About
Welcome to Little Four Eyes!!
Glasses are not the worst thing that your kid may need to deal with, not by a long shot, but as we faced getting glasses for our children, we found ourselves wishing there were some way to connect with other parents who have dealt or are dealing with with a variety of situations involving small children with very expensive (and breakable!) equipment on their faces.
Little Four Eyes is a community for parents of children in glasses, contacts, or patches, regardless of diagnosis. It is aimed at parents of kids age 5 and under, though any one is welcome! All posts are written by parents (unless otherwise specified).
If you just found out that your child needs glasses, you may want to take a look at our post on just starting out. Just looking for general thoughts and opinions on glasses? Read through our Open Thread on Glasses post.
You might also be interested in joining our Little Four Eyes group on Facebook. A lot of great discussion happens there, as well.
~ ~ ~
Join in the conversation!
Please read through our posts and pages and leave us a comment on anything that catches your interest. We like comments!
This blog is written by parents of children dealing with vision issues. If you’re interested in contributing to this blog, either as a regular contributor, or just posting one time, please leave a comment or email Ann (ann @ shinypebble . com – remove the spaces). No commitment or experience necessary, we’re just looking for people to share their thoughts and experiences. Check out the bios of our current contributors – we’re all regular parents like you.
~ ~ ~
Layout of Little Four Eyes
- Main blog – the blog is updated by our many contributors. We write about a wide range of topics related to our kids and their glasses and their vision.
- About – the page you’re reading right now
- Contributors – bios of our regular contributors
- Badges – love this site? Get one of our badges to add to your blog or website
- Archives – an index of all of our posts, you can find posts by date, author, topic, or age range.
- Photo Gallery – a gallery of pictures of babies, toddlers and young kids in glasses. A great place to visit if you are wondering what young children in glasses look like (beautiful is the quick answer), or if you want to show your child how great they’ll look in their glasses.
- Books for Kids – a list compiled by Ann W, a children’s librarian, of kids’ books about having glasses, vision issues, or patching. There’s a short list at the end of kids’ books that feature children in glasses, but aren’t specifically about wearing glasses.
- Resources for Parents – if you’re an obsessive researcher, this list of links to other pages with helpful information about children’s vision, glasses, and other topics is a great place to start.
- Collected Wisdom – tips and tricks for dealing with kids and glasses based on the experiences of our contributors and readers.
- Ordering Glasses for Your Children Online – a guide to ordering glasses for young kids online.
- Doctor and Optical Shop Recommendations – a collection of doctors and glasses shops that readers recommend.
- Gear – additional things you or your child might like. This includes coloring pages, patching posters, and links to sites that sell things for kids with glasses (mostly t-shirts and other accessories).
~ ~ ~
About Commenting
I hope you’ll take the time to read any posts that interest you, and leave your thoughts as comments (even if the post is old). Your comments are essential to this blog and this community. We have all learned a great deal from reading about other people’s experiences.
In some cases, a comment may be copied and made into a blog post if I believe it merits additional discussion – generally this happens when a commenter is asking a question and I believe that it will receive more answers by being its own blog post. In those cases, I will make every attempt to notify the commenter before doing so, and will always credit the commenter.
Comments are open on all posts and pages on this blog. Comment moderation is extremely light, however, hateful comments and personal attacks will not be tolerated. I do use a spam filter, and spam is not posted to the blog. If you left a comment that does not appear on the site, it may be temporarily caught in the spam filter. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly (ann @ shinypebble . com) if you have any questions about commenting on Little Four Eyes, or if you believe your comment has been lost.
~ ~ ~
Illustrations
The wonderful illustrations on this blog are done by Scott Donaldson, who began wearing glasses at age 5. Please visit his website if you’d like to see more of his work!
~ ~ ~
Obligatory Copyright and Disclaimer Information
All written content on Little Four Eyes is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
All photos are copyright of the photographer. Use of these photos is strictly prohibited without express written permission of the owner of the photo. Contact Ann, ann @ shinypebble . com, for more information.
…
The information provided here is based on our own experiences and the experiences of our readers. It is not meant to provide a medical opinion about your child’s specific case. The problems of every patient are unique and should be addressed by their optometrist or ophthalmologist in a face-to-face conversation.
~ ~ ~
Badges and other paraphenalia
| Blog: |
| Little Four Eyes |
|
Topics:
|
| glasses, babies, toddlers |
Want a Little Four Eyes badge? Get one here!
Dear Ann & Ann,
Thank you so much for this blog – it is exactly what I was looking for!! I found out a week ago that my 2-year-old daughter, Eliza, needs glasses. Her left eye is 4x as far-sighted as her right. We’ve been talking it up BIG TIME and emphasizing that everyone in the family wears glasses, but she is having none of it! We can’t even get a pair of frames on her for sizing!
If you have any tips for getting them on the first time, I’d love to hear them! I am starting a sticker chart, but she just gets mad when I say she can have the sticker if she puts on her glasses. HELP!
Thanks & I look forward to following your blog.
Katherine
PS How to I “subscribe” to this blog?
Welcome Katherine! I hope this blog ends up being helpful. I will definitely try to post more on thoughts about getting Zoe to wear glasses at the very beginning. I think what worked the best was not to push it too hard or make a huge deal out of it. We just kept putting the glasses on her whenever she was calm, and tried to always stay positive, even if they only stayed on for a few seconds before she took them off. Getting them on her for sizing was absolutely the hardest thing we did. I’m glad we worked with people who were so used to screaming children. Basically we held her in a bear hug to keep them on for the time needed for sizing, while still trying to show her how happy we were – easier said than done!
