parents views needed regarding childrens eyecare

[optom]

(repeated thread as I posted in topic of parenting but think this may apply more here)
Hi all, I'm a Mum of 4, (ages 9,4,3 and 8mths), and have just started studying at university reading Optometry. As a Mum I have personally found that other than the initial developmental checks given to my children when babies, there seems to be a lack of information given regarding when children should have eye tests and what to expect. I'm interested in finding out if this experience is just in my case, or whether other Mum's have found the same. If you could take the time to share your opinions I'd be very grateful as I would really value the chance to improve healthcare information to Mum's with children of all ages, if I can see a need to do so exists. Thank you all :)

Totally agree - lack of information. In my dds school they are only ever tested once at age 5. They should be tested yearly.

I have had my dds tested at an opticians in the past but have let the last 2 years lapse (time flies) until I finally made an appointment last week. My eldest has today been referred to further testing at the eye clinic at hospital.

I so wish I had kept up and tested last year, not least because dd1s progress (lack of) at school may be attributed to her vision. Yearly checks need to be drummed into us to make us realise how important it is.

thanks for your reply kissingfrogs, very much appreciated :)

I don't think the responsibility should be on them being tested at school, it's hard to test properly in the situation and needs to be done at an optician. What we do need is for parents to be encouraged to get into the habit of regular eye checks like they do with dental checks.

Ds is 2 and has been under the hospital since he was 6 weeks for his eyes and I have to say I had no arguments getting him reffered and as a result he is keeping up regular eye tests. When he is hopefully discharged I will keep up the tests going to a high street optician.

I have tken each of my dc to the optician as soon as they could read (so end of R/beginning of Y1), even though there were no particular concerns. Dh and I are both short-sighted, most of our families are, and I wanted to be sure to catch any problems as early as possible. One dc need glasses from the first eye-test, and I am told that my action in getting him tested before any problems became apparent has made a big difference to his likely vision in the future. Dd didn't need glasses at first, but because she was now on the optician's books, she had automatic recalls every 6-8m. So when her eyesight began to deteriorate it was also picked up and corrected beforeany problems became apparent.

Eyetests and glasses are free for children. Parents need to be informed of the benefits of testing and not waiting for a problem.

Ime they're very proactive about delving into family history and taking it from there re. eye tests.

At my DS's 9 month check i told the HV that i had a squint when i was little and that my DH is as blind as a bat. They entered him into the appointments system and we had an appointment about a month ago. Everything was fine, but they said they'll monitor his eye sight development and check again when he's 2-3 (he turns one on Monday). I was pretty impressed that they were so proactive about it.

thank you all for taking the time to share your views, very much appreciated :)