Dd (3) just had an eyesight test

[Rowgtfc72]

Dd,3.9, has just had her first eyesight test.She was wonderful,bless her, and let the optician shine a light in her eyes and let me cover her eyes whilst the optician asked her what the pictures(that were getting smaller) were.She was fine with her right eye but said "dont know" to all the ones with her left eye. They are pictures she knows.He then put some drops in her eyes, had another look and has referred her to our local hospital.What are they likely to do to her ? Optician did say as my dh and I are short sighted it is hereditary.

Don't worry too much at this stage - kids have such a short attention span at this age that she could simply have lost interest in saying what was on the cards. My DD (4.9) has been having eye tests for the last 18 months or so as I am very short sighted and wanted to make sure that we picked up on any problems early on. She was also referred to the hospital where they did the same tests, put in drops to dilate her eyes and then looked at them through some machine, and then we were seen by the consultant, who advised us that she would become short sighted to a certain extent in time, but nowhere near as bad as me (minus 7.5).

Her "eyesight" based on the tests improved between the initial consultation and going to the hospital (approx 4 months as the referral letter got lost), and they put that down to improved concentration. Frustratingly she then failed an eyetest at school (just completed first term in Reception) but when we went to her follow up appointment at the Health Centre, she revealed that they had tested her on letters (in capitals no less - 3 weeks after starting school as a complete non-reader). The optician said that this was very common and they were simply using the wrong sort of test in schools. Low and behold, when he re-tested her using pictures, her vision had "improved" yet again - yes, another 6 months on and even better concentration.......

Not so sure re short sightedness as both my DDs are long-sighted; however, we do have VAST amounts of experience of the hospital eye clinic!

Chances are that the first visit will simply be for the optometrist to have a look and your DD's eyes. They will probably use toys with lights and other pictures to monitor her sight and then give you an appointment for a refraction eye-test where they can have a look at what is going on. This involves putting in eye drops (that can sting!) at least an hour before the test.

We have to revisit the hospital (with each DD and the appointments do not coincide yet!) every 12 weeks although the eye tests are only done annually. Inbetween, they just monitor the vision using the pictures.

Also, DD1 is very long-sighted, has a major squint and a lazy eye so wears a patch every day for 3 hours. She has been wearing glasses since she was 2.3yo (she is now 4.3yo) and we have never had any problem with her about her glasses or her patches. She rather enjoys going to the eye clinic, I think.

DD2 was just tested last week so we will be off to the opticians to get some glasses this week. She is only long sighted so not got the same issues as DD1 (the actual test was the third time she has been seen by the clinic - neither has ever been tested anywhere else, DD1 has been monitored and tested since birth as she was very early).

Oh, and for what it's worth, I am short-sighted, DP has perfect sight and both DDs are long-sighted!

Ds has just had an appointment at the eye clinic because he failed his pre-school sight test at nursery.

At the clinic they said that previously he'd passed all the tests except the looking through just one eye one where he did much better with his right rather than his left.

Anyway, this time he passed so it looks like it was just a 3 year old's lack of concentration.

They're likely going to just repeat the tests - if it does turn out that your dd needs help then it's great to have it picked up so early.

I was a bit wobbly about ds having a potential problem though so I know it's a bit worrying.

Thanks for your replies. asked dd if she could see the pictures or just didnt know what they were and she said she couldnt see them.Optician says she has a perfectly normal prescription he just cant understand the big difference between both eyes.Am hoping slightly more child friendly optician will have a better idea! Can they tell whats going on just by looking in her eyes without her telling them?She was very good with stingy drops by the way!