You should be able to subscribe to the blog by clicking the “Entries (RSS)” and your browser should connect you to your RSS reader. If you don’t have an RSS reader, I use Google Reader and have been very happy with it. Let me know if you have more questions and I’ll send you a quick email with more information.
Hi there. I happened to be reading an article on Parent Hacks website about eye exams for infants and saw a comment you posted and then followed your comment to this website.
My daughter has strabismus and farsightedness, first diagnosed at 6 months and has been wearing glsses since then. We also do patching on her eyes. She is 13 months now. I will bookmark your site and just wanted to say hello. I look forward to reading more posts on your site.
Hello! Our son Michael started crossing his left eye at 5 months when we took pictures. It gradually got worse, and we started to wonder about his vision becuase he had zero interest in TV (which we were not all that concerned about), he had no interest in colorful toys and books unless they were right in front of him, and he would get scared and cry if we were more than 10 feet away.
At 8 months the pediatric opthalmologist determined he had a perscription of +12 in his crossing eye, and the other eye was +10. He was perscribed glasses. The eye still crossed. ATwo weeks later we were patching the good eye (with glasses), but he figured out how to rip off and eat the patch soon-there-after. At 10 months they had us use atropine drops instead of the patch for the right eye (again, with glasses), but the left eye still crossed. At 12 months they surgically corrected the strabismus.
With glasses, his eyes are straight, but the left eye still crosses without the glasses. He looks great, and he loves his glasses! He cries when we take them off, and runs to us when the come off to put them back on.
Hi Brian! Thanks for the comment, you guys have really been through a lot. How did the surgery go? Was it difficult?
My little angel is almost 11 months old and we just found out she needs glasses, she has strabismus and is farsighted. It was a shock when I found out, and has been quite the emotional experience. I felt like getting glasses and trying to think of questions to ask was all cramed into a few hours. I cam home feeling so confused. I nor anyone in my family has ever had glasses so I have had to do alot of research. Thank you for this awesome blog! We don’t feel so alone.
Welcome Kim! I’m happy you’ve found our blog to be helpful. Please let us know how your daughter is doing with her glasses, and send us a picture once she has them so we can add her to the gallery.
Hey Ladies!
My little miss is almost 19 months old and was just diagnosed with strabismus (accommodative esotropia) this week. I stumbled upon your website as I feverishly googled the terms that will now be part of my vocabularly. I can’t thank you enough for the resources, stories and all that have been posted on this blog. I have been perusing it’s contents and have found it so helpful, informative and reassuring to know that we aren’t the “only” ones going through all of this with our daughter. Plus, some of the feelings you have written about once you discovered your kids needed glasses really hit home with me. It has been a rollercoaster couple of days since we found out about her condition, but we are settling into the idea of seeing her in glasses. After all, everyone she is surrounded by wears them…so, in theory, it was only a matter of time.
I look forward to using you all as sounding boards for this adventure we are about to begin!
Thanks!!
Amy
Hi everyone,
New mother of glasses-wearing kid alert! My 3-year was just diagnosed with an astigmatism in both eyes and moderate hyperopia (far-sightedness). Yes…I cried, but I’m ok with it now. I love his new glasses…2 pairs so far and one on order. Perhaps overkill? My baby now looks like a little man. He keeps them on pretty well, likely because he is so thrilled to actually be able to see. No amblyopia detected, but the opthalmologist is watching him closely. They are dying to see his 5-year old brother, since this is apparently quite hereditary. I can’t imagine he has it too, but every optical place from here to tokyo (yes, shopping for eyeglasses has been quite an adventure) has tried to get us to let them test his brother! We shall see…
I somehow stumbled across this site today and can’t tell you what a wonderful site it is! Talk about just what I needed!
My daugther, who is 19-months old, was diagnosed with Farsightedness in her left eye (+4.00) with her right eye being in the normal range. I have been struggling with so many of the issues on this site, and it is comforting to know that I am not alone. We have finally gotten a pair of glasses, but now I can’t get her to wear them for even 10 seconds, let alone 10 minutes. I have a very spirited child, and by reading your posts, it has helped me realize that I shouldn’t give up and need to keep trying. We’ve been at it for about a week and I have renewed optimism after reading your experiences. Thank you for putting them out for folks like me to read. If anyone has any suggestions for things I can try, I’d welcome them! (She actually closes her eyes when I put the glasses on now…stubborn, stubborn)
This is a great site and I’m glad you’ve all found each other. I work with the Children’s Eye Foundation (www.childrenseyefoundation.org) and we’re in the process of revamping our site to be more of a resource for parents of children going through treatment for Amblyopia and Strabismus. We’ll have treatment guides, videos, blogs and a number of other resources that I hope are useful. Once the site is live, I’ll post a note to this board and I welcome your feedback: t.rogers @ childrenseyefoundation.org.
Hi Ann,
I am looking at all these postings and its so awsome when people say that their kid have had surgery and they did great.
My daughter has strabismus as far as we know, and the dr too, she doesnt have vision problems.
He recomended surgery and we are going to do it on friday 11/14/08 I am frecked out and starting to imagine things..I guess I am more scared of the annesthesia than anything. My husband is so calmed that I am going to rely on him big time.
