Ensure Good Vision

Just as children visit the dentist at regular intervals from infancy, so it's worth making regular visits to the family optometrist. Many eyesight defects, such as long or short sightedness, astigmatism or squint can be inherited, so if there is a history of any of these in your family your child's eyesight should be tested on a regular basis.

Sometime parents believe they see a squint in their child when, in fact, this is simply due to a fold of the skin as the nose is not fully developed. Conversely, eyes sometimes appear to be straight when a squint really is present. Only a full eye examination can detect this type of defect.

If left uncorrected for too long some sight defects cannot be put right, but establishing a routine of regular eye examinations can minimise the chances of a sight defect being carried into adulthood. At certain stages children's eyes may need to be examined at intervals of months rather than years, and your optometrist is the person to advise you on the frequency of visits. Despite greater public awareness of the importance of regular eye examinations, many parents do not take their children to an optometrist either pre-school or throughout school life.