[jodifla]

My son is 12, and still not been to the eye doctor. He passes all the pediatrician screenings with 20/20 vision or better, so we haven't bothered.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Our oldest was premature and has been followed by eye specialist since day one. Little guy saw a eye specialist as a baby for a blocked tear duck but was released by a year old. I took him for a check-up before kindergarten. In NC they need school physicals for K and 8th grade. They do eye, spine and teeth screenings as well weight and height checks in school. I mostly ask that mine not be screened. It is good to possibly catch something with a child that does not see a dentist or physician but mine saw both on a regular basis and I choose not to have them mass screened, Never an issue to decline,

 

[RedskinFan]

We started taking the kids at 4 because DH and I both started wearing glasses in elementary school. It definitely helps that my insurance covers 100% of the cost of the exam. At this years appointments the optometrist told us that both DS(7) and DD(5) will probably need glasses in the next year, DS for distance and DD for reading.

 

[Piper]

My daughter got her first glasses before she was 2 and needed them before that. Her pediatrician would wave his finger back and forth in front of her eyes and say she was fine. I knew she wasn't and saved from my food budget to take her to a pediatric ophthalmologist (against her father's wishes.) She had no vision in one eye and very little in the other.

Moral: don't trust your pediatrician!!

BTW--I knew she wasn't fine because if you held a toy close, she would reach for it, but she ignored everything that wasn't very close to her. The pedi said she was "just lazy!" NOT--poor baby couldn't see. We did years of vision therapy, she has had surgeries, and she could finally see well enough to learn to drive when she was in her early 40's!

 

[cari12]

What age did/do you take your child for their first eye exam? I'm talking about a regular routine screening, not if there is an issue like an eye turn etc.

I would say 4 years old unless there is a reason to suspect anything is wrong.

 

[indimom]

The only physicals our schools require is for sports (and possibly K). I know that I didn't take my kids to the eye doctor for a checkup until then. The schools have mass screenings for vision and scoliosis, also height and weight.

I know several people who didn't take their kids to an eye doctor until after the screeners recommended it. One was a good friend of mine (a teacher in this same school system). Her son's vision (at 8) was 20/100 and he had never complained or acted like he had a hard time seeing. She felt terrible when the doctor told her how bad his vision really was.

So, I don't think the screenings are useless.

I did opt out of the scoliosis screening for DD since she was already being tracked by our own doctor. There was no point in taking her out of class for that one.

As for the OP, if the pediatrician checks each eye separately with a snellen chart, I think you can hold off until K. If not, I would have their vision checked by an eye doctor. If one eye is not working well, the other eye compensates and they don't appear to have any vision problems, but they can lose complete vision in the bad eye if it isn't caught early.