I noticed her right eye was going out-up. We took her for the first time at that age and recomended the patching. I guess it didnt really worked because her nanny told me he had her on the patch and then months later she told me that she pulls it and conclusion…The patching didnt worked. My last appointment was around 2 months ago and they told me she needed surgery. I freked out and started the patching again.. she said glasses were not a good option for her. Last thrusday was our last appt with the main doctor and he checked her and told us that she needed the surgery. Its not a lot because the twisting in her eye but moor because of her alightnment. He told us that it was becasuse of the poor control she has.
I hope we took the right choice and I just want the best for her. She is 22 months now.
Keep us in your prayers.
You have a great blog!..
Hi Veronica Echols,
Please take heart!! You are in our prayers and I hope that your daughters surgery was a success. YOu are right in that the scariest part is the anaesthetic. Please keep us posted on her progress.
Hi all,
My daughter had surgery on nov 14th and it went ok. She did very good after anesthesia…she was a little cranky but ok. She was super active all day and eating a little but eating. Next day she woke up as another different person, she was cranky, she cried and cried all morning…i got so dessperate that I cried too…it was horrible…later on we call the doctor because I noticed her left eye (good eye) was getting puffy…he said it was normal..etc…next day it was horrible…she had so much swellnes..it was a very puffy eye and she was less cranky but her eye couldnt open at all. We went straight to the dr’s office and he said he had never had a child with an infection so, he said..this is weird..so he sent us straight to the hospital…oh well, after a day or so, they figured out she got a STAFF INFECTION!….what are the chances of that!…MRSA ….it was the most horrible experience Ive ever had in my life….my poor baby was poked for around 3 times..her IV got out of place and needed to replace etc…not a good experience. But, I am happy she is doing better after antobiotics and having a hard time at home to give her the medicine…..:(
At the hospital drops every 2 hours day and night and so tired her and me.
She is doing much better now. Still have red eye and a little bit of swellnes..but she returend to daycare yesterday and she is very happy!..God was with us the whole time!…
About the operation, I think it was a sucess but not sure yet. Her lazy eye is not lazy anymore..and her other eye points towards the center since the begiing but Dr says its normal. She is starting to straighten that eye and focus as normal.
I really pray for this surgery to be a success because it scares me to death that she will need another one!….
Thank you for your prayers!
Veroncia
My 2 1/2 year old son, Luke is going back to the doctor next Thursday to see if his strabismus, amblyopia, farsightedness has improved, changed, etc. If his glasses have made his eyes perfectly straight he will not have surgery, but if any misalignment then we will be scheduling surgery…this waiting is killing me. We’ve already done this once. We were first dx in June and waited until Sept to see if glasses and 10 hours a week of patching were helping, and had surgery scheduled just in case we needed it. We were able to cancel surgery because he was much improved and glasses had almost completely straightened his eyes, but the waiting continues from Sept 11 until our Dec. 11 appointment. An added stressor is that we are also going to take my 16 month old daughter to have her eyes checked, just in case. I am increasingly paranoid and thinking I see something when I look at her. Even though nobody else sees any problems with her eyes I am not comforted because nobody saw any crossing when looking at Luke’s until all of a sudden it was very obvious. Even the pediatrician said that his eyes looked fine at wellness checks when I mentioned that he seemed to squint and that I thought that his eyes were crossing. ANYWAY, the saga and waiting continue until next Thursday when we find out if surgery is in our future and if my daughter’s eyes are ok.
I’m so thankful for sites like this because it does feel like we are the only ones in the world that have to worry about patching and crossed eyes.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as the countdown to the verdict continues.
councelorjb: I understand perfectly. I really dont know if my daughter’s surgery went ok.. cause her left eye its still pointing a little bit in..so..I dont know..but I really hope not. This MRSA infection she got at the hospital was the worst, i am paranoid if she has another surgery she will go throught the same…thats tha chances you take in having a surgery its not the surgery itself..its crazy!…
I think everything will be ok with your children!..I will pray for you!
Veronica
Veronica, your story about your daughter’s surgery is chilling. I’m so glad that she’s better now, but the idea of the MRSA infection just scares the heck out of me. I completely understand your paranoia about future surgeries, and I hope you don’t need to make the decision about more surgery. I know that I look at Zoe’s eyes every day, and closely inspect every picture of her, trying to figure out if they’re turning in at all.
Counselorjb, best of luck tomorrow with Luke’s eye appointment.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Our doctor said that Luke’s eyes are crossing a little with this glasses, but not enough to do surgery and that he is actually starting to favor his left (crossed) eye more so we may have to alternate and patch his left eye later on. He said that his eyes are much stronger due to the religious patching we’ve been doing. We do not have to go back to the PO for six months! He did say that 10-15% of kids will all of a sudden start crossing with the glasses, like the glasses stop working, but other than that he was pleased. We are to continue to patch ten hours a week…getting harder by the week. We have now been patching for six months and when we go back it will be a full year of patching. Doctor said that he has to be monitored to make sure that Luke’s eyes stay ‘balanced,’ since he has learned to use one eye over the other before, it is difficult to use both and not favor the stronger one. Also, Addison’s eyes are good, she had a slight astigmatism which he said was normal for her age, and one of her eyelids droops slightly, nobody noticed it but me and the doctor when he was looking, so this is probably what I saw when I thought her eyes “didn’t match.”
We are SOOO happy to not have to schedule surgery for Luke or patch a very stubborn sixteen month old girl.
Thanks again for caring.
