subject: Your Child's Eyes Are Important, Too [print this page] Once you have a child, you quickly learn that things are very different for children than they are for adults. For instance, when you have a child you learn that while most family doctors can care for that child, it is best to have a pediatrician. A pediatrician is more thoroughly trained in knowing how to care for the needs that an infant or young child. That same rule holds true when you're looking for an eye doctor. When choosing an eye doctor for a young child, you need to make sure that you select an optometrist who is well trained in knowing how to care for children.
What Is Different?
A good question to ask is why children need to have an optometrist who is specially trained. Aren't children's eyes just the same as an adult's eyes, only in miniature form? The answer is no. Children have the same type of eyes as adults, but their eyes are still growing and changing. This makes the eyes extremely different than the eyes of a person who is already fully grown. While an adult's eyes tend to degenerate over time, a child's eyes are always changing, which means that something that may be a problem now isn't necessarily something that will continue to be a problem.
For instance, have you ever seen a child who has glasses for a year or two and then does not need to have glasses any longer? That is because the eyes needed to have some help for a time, but they were able to readjust in order to allow the child to go without lenses in the future. There are a lot of problems that children have with their eyes which, when treated correctly, can be only temporary, including cross-eyed children and those who suffer from having a lazy eye.
What To Look For in an Eye Doctor for a Child
So what should you look for when choosing an eye doctor for your child? The first thing to look for is to see if they have had any sort of special training that deals with children. Some optometrists go that extra mile to take courses in order to learn specifically about the care of a child's eyes. One very important factor that you should take into consideration is how the doctor acts around your child. Before choosing a permanent eye doctor, make sure that you get the opportunity to see your child interact with the doctor. If they treat your child coldly, and don't recognize that their small patient needs a bit of special treatment, then you may want to look elsewhere.
A good optometrist for a child is gentle and able to relate to a child at his/her level, while still explaining to the parent everything that is going on. Before choosing an eye doctor for your child, make sure that you research all of the available doctors in your area and that you speak with them specifically about their training in regards to children. You can even schedule an appointment in order to see how your child and the optometrist interact with each other.
by: Roger Ubik
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