SJ just had her first eye appointment (at 12 months old) and unlike her brother she does not need glasses. A lot of people ask me how they evaluate a baby’s eye sight . I also hear a lot of other questions regarding Z’s condition and I thought my blog would be a great place to share some of the answers. Now, this list of questions is full of a ton of information that could be a website of it’s own, so if you are here from a search engine browse away, but if you are a reader wanting to hear my personal journey of having my baby be diagnosed with amblyopia then feel free to skip through the bold font.
- How did you know he needed glasses?
Z started going cross eyed (which is actually called strabismus) when he was 11 months old, so we had some visual cues that something was wrong, but it is actually recommended that everyone is checked between 6 and 12 months, otherwise your little one might be suffering from an ongoing vision problem that is undetected until school age when it becomes more obvious.
- How do they check babies eyesight?
They have all kinds of tricks at a pediatric eye doctor in order to asses the overall health of your babies eyes. They might use toys and colorful lights to see how the baby interacts and responds visually. After these test they dilate the eyes with drops, send you to a dimly lit play room for 30 minutes, and then use a special tool to look inside the babies eyes. This is how they will determine the prescription if one is needed.
- How do they use an eye chart if the child cannot read?
This last appointment was a milestone for Z because while he still is too small for the traditional letter chart they had him look at a screen across the room that showed different sized silhouettes of things, like a horse or Christmas tree. If they are too young to easily identify objects like this then they would just skip this test altogether. 
- Is he near sighted or farsighted?
Z is extremely farsighted, which means he cannot see things close up very well at all. SJ is farsighted too, but in a normal range. Everyone is born with some level of farsightedness, but it’s usually really minor and many people grow out of it.
It’s basically “lazy eye”, or a weak eye. For Z it was his left eye. Amblyopia causes more visual loss in the under 40 group than all the injuries, and diseases combined in this age group, and affects at least 3% of children under 6. It can cause serious vision problems in both eyes if left untreated which is why we had both of our children see a pediatric ophthalmologist when they were still babies.
- How do you treat it?
You can use eye patches to cover the strong eye and force the weak eye to work, if this treatment is ineffective the weak eye will eventually shut down and stop working entirely. We did this therapy for a year before the Doctors suggested we should go ahead and operate. Z had eye surgery right after his second birthday. He still needs glasses and his eyes still cross some if he doesn’t wear them, but there is always a chance his eyes will get better as he gets older.
- How do you know his glasses work?
When he was a baby we could only hope, but now that he is talking it becomes apparent like when he was 2 he was playing in the closet and came out without his glasses. I said “you need to get back in there and find your glasses right now!” and he did try, but he said “I can’t see anything” it was sad and cute at the same time. When he was 3 his glasses broke and we went to get new ones. He kept on trying on one pair after the other saying “No. I don’t thing those are going to work. No. These don’t work either. I think I need my old glasses” At first I thought it was because he didn’t like the way any of them looked, then I realized it was because they were DEMOS there was no prescription so they literally didn’t work for him. This assures me that his prescription glasses do in fact work!
- How do you get a baby to wear glasses?
I was so worried about this when I had 15 month old prescribed to wear eyeglasses, but they make the kind that bend every which way, and are supposed to be unbreakable, scratch proof, and everything else, but they do break and I have a story, or two to prove it. As far as how they stay on, there are special pediatric kind that loop around the ears and are customized for little baby faces, plus you will find that because the glasses do work they will have to get used to them, but eventually they will be prone to WANT to keep them on in order to see better.
Z trying on his first pair of glasses
9. How much does it cost? A fortune is the short answer. The special glasses I mentioned are about $300. Each doctor visit for my children has been close to $200 and when they are young, and special cases like my son they want to see you starting as often as every month. We are finally spaced out to every 6 months, and eventually it will be once a year. I can’t even tell you how much the surgery costs because you get billed separately for every little thing. I think in the end it was $5,000 for Z. Hopefully if you have a child with an eye condition your insurance will be better than mine and it will cover a lot more. I don’t share this to be negative or have a pity party, but it’s a head’s up for anyone that is in my situation and wanting all the information.
- Is it genetic?
No. Some vision problems are genetic, but in our case it is not. My husband and I have always had perfect vision, and the people in our families that wear glasses didn’t start until after 50, this makes me feel totally aloof when it comes to understanding what he going through or what type of prescription he even has. It’s been almost 3 years since we first began this journey with Z’s eyesight, and I’ve learned quite a bit along the way. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions, wondering if we could have done anything to prevent it, or if there are any other treatments to help him. The medical bills we have accrued will more than likely have an effect on our lives for years, and even though it’s pretty smooth sailing from here it’s more like gastric bypass surgery than it is like getting your tonsils removed, they don’t just say “okay you’re all set”. Which is tough because after the surgery everyone wants to know if it worked and it’s not that simple. But believe me, I am well aware that of all the things that could happen, strabismus, amblyopia, and astigmatism are not the worse. Other than when he was a little baby I’ve always known him with glasses and I can’t imagine him any other way, he makes frames look good! 
This post is linked to Oh Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday
This was very informative! I think Z is too cute with his glasses! 🙂 My little neighbor is absolutely adorable, too! I think I'll send her mom the link to this post, just in case she'd like to read your perspective ~ being a year & 1/2 farther down the road than they are! OK, this is random, but I don't remember if I ever told you about when Cody got his eyes checked at age 5. He couldn't read yet & used the chart with the symbols. The nurse who tested him thought it was adorable that he called the house a "church"! Gotta love our little PK's, huh?! {Not that my boy is one anymore, but you know what I mean!} Once again, I'm leaving an entire blog post in your comment section! At least we both do this on occasion! 😉
My baby got his glasses when he was almost two. My answer to #8 was lots of reese's cups! We bribed him heavily to keep them on. He's older now, and it's not such a big deal.
Your little guy makes those glasses look good!