Ann, and others who contribute,
I just have to say that I am amazed at how much this blog has grown in the last 9 months since I found it when I was looking for information on infant glasses. I was so nervous and clueless on what to expect with my son, Reid, all the sudden needing to wear glasses. It is such a relief to be able to read about moms/parents that are going through some of the same struggles that we are. And the other places that you have linked are very hepful when I am looking on information about other types of glasses, apparel for my family who is proud to have a baby with glasses. I love it. So, THANK YOU for getting this started!
Thank you for a great informative web site. I found it about a month ago after my 23 month old son, Frank, was diagnosed with Strabismus. Right before Thanksgiving we noticed his left eye turning in. We took him to the doctor immediatly because there is a family history of Strabismus.
The opthamoligist said his eye sight is +3.50 in both eyes. He said patch and get glasses. Thankfully Frank has never been bothered by the patch and has never pulled. We ordered his glasses and they finally came in last week. He has been good wearing them so far, but the past 2 days he has become extremely clumsy. Yesterday he fell and scratched his face all up and scratched one lense very bad. Thankfully we got insurance on the glasses and they will replace the lense for free. Then this morning the babysitter calls me at work and says that he fell again and his glasses are completely bent and the lense fell out. Not only that, but the nose piece went into the corner of his eye and he has a cut.
This has made me a little stressed out since he has suddenly become so clumsy. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to help him out and not be so clumsy?
Does anyone else have the problem of their child looking over the top of their glasses. My daughter was 2 when she got her glasses and has looked over the top of them since day one. Shes wonderful about wearing them, but I worry that somethings not right.
Any suggestions?
My son the does the exact same thing. i am constantly asking him to push his glasses up or I am constantly adjusting them for him, but he returns to the same thing. i do not know hwy he does this either.
Hi All,
I am having an post op appointment tomorrow and I am nervous wondering if her surgery was a success or not, her right eye is perfect (lazy eye) but hte left one is still pointing a little tinny bit in..so..I dont know if it will correct itself or what?…keep me on your prayers..I dont want to go through another surgery..
She is doing great!…she doesnt have any cysts anymore!…I wondered if Dr..did something because I mentioned to him, so..I am happy for that too..so I will keep you posted!
Thank you for your prayers
Veronica
Veronica, how did the appointment go? I’m hoping for good news for you.
Veronica,
Have been thinking of you! How did your follow up go? Trust in your doctors and your mummy instinct. Keep us updated and hope all went well at your appt.
Anita
Hi we just found out my 3 and half yr old needs glasses to correct an astigmatism pof approx 1.75+ in each eye.
I am going for a second opinion because, while I am confident the doctor was correct he admitted he had to guess on her prescription value because she was not interested in the examination. Any comments on what i should do from here. I had poor vision but not an astigmatism as a child…my other son who is 5 is okay for now…i took this a lot harder than i thought…she seems to be okay but we have not got her frames yet…we shall see how that goes
Hi Alison, I think this always hits us a lot harder than we expect. Good luck with the second opinion, it sounds like that’s a good idea if only to confirm the prescription. Let us know how it all goes!
Luke’s eye surgery is scheduled for May 29th at 11:45. They are going to tighten the muscles in both of his eyes. I’m tense and worried. I’ve been thinking about and planning out the day so that it goes as smoothly as possible, especially since he can’t eat after 5:45am and can’t drink after 7:45am. He usually get up in the mornings around 7am. So, I’m thinking that I will wake him up around 5:30am for something special(donut holes) that he will eat, so that hopefully he won’t be starving all day. He is going to miss breakfast and lunch and I can’t imagine how that is going to work out. Then we are going to have to get him out of the house so he isn’t focused on not getting breakfast, but we need to go somewhere that he doesn’t get hot and sweaty and need a drink. I’m thinking the pet store and/or toys r us if they are open..hopefully that will distract him from no food and drink. We have to arrive at the clinic at 10am and wait for an hour and 45 min for his procedure. They said that the procedure will take 45 minutes. During the wait I plan to give him new books that I’m saving for the occassion, markers (a fave of his) and I’m also bringing bubbles. I have told Luke that Dr Hunter is going to fix his eyes. I plan to tell him that we will eat after Dr Hunter fixes his eyes. I think that’s enough explanation for a 3 year old.
I’m concerned about when he comes out of the anesthesia because when he had the tear duct surgery at one year old it was very upsetting to see him so upset and unable to be consoled. Plus, I worry about him being in pain. The nurse said that little ones don’t hurt too bad, but their eye muscles feel tight, its sore when they look quickly from one side to the other, he may be sensitive to the light, and may see double for a few days. ALSO, we will be putting drops in his eyes 3 times a day and ointment after the surgery.
I feel like I am preparing for battle and have to be strong and ready to take care of him and make things ok for him. I’m praying for a quick recovery and most of all COMPLETE healing so that this will be the end of his eye issues.
When we went in to see the doctor last month after his eyes started crossing with his glasses on, I was completely blindsided when they told me he needed surgery. We have avoided surgery for almost a year now with patching and glasses. Dr Hunter said that after surgery he may need glasses without the bifocals, like he has now, or may not need glasses at all. Wouldn’t that be amazing!! I hate to get my hopes up, but that is my hope…
Thanks for letting me process all of this, and most of all thanks for your prayers.
Hi Jennifer! It sounds like you have it all very well planned for your little guy! I know it is a very big thing (we went through this about two years ago) and very scarry for us parents as we are just by-standers! Definitely ask for the eye drops versus the ointment. It is way easier to get in his eyes! We will be praying for you! Keep us updated!
Oh Thank God! I am so grateful to have found this site! i have gone through sleepless nights and depression over my six year old son’s strabismus. I am so happy to here that there is hope for my son, and that there are other options for him.
