eye testing 19 month old

[mummypud]

took my daughter to have her eyes tested 8 weeks ago , they put the nasty drops in and that upset her , we then had to wait 30 mins while they worked , she then would not stop screaming when they wanted to test her eyes so they gave up and said bring her back in 8 weeks which i did today , same thing happened agin, optician very unhelpful at the hospital and said it didnt matter i could take her back in 8 weeks to try again , . it s infuriating surely they must see lots of toddlers and know how to treat them, am i unreasnable to expect them to be a bit patient with her? i said it was unfair to keep putting her through it and could they persavere and that i dont drive .he said oh well its not far is it? i want to get her squint sorted but wish they had a bit more time and were not so arsey!

I know exactly what you are going through. Have been through it twice with both dd and ds.
I found that with ds it was actually easier to time the appt with a nap/sleepy time. Loads of screams etc, cuddles and comforters then a quiet walk round hosp grounds or public areas to send him to sleep in the buggy. All opticians i have come across managed to do what they needed to do with him sound asleep in the buggy.
With dd singing songs was the best diversion, you end up getting a few strange looks singing silly songs whilst the dreaded drops are put in but in the end dd was correcting me for getting words wrong and forgetting about the world around her. If you are lucky the nurses will play along with the game and join in - ours do.
Good luck, hope it helps and if all else fails we break out the choccy buttons or jelly babies.

oh we had specialist look at dd week after her first birthday as she got a squint (squints in mine and dps families) i spotted it then mentioned it to hv who seen it too got hosp she waved pens with flashing furry bits in front dds eyes and got cross when dd wanted to grab it then she said she too young to tell they will look again when she 2.5yo

Forgot to say yanbu but I think if you go in with a positive attitude and a few coping strategies it can help the situation. Ds has required glasses since he was nine months so we are regulars at the eye clinic in our local hosp.

thanks for replys , i took chocolates and bubbles as they usually keep her amused but no luck , im concerned because all its teaching her is that if she has a strop she gets her own way .i dont think the docs realise how stressful it all is for us parents .

I am sympathetic to your situation, but what would you expect the doctors to do that they didn't do? My ds was prescribed glasses at 2.5 and had to go through what you are describing. He (luckily) did not make a fuss, but the child right before him did. I would have been quite unhappy if the doctors had spent ages trying to calm down the child before us (instead of leaving it to his mother to do) and made us wait even mroe than the 2 hours we had already waited. I thought they were perfectly nice to my ds, so can only assume that the screaming child was just more sensitive about these things. But to reiterate, I don't think it would have been fair to the doctors, or to me and my ds to make us wait while they perservered with another child. And I think that it's unlikely that the doctors who are complete strangers to her would be able to calm your dd, if you, her mother can't.

my dd 3 has a squint and have been regulars since 8 weeks. If she needs the drops, I have always done it, usually give between 30 mins to an hour before the appointment.
It is awful, but shes usually calms down quickly, also she has very pale blue eyes which make them more sensitive to sunlight after the drops so always put on a hat and sunglasses after giving the drops. Hope that helps. Once you have a dianosis you rarly need the drops. but be prepared for lots of visits if she does have a squint.

i completley agree with the whole not making other children wait , i would be annoyed if we had to wait a long time but its just the attitude with some of them , the one that put the drops in last time was really rough and said to my dd stop being so silly its not that bad , and the consultant this time was really unsympathetic and actually a tad nasty , he made me feel a bit inadequate because i couldnt keep her calm, she is used to hospitals as has a minor heart prob and has never minded them until now , i dont expect them to try all day with her but they were not really prepared to try at all xxx