How to protect your toddler's eye health

•  Regular eye exams and being aware of symptoms are key to ensuring your toddler’s eyes are developing healthily
•  Ensure that you limit screen time
• Make time for the outdoors with your toddler to protect them from myopia onset

You might not notice anything unusual when it comes to your baby or toddler: they’re looking at the right things, responding to the right things, blinking – everything seems to be in working order when it comes to their visual system. When your baby is born, eye health is also often checked and confirmed by a pediatrician.

Despite this, it is still important to take your little one to the optometrist or eye doctor to get an eye examination.

Your optometrist or eye doctor will check if your baby/toddler’s vision is within normal range, and if there are any other concerns.

Just how a baby doesn’t tell you why they’re crying, they’re also not going to tell you if their vision is blurry, or if their eyes feel uncomfortable. Of course, they wouldn’t know how to tell you! So it’s important to watch out for any signs that their vision and eye health might not be developing as intended.

Some common signs are:

• Not responding to visual stimuli (facial expressions, brightly coloured objects etc)
• Inward or outward turning eye, or eyes
• Excessive watering of the eyes
• Pus (yellow), mucous (white and stringy) or watery (clear) discharge coming from the eye

The digital screen is an almost unavoidable part of daily life now. But should it be part of your babyor toddler’s life? According to the World Health Organisation, not just yet. The recommendations are:

• 0 to 2 year olds: no screen time
• 2 year olds: No more than 1 hour a day; but less time is still preferred
• 3 to 4 year olds: No more than 1 hour a day

Spending time outdoors has been shown to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of children;² but it also has benefits with regard to eye health. Research indicates that spending at least 2 hours outdoors per day on average is protective against the development of myopia, or shortsightedness.³

There are many types of health professionals which can help you navigate your young child’s development in their early years. Since vision is arguably our most important sense for learning about the world, it makes sense to be aware of any potential for problems.  The simple steps described in this article ensure that your baby or toddler’s eye health is in good order. Of course, if you notice anything you’re not sure about – get it checked out! Your optometrist or ophthalmologist will be more than happy to help – even if it is just to ease your concerns.