Thank YOU!!
Welcome Alexandra! I’m glad you’ve found us. There is absolutely hope for your son. I hope you stick around and keep us updated and share your son’s photo if you’re comfortable. I know it can be so hard to watch our children struggle with vision problems, but we all do the best we can.
Hello,
We think your site is wonderful!
my wife and i would like to start a non profit christian foundation for needy children all over the world thats in need of glasses that there parents can’t afford to pay for. there are so many children in this world needing our help, all we have to do is reach out and give them our love and support…recently i found out just how much a person can change someones life with just a 20.00 pair of reading glasses..my pastor recently went to Africa to share the lords word and there in africa there are so many children that wants to read but can’t without reading glasses,, i recently found out that the 20.00 i gave in support to help buy glasses for these children in need was well spent,, one little girl was so happy to be able to see the words in her bible she told my pastor to thank the man who helped her see,, when i got this praise of word i broke out in tears, i made someones life awhole lot brighter..this has inspired me so much to now want to start a foundation to help children in need of glasses, at this time we are researching on how to make this happen and to get it started. if you have any info you would like to share we would greatly appreciate it ,, god bless!
Tim in Louisiana.
Hello,
My daughter who will be four on December 1 just started wearing glasses about a week ago due to farsightedness. Her prescription is +4 in the left eye and +3 in the right. Without her glasses her left eye will turn inward sometimes when she is trying to focus. So far she has been wearing them without any problems. Like most parents on this website at first I was really sad about her having to wear glasses. She goes back in about 3 months time for another checkup. How often will her prescription change? What can I expect? Will her vision get worse? Will it get better? Does it depend on the child? Can she outgrow this? I am new to this eyeglass situation and would appreciate any thoughts or comments from you! Thank You.
Hi Lora, welcome! It’s great to hear that she’s doing well with her glasses.
I think it depends a lot on the child in terms of how much their prescription changes, but I think that it’s more likely to change more in the first year, just as the doctor is figuring out what the right prescription is. That, at least, was our experience with Zoe. Her prescription changed a lot that first year, and this year, her prescription has stayed steady. Most children grow less farsighted through around age 12 or so, so your daughter’s vision will probably improve, and it’s possible that she’ll outgrow it.
Good luck and keep us updated on how things go for you and your daughter!
I am SOOO glad I found this site also. We found out that our 4 year old son needed glasses back in September and we were in such disbelief that we took him to a pediatric opthamologist and hour away from home for a second opinion and learned the truth that he definitely needed them. I, like so many others on here was very upset. I cried and couldn’t sleep for quite a few days. But now I see from some of the other posts that there may be some hope of him growing out of them. He is farsighted in both eyes (script in +7 in one eye and +6 in the other). We initially brought him because the Prek teacher noticed him crossing in his right eye from time to time. Then I noticed it but thought the doctor would just tell me it was normal and would correct itself. I never thought he would tell me that he needed glasses. He has done very well with them though. He can see with them on or off but he has gotten to a point where he doesn’t ask to take them off (and that is after 2 days) I just pray that the glasses help him.
jguidry3, I had the exact same experience of assuming that the doctor would tell me that Zoe crossing her eyes was nothing to worry about. I was floored when she told us to make an appointment with an ophthalmologist. I’m glad to hear your son is doing well with the glasses.
I also forgot to ask if any of you know of a good resource regarding Vision Therapy for Children?
Thanks again.
http://www.covd.org
This is a website I found my daughter’s Vision Therapist on. You just put in your zip (in the US) and the distance and it finds them for you.
We’ve been having some improvement since starting therapy 2 months ago. It can get expensive since insurance usually doesn’t cover it but there are some out there that are willing to keep the cost low by giving you the materials to do the therapy at home. We go once a month to have her evaluated and get new materials. This works for us since the closest one is an hour away.
Good luck.
That is the website where I found my daughters VT, can you blieve he was the only one in our area!? Also, how scary is it that her pediatrician didn’t know what a vision therapist was, didn’t care either!!!
It’s obvious from the coments how useful this site is and I very much like the idea – especially as here are still those bodies (often commercial) trying to keepup the stigma of glasses in the playground.
I have put a small piece on my Spectacles Blog (where we touch on specs forkids and spectacles’ image) with a link back here. Keep up the good work.
Tate.
Wow, thank you so much, Tate! I absolutely agree that the stigma against glasses still shows up from time to time, esp. in movies and shows, where glasses seem to be a way for lazy writers to indicate that a character is serious, smart, and humorless. But I do think it’s getting better. Nice Spectacles blog, too!
I love this website! I have found much “comfort” knowing that I am not in this all by myself. My daughter’s script is +4 and +3 and since she started wearing them about 3 weeks ago the left eye occasionally turning in has decreased somewhat when she takes her glasses off. I am hoping this is a good sign that they are helping? Also, she has made a comment on a couple of occasions that she sees better with her glasses off. Should I treat this seriously and take her back to the optometrist? Would this mean that her script is now too strong or too weak for her?
I would call the doctor and let them know what she is telling you. They would probably want to see if her script has changed I would think.
You know something else that kept me double guessing myself, I went to an eye doctor who saw very young children but was not certified as pediatric. He said Karson’s eyes were farsighted and he had no depth perception. He wanted to put him in +2.5 script for both eyes even though his right eye is definitely the weaker of his eyes. He said he would be out of glasses within a year or two. Not wanting to put glasses on my child, that’s why we got the 2nd opinion and that was the doctor who said Karson is severely farsighted and needed a script of +7 for both eyes and he would never be out of glasses. (this doctor is a pediatric opthamalogist) I just don’t see how 2 doctors can be so far off from each other.
