Help! I Think My Child Has a Vision Problem

Your child’s vision is essential to their developmental progress as they learn and grow. Infants focus on movement, patterns, and colors and are excited by things like mobiles and pinwheels in their cribs. Generally, visual stimuli at this stage create more neural connections in the brain, helping them make better sense of what’s going on around them. 

Toddlers soon develop hand-eye coordination, which helps them perform tasks like throwing a ball, tossing rings, jumping rope, or kicking an object while playing games. If you notice problems with your child’s delays in developing key skills, it could be due to vision problems. 

If you think your child has eye problems, you can find help with the specialist team at Bronx Eye Associates in the Pelham Gardens area of the Bronx, New York. Eye problems at these early stages are tricky to catch as some signs may be subtle. However, this is the best time to get help if you do notice them. Early action can prevent conditions from getting worse. 

Here, we discuss possible vision symptoms your child might have and how to catch them. 

Eye rubbing/frequent blinking

Eye rubbing and frequent blinking could be the result of allergic reactions. These may also be indications of refractive errors like myopia (nearsightedness). If these conditions are ruled out in an eye exam, frequent blinking could be a habitual tic resulting from anxiety or stress. 

Spots located on the white of the eye

Spots can happen for several reasons, and the colors can indicate different issues. Bright red spots can mean a broken blood vessel (subjunctive hemorrhage) which normally goes away with time. Gray spots can be harmless or can indicate anemia or iron deficiencies. Brown spots are often eye freckles (nevus) but aren’t usually an issue unless they get larger over time. 

Large or dilated pupils

Large or dilated pupils aren’t uncommon, especially in children with light-colored eyes, and it can happen due to some medications. But, if pupils don’t shrink when exposed to bright light, or one looks larger than the other, you may need to see a specialist.

Children seeing spots

Floaters are more common in adults but do happen in children and are often not serious. However, multiple new floaters followed by flashing lights or some vision loss can mean a retinal tear.

Itchiness or discomfort

Allergies can cause these issues, but it may also be due to conjunctivitis, or pink eye, especially if it comes with redness and a gooey discharge.

Misalignments

If both eyes can’t focus on the same object simultaneously, it can affect developing vision and may be due to a squint (strabismus) or lazy eye (amblyopia). Strabismus affects up to 5% of children and can lead to amblyopia which can harm their overall vision.

If you observe any of these symptoms or have concerns about signs of eye problems like head tilting, covering one eye, or sleeping with eyes open, make an appointment with the team at Bronx Eye Associates to get them the help they need.