One of the joys of parenthood is the opportunity to watch your child grow and develop over the years. In the beginning months of life, you’ll notice that your child develops new skills and techniques on a daily basis. Learned behavior and natural development help the child prepare for things that will be done later in life.
Vision development is an important thing to monitor throughout childhood. The quality of the child’s vision will impact their learning and daily activities, so it is essential for parents to partner with an experienced eye doctor. The first comprehensive eye exam can occur as early as 6 – 12 months. This proactive approach to eye care ensures that early interventions can be used if a potential problem is diagnosed.
Babies and infants go through many visual developments in the early stages of life, such as identifying objects, building hand-eye coordination, depth perception, color vision, and judging distance. Sight is a learned process, and parents play an important role in the visual development of their child.
You can be proactive in engaging your child’s vision development by participating in games and activities. For example, participate in activities that require hand-eye coordination (such as patty-cake), or rolling balls back and forth so the child can practice tracking with their eyes.
Here are some of the signs you should be watching for in infancy to recognize potential vision and eye problems:
If you notice these signs, or anything else that is concerning about your child’s visual development, then our team is here to assist. Don’t hesitate to reach out for information about vision development in the infant years. Our goal is to support the visual health of all family members. Contact us right away with your questions or if you would like to schedule an appointment: reach our Murrieta office at (951) 600-9226, or our Temecula office at (951) 302-1331.