It’s so hard when you get two conflicting opinions. I know that some doctors prefer to underprescribe for farsightedness, preferring only to correct as much as necessary to keep a child from crossing their eyes, and I have heard from some eye doctors that some children are more likely to accept a smaller prescription first, and then when they’re used to it, move to a fuller prescription. So it’s possible that the first eye doctor preferred to do the undercorrection as a first course of treatment. I haven’t seen any studies suggesting that undercorrecting is better, though if a child refuses glasses with a full prescription, but is willing to take a lesser prescription and then move to their full correction, then I guess that would make sense. My gut would be to go with the doctor who is used to working with young children.
Welcome Lora! I agree, I would ask for a follow-up appointment with the optometrist to check out her prescription. We took Zoe in for a follow-up about a month after she got her glasses and ended up getting a stronger prescription. It’s worth knowing, though that kids who are farsighted can usually see pretty clearly without glasses by using their accommodation reflex – it puts a strain on their eyes and is what pulls their eyes out of alignment, but it does help them focus, so it’s very possible that your daughter can see clearly with her glasses off, and that she hasn’t yet relaxed her eyes with the glasses. Some doctors will start kids off with a weaker prescription for that reason. I’d say it’s definitely worth asking the doctor about whether they suggest a different prescription, or just encouraging your daughter to wear her glasses until she’s used to them.
Wow, this is a great blog. My 4 yr old son was recently diagnosed with severe farsightedness with strabismus. Today was our first day with glasses. YIKES! I thought to myself how in the world are we going to do this. Reading the post have calmed me down a little. His prescription is quite strong and it seems that he can’t see very well with them on. He keeps looking over the top or underneath and rubbing his eyes and saying the everything looks weird (especially when it is far away). How do I know if the prescription is correct? I am assuming I need to be patient. Anyway, I look forward to all the information that I will be able to obtain from this site. Thanks so much!!
Hi! My 2 1/2 year old has been wearing glasses for about 8 months. I just had him in for a checkup yesterday and his prescription already needs to be stronger. Does anyone here have a child this young who is nearsighted? His prescription is -6.5 and -7.25. I seems like almost anyone I’ve talked to their children are far sighted. How uncommon is this?
Hi DJ, I know that there are some parents here with young children who are nearsighted. You’re right that farsightedness is far more common in young children – one study looked at 2300 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old, and only 19 were significantly nearsighted ( http://littlefoureyes.com/2009/05/29/prevalence-of-refractive-errors-in-young-children-the-baltimore-pediatric-eye-disease-study/ ).
You might want to read through some of the posts specifically about nearsightedness – http://littlefoureyes.com/category/myopia-nearsighted/, there’s stories and discussions about children with nearsightedness there.
Praise the Lord for this Blog! My 16 month old started crossing his eyes a little over a month ago and we finally got into to the Pedia.Opth. this past week. I felt overwhelmed and this site has given me a real handle on it. I am a researcher when it comes to my kids or health. Thank you LittleFourEyes.
Welcome Laura! Please let us know if you have any questions and keep us updated on how things are going with your son!
Ok, I’m freaking out here! My daughter has been wearing her glasses since yesterday. The glasses are to keep her left eye from crossing; it is her weaker eye. The left eye is still crossing when she wears the glasses, but that’s not what has me so worried. When she wears the glasses her right eye turns in as well! Is t…his normal? Will it take her eyes some time to adjust? When should I call the PO with my concern? Sorry for so many questions, and thanks everyone in advance for the help!
(Posted this on the FB page as well)
Hi Ashlie, it can take a while for your daughter’s eyes to adjust to the glasses and learn not to cross, but I would still call the PO and ask about that. Do you have a follow-up appointment to check the prescription? Your PO may have you wait until that appointment, but it can’t hurt to call and let them know what’s going on.
I hope her eyes straighten out quickly. I know how awful it is to look at your child and see her eyes crossing, even while they’re being treated.
Hi there,
I came across this website when searching for tips on patching babies eyes. My son Cooper is 10 months old and at 4 months old he was diagnisod with Persistant Hyperplastic Primary Vitreous (PHPV). Basically it is a a white clouded cell over his lens that is blocking his vision. Since then we have been putting eye drops in his bad eye and patching his good eye for an hour a day. At first he was ok with his patch but lately it has been a nightmare, he will scream and cry and try to rip it off the whole time he has it on and I just feel so cruel. Has anyone been through the same thing with patches and found a solution? The specialist suggested putting swimming floaties on his arms so that he can’t reach his eye but I just can’t bring myself to restrain him like that. He doesn’t wear glasses just the stick on patch. There is a surgery he could get but the specialist won’t do it until his condition worsens as it doesn’t have a great success rate.
Any feedback would be great!
Claire
PS sorry if I’ve posted in the wrong section!
Hi Claire and welcome! There’s one other post about PHPV, though it doesn’t talk much about patching. I know that others have struggled quite a bit with patching – since patching is unfortunately necessarily making it harder for your son to see, it’s not surprising that it’s such a struggle. I wish you much luck and hope that others with more experience with patching will weigh in.
