Long sighted Toddler-ADVICE please

[Bashyman]

Hi all,

I'm a dad of 2 toddler boys. One is 4 and the other is 22 months.

When Oliver (the 4 year old) was 3, we took him to the opticians expecting it all to be clear, but was told he was long sighted (+5 in one eye and +4 in the other).
I reluctantly agreed to him wearing glasses (after getting a second opinion).
My wife wears glasses (she is long sighted), but I don't.

He gets on well with the glasses.

When the baby was 18 months, we were advised to book an appointment at the local hospital to get him tested.
He was tested yesterday...and is +7 in both eyes!!!!
My wife obviously wants him to get glasses, but I don't.
Now before everyone starts to sl*g me off, I believe that it's everyone being over cautious.
In my sons school, there are so many boys and girls that wear glasses, and I think the reason the others don't wear them is probably because the majority haven't been tested yet.
The time we live in is packed with people covering their own back and given adverse advice 'just in case'.

Just as I'm typing this I'm thinking to myself...how ignorant do you sound!!, but I do believe if he was given more time for his eye's to grow and develop, the longsightedness would sort itself out.

When I was 8 I was dignosed as long sighted (I'm 40 now).
I very rarely wore my glasses and was told by an optometrist later that it sorted itself out as I got older.

My wife has agreed to not discuss it until we come back from our holiday in 2 weeks...but I know she will not let it drop, and maybe rightly so.

I obviously don't want my son to have damaged eyes, and the doctor also said he may develop a squint. but how much of this is just him summising the worst case scenario?
I know that once you start down the line of wearing glasses, you are reliant upon them all your life.

It may be ignorant and mis-guided, but I just think that if we leave it and get him retested when he's 3...his eyes will be better than +7.

May I also add, that we have seen NO problems with his eyes at all, we only went because his brother needed glasses.

I'm not gonna lie...I don't like glasses, especially in a child his age, and this morning I've seen on this forum and other similar ones that parents have been upset when there toddler has to start wearing glasses, so I know I'm not alone. If he needs glasses at 3, then yeah, I'm more than happy for him to wear them. I just think that 22 months is SO young, he's still a baby...
I'm only asking for advice here...I obviously care, otherwise I wouldn't be posting this, so please be gentle, I probably haven't come across that well, but it sounds better in my head ;-)
Thanks in advance

No professional advice but my DD started to wear glasses at about 16 months. Within a couple of days it was clear the difference it made to her, she was desperate to put her glasses on in the morning and this hasn't changed (she is now 27 months). She loves her glasses and gets very upset if they are off even for a few minutes. I hate to think that she was unhappy before she wore them because she couldn't see properly. Obviously every case is different, but I would never deny a child glasses.

That is just my personal opinion, hopefully someone more knowledgable will be along to comment.

+7 is a big prescription though - wouldnt you feel better if he could see properly!! I noticed dd squinting when she was around 18 months and when she was tested she was also long sighted and got glasses. She still has them now at age 8 and her prescription has come down a little (not very much at all) and she is now +4.5 and +5.5.

DS was tested at nursery and his eyes were fine so they dont give glasses just for the sake of it - it would cost them too much to give everyone glasses as children can get frames/lenses/check ups, etc for free.

If the prescription was (a lot) smaller then, yes, you could maybe get away with not having glasses but +7 means he is very longsighted and would benefit greatly from wearing glasses.

I know no parent would choose for their child but please do reconsider. With a +7 hypermetropia your son is actually partially sighted. There is lots of research that proves uncorrected refractive errors cause squints (which may need surgery) and development problems, problems with social interactions, and future life choices. Youa re quite right in that his longsigtedness will imporve as his eyes grow, but even best case scenario they will grow 3 dioptres, leaving still a +4 hypermetropia. This will make things learning to read, reading facial expressions, fine motor skills all more difficult.

Please don't bury your head in the sand over this, sadly its not the eyes you have to worry about, its his brain, in particular the visual cortex which is constantly