Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be worried about my toddlers eyesight and call the GP?

55 replies

SundayWellSpent · 07/07/2019 22:16

Sorry I know this might not be the most appropriate place to post but I've been worrying about this all weekend and I'm hoping someone might have had a similar experience or can tell me if they would be worried or not?

I've noticed that my toddler, who is 18 months, seems to be shutting one of his eyes when they are outside and it is bright or when looking at something/someone approaching from a distance. They also seem to be rubbing their eyes a lot- especially the eye they keep shutting. I didn't even cross my mind that it might be an issue until I stupidly googled it. Now I'm worried they have a lazy eye. Is this something I should be bothering a doctor with? My gut instinct says yes but I'm also not sure what they could do?

OP posts:
Muchtoomuchtodo · 07/07/2019 22:18

I think an optician would be more appropriate.

Neighneigh · 07/07/2019 22:22

I'd make an appointment at the doctors but also go into an optician to see if they can advise you too, especially if the doctor maybe can't see you for a few days (eyes are so complex though that I'd imagine you'd get seen quickly at a gp)

BirdyBedtime · 07/07/2019 22:22

Go to the optician - my DD had a lazy eye not diagnosed until 6 and she will always have very poor vision in that eye. Whereas my son also had one but because we took him to optician at 3 it was fixable.

Lycra60 · 07/07/2019 22:22

Hi
I’d go to optician. My own son used to cover one eye when watching TV from a distance and if he was tired. Turned out he needed glasses. It would most likely have bern picked up at pre school check, but why would you wait! He got his 1st pair at 3 & i thought he looked super cute! Also there was no problem getting him to wear them (though we lost SO many pairs while playing LOL). Make an appointment - only takes 10 minutes & you’ll be sorted! Good luck. Xx

Original poster
SundayWellSpent · 07/07/2019 22:24

The NHS website says 'if you have any concerns about your child's vision see a GP or go to an opticians' but I'm not sure and opticians would see someone so young?

OP posts:
BirdyBedtime · 07/07/2019 22:24

Just to say they have ways of testing toddlers too.

GreenTulips · 07/07/2019 22:25

Opticians have baby friendly eye tests they know what they are doing and GP only refers you to the hospital optometrists same as the opticians

Original poster
SundayWellSpent · 07/07/2019 22:25

Oh sorry I missed the other responses! I'll ring the opticians in the morning and see what age they will examine from.

OP posts:
Stayawayfromitsmouth · 07/07/2019 22:28

My ds has a squint. Go through your Gp to get a referral for the opthalmic team for your local children's hospital. Ds has observation check ups every 4/6months since he was 2yo.

Mishappening · 07/07/2019 22:28

My DD was in glasses by this age - one eye had a major vision problem, the other was normal. It is important to get this corrected as the brain starts to suppress the sight in the wonky eye and not make the right connections in an attempt to see life clearly.

If glasses are needed, make sure you get more than one pair or you will spend your life back and forth to opticians with a bag of bits!

ChristmasInJuly · 07/07/2019 22:29

Last month I took my 3 year old son to the opticians to ask about an issue with his eyes and they refused to see him because he was under 4. They said I had to go to my GP because of his age. Maybe it’s different in different areas?

Original poster
SundayWellSpent · 07/07/2019 22:31

Thanks so much everyone for your advice and telling me about your experiences.

@Mishappening how was your DD assessed and diagnosed? Do you mind me asking what made you aware there was a problem?

OP posts:
Talkingfrog · 07/07/2019 22:32

I can understand your thinking that they are too young, but an optician should see a toddler. Although she was a bit older, our optician was great when my daughter had her first eye test. They made it all into a game so she thought it fun. You often see very young children with glasses, so they will probably all be on the books of an opticians. Hope all goes well.

georgialondon · 07/07/2019 22:34

Definitely go to opticians first.

Ginandsonic · 07/07/2019 22:34

I'd see the GP asap, my daughter had optic neuritis last year and I'd involved not liking bright sunshine/ lights and blurry vision so she would sometimes cover one eye to try to see more clearly.

Yorkshirepudding1987 · 07/07/2019 22:36

I took my son to the GP when he was just over 1. His eye started to turn in. They referred him to the hospital and this is where he has all his eye tests and squint assessments now.

Personally I'd go to the GP

Elisheva · 07/07/2019 22:37

Your health visitor would be able to advise you too. I’m sure mine did the referral to ophthalmology for one of my children.

AuchAyeTheNo · 07/07/2019 22:38

Go to the Optician.

A GP cannot do eye checks. They are not trained for that sort of thing. An optician can check eyes from very young children and refer if needed to the appropriate place. Please don’t go to the GP it’s a waste of both your times.

Yorkshirepudding1987 · 07/07/2019 22:39

I forgot to mention he has been in glasses since he was 16 months old and is monitored for a squint every 3 months and has an eye test every 6 months at the hospital.

Merryme · 07/07/2019 22:40

many opticians will not see a child of that age, I'd be off to the GP if it were my child as they can refer to opthamology.

SandyY2K · 07/07/2019 22:41

Make an appointment with the GP. If they think an optician is more appropriate, they'll tell you.

TheRLodger · 07/07/2019 22:41

My df is a recently retired optician and I once asked how he tested small kids eyes. And he said they have there ways. Its more focusing on objects and looking at pictures more than reading and looking at the letter chart. From what I remember of the convo

IDrinkFromTheKegOfGlory · 07/07/2019 22:42

Personally, I would go to your GP in the first instance and get a referral to the hospital eye team. Only because my experience was that, although the opticians I took my 2 year old DS to were happy to examine him, the particular optician I had obviously didn't know much about little kids because he was trying to get my DS to point to the capital letter on the page that matched the letter on the wall! I made the point that, at 2, he didn't know his letters yet and the optician said "but they're just shapes"! Yes they might be shapes but the only shapes he can recognise right now are circles, squares and triangles - not E X V and T! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Anyway, in the end the prescription he got from there was very similar to the one he got from our local eye infirmary, so it's not like they were badly wrong or anything. But I felt like the hospital were much better set up for little kids because they saw them all the time.

Don't worry, I felt like it was the end of the world when I realised that DS would need to have full-time, permanent glasses (he's pretty long-sighted) but he's now 9 and it's no issue at all. He has prescription goggles for swimming (£20) and disposable contact lenses for playing judo and he looks super handsome and intelligent in his glasses (and I'm not biased in the slightest!).

Yorkshirepudding1987 · 07/07/2019 22:43

@Talkingfrog
You often see very young children with glasses, so they will probably all be on the books of an opticians

Not necessarily true, per my post above my son has all his tests under pediatric optometrists t our local hospital.

drspouse · 07/07/2019 22:46

My HV referred us when we had concerns about my DD's vision. It was to an orthoptist in her case but the HV can help.

Swipe left for the next trending thread