Hi everybody,
I came across this website when searching for tips on how to put on contact lenses for babies. My son Adyaan is 2 months old and he will have his cataracts removed on Saturday on 27 November 2010. He has been diagnosed with congenital cataracts due to rubella syndrome. After his eye surgery he would be on contact lenses of the highest power. As his parents we are indeed very sacred of fixing his contact lenses for daily use. We are assuming we have to put eye drops in his eyes every day. We are scared of thinking that he will scream and cry and try to rip it off when you will not have any option but to be cruel with him and fix his contact lenses.
We don’t know how he would coup up with the contact lenses. His doctor prefers if possible Adyaan should be on contact lenses, either daily wear or extended wear, through out his life. Has anyone been through the same thing with contact lenses and found a better solution?
Any feedback or experience would be highly appreciated!
Emam
Zara my little angel now has her glasses a wk and a day and getting on well 1st day was a nightmare but she seems2be coming round to the idea she is 21mths and has a turn in her right eye this website has been great 2us so far!thanks
So happy to hear that Zara is starting to get used to her glasses!
Hello everyone,
I was wondering if any of you have noticed differences in flash photos made at home in the red reflex of your child’s eye (if your child has near or farsightedness). I see a smaller orangish color on my 16 month old daughter’s pupil area on the right eye on flash photos, I do not see on the left one, and was curious if any of you have seen these kind of strange pics of your child.
I have read about photoscreening, and that gave me the idea that it might be reflective error.
I have already taken her to have an eye exam done,but the doctor said she has no lazy eye, and he saw good red reflex but it still worries me, as I see it on several photos, and it does look really strange, I keep on thinking something is not ok with that eye. I played with her covering one eye after the other, even tried with a home made patch to cover the other eye, she did not like it, but after a few secoonds she had no problem, picked up little hairbows and put them in the cup, walked around no problem, did not even try to take the patch off. Of coruse I used that only to test her vision.
Has anyone seen these kind of odd red reflex photos ?
Hi Amy,
I’ve seen pictures of Zoe with one eye having red eye and the other not. From what I can tell, it’s due to Zoe’s eyes not lining up, so one is reflecting the light and the other isn’t. Is there any chance you could get back to an eye doctor and could bring some of the pictures you mention? It may be that her eyes are only intermittently going out of alignment, that was the case with Zoe as well at first.
Let us know what you find out.
Hi i just wanted to get some opions. My three year old has been wearing glasses for just over a year. her first pairs were cheap but lasted really well. This time i thought i would splurge and get her designer frames and paid a lot for her lenses. I picked them up and was really happy with them but 1 1/2 weeks later she has a big scratch on her lense. is this common to scatch so easy??? i have been so upset as they want another $88 to fix them and i have alredy spent $250 just on the lenses. any thoughts???
Hello Ann, thank you for your reply. I did show the photos to the eye doctor,took my laptop and zoomed on and showed, told I see it on several photos. He did not worry about it. I have noticed that I see it on several photos even from as early as month 4. I have contacted an expert on photosceening, and I do beleive she probably has a reflective error in that eye. We will go back for another comfirmatory exam this year, I hope she will start to say some words soon, and give us some help about how her vision is. I have checked some of your photos (your children are so adorable!) , we do not have that kind of flash pics, she has red in both eye, but the right eye always have some extra ornage crescent shine on the top of the pupil when she is lookin into the cam. If I understand right, that means reflective error. I have tried to put a patch on her other eye, to test her vision, she was surprised first, but did not even try to take it off after a few seconds, and played around without a word. That also would “confirm” the suspected nearsightedness. As she sees good close.
I hope everything is ok, but I know deep down, I would not see difference between the two eyes on flash pics if everything was ok. She will definately need another eyecheck.
Hi, I am so glad I have found this website whilst searching for tips on how to get my 2 year old “Gracie” to keep her glasses on. We only picked her glasses up this morning and already having a nightmare getting her to wear them. Gracie will always have to wear glasses and is severely long sighted +10 in both eyes and has a slight squint in her left eye. Thanks everyone for all the tips you have posted will give them ago.
Welcome Suzanne, I’m glad you found us. The first days in glasses are often nightmarish, you’re dealing with a kid not used to these things on her face, on top of all the emotions that you might have as a parent seeing your little one on glasses. It’s hard now, but it will get better. Let us know how it goes and send in a pic of your Gracie if you’re comfortable with that.
Sent from my iPhone
Greetings. My daughter Mya (20 months old)is experiencing what I believe to be intermittent exotropia in both eyes, we had a visit with our general practioner which resulted in a referral to a pediatric opthamologist. The appointment with the specialist is just over a month away and as you can imagine I have been scouring the internet for information to ease my mind until her appointment. I stumbled on this site and at first just looked at the photo gallery and cried, the kiddos and their glasses are adorable but I think we can all admit that having a very young child in glasses is no one’s first choice… My husband and I as well as the wonderful teachers at Mya’s daycare have all noticed the problem becoming worse both in severity and frequency. I am really distressed about having to wait so long just for the assessment although I suppose that is probably typical when dealing with a specialist. At this point I don’t know if glasses or surgery or other treatments are in our future. I’m just trying to keep myself somewhat sane while playing this waiting game.
Welcome Ashley, I’m glad you found us! It really is such an emotional trip, especially at the outset when you don’t yet know what you’re facing. You’re right that we wouldallprefer that our children not have vision issues, but I know for me 3 years in to this journey, it’s hard now to imagine Zoe any other way.
Please keep us updated on what you find out at the appointment. It stinks to have to waits long! Could you ask about getting on a waitlistin case another patient cancels?
Thank you! I have asked to be put on a will call list if there is any cancellations so we’ll see.
I was wondering for all of the moms here, do you remember before your little one got glasses, et al – were there a lot of headaches? I’ve noticed Mya is rubbing her head a lot and even putting her frozen teething toys on her forehead.
My 3 yr old had surgery when she was 2 for her crossing, and nystagmus (which caused a slight head turn when watching tv at times or to look at something directly) we tried patching but my little one is very stubborn and gave us a run for our money with that but we did that for quite some time…then the eye drop worked better for a while but soon after we agreed on surgery. The surgery was performed here in Philly at Wills Eye. On December 11,2009 And it was a great success her eyes look amazing!! And her eyes were all cleared up by Christmas..If your just meeting her you can’t even tell. She may need another surgery when shes older ( she still has a slight head turn) but I am very happy with her care we go every 3 months her doc who is also her surgeon likes to keep a close eye on her.. with her optic nerve hypoplasia in her left eye and the nystagmus and the crossing as soon as we meet her doc when she was almost one she said “im in this for the long haul” and I truly appreciate it. She has been in her glasses since she was about 1 years old…
Mya was able to get in for her first assessment with the pediatric opthalmologist due to another patient cancelling. I am so relieved to have been able to get in early! She was diagnosed with intermittent exotropia. Her vision is fine, it’s a muscle issue. We have our next assessment on June 14th to see if it is getting better, worse, or the same and proceed from there. We will likely have surgery at some point but our doctor doesn’t want to rush into that at this point. Whew what a load off!
Hi Ann, I wrote to you previously about my daughter’s strange red reflex photos. We got a second opinion and it turned out we were correct, my now 20 month old daughter has mild myopia and astigmatism as well. left eye (the good eye) -2 + 2.5cyl x 90, right eye: -1.5-2.00 cyl x 180. She did not get glasses yet, it will be monitored and checked in a few months to start with.
I have read that astigmatism is common in infants, and several times they can outgrow it. But in most cases it pairs with small farsightedness – that type is the one they can outgrow. I have also read that if infants have myopia, that is usually a high dioptria. For us it is low, and the astigmatism is high.
I was wondering if you saw on this site anyone in similar situation? I would like to know what we can expect to happen. I am searching about low myopia and astigmatism in infants, toddlers.
Thank you for your reply in advance,
Have a nice day!
Hi!
I love your site, mostly used it for help with patching, especially amomofelly’s review.
My 5 year old daughter (nearsighted) was discovered to have a neurological “lazy” eye, about 2 years ago. We patched successfully for about 8 months. THEN, when we started patching only 1/2 time, once her eye caught up with her perscription, her lazy eye started turning in when she’s focusing up close, and when she’s not wearing her glasses. Her opthamologist was quite confused about it, sent her to an orthoptist, thought we should just wait longer. And now at her last appt he gave her a perscription for bifocals. This seems bizarre to me. I can see why he can’t operate since it’s not constant, but he’s not doing anything else other than bifocals. Any one else had this?
“Your stores are selling a T-Shirt featuring a child wearing glasses, with the text “Nerdy But Cute” – this unfortunate design stereotypes kids who wear glasses and is neither funny nor appropriate. If you are serious about your social responsibility claims to ‘respect the rights of all individuals’ please issue a product recall. “
Hi Victoria, Just wanted to clarify, we don’t have a store, I did write a post about the “Nerdy But Cute” t-shirt – http://littlefoureyes.com/2011/08/21/do-glasses-still-equal-nerdy/ – which is sold by Children’s Place. I have thought about seeing if we could design some fun shirts that celebrate glasses, though.
Thank you for this blog and all of the valuable information! My son has been in glasses since he was 11 months old, all expensive, none great. About a year ago we purchased a pair of Lindberg glasses. They are amazing, never need to be adjusted, light, durable and very cute.
Hi my name is Lisa Eichlin How do I go about getting a review of my children’s book The Bravest Boy I Ever Knew? Thanks so much
Hi, Thanks for all of the great information on this blog! My son just turned four and was just diagnosed with +7 farsightedness and astigmatism this week. It has all been a little overwhelming. We go to get glasses on Monday! Any advice on what to avoid or look out for?? This is all so new, I have no clue what to look for! Thanks!
Welcome Melissa! It is overwhelming. Since your son is 4, I’d follow his lead and see what he likes in frames, you can also talk to the optician and only have them put out frames for him to look at that you’d be willing to buy. I think at that age, involving them in the selection of glasses can help! You might want to look for frames that have spring hinges, or that will hold up well to wear and tear. I’d also ask about warranties, both for the frames and for the lenses – the lenses get so scratched up, and prescriptions can change quickly, so it’s good to know what warranties are available. I’d also think about getting a second pair if that’s possible. Given how quickly glasses can break or get scratched, it’s nice to have a back up pair.
Good luck!
We to tried to start patching our 16 month old son’s good eye half hour a day. He just rips it right off. Any tips?
Hello everyone, I’m very happy to have found this site….my 20 month old daughter (who is a twin) has strabismus in her left eye. We saw the eye dr and she has suggested glasses. Both my husband and I are very skeptical of her keeping these glasses on…so we started yesterday and zero success. We give her lots of praise and positive comments when we get them on for a split second but she pulls them off right away. We both wear glasses so we showed our daughter that we wear glasses and we put glasses on her doll and on mr potatoe head etc etc.
Our daughter won’t even keep a winter hat on or summer hat let alone glasses!
Suggestions, tips and any information is extremely welcomed!! I’m just learning about all of this so I’d love to be educated on this.
Thanks in advance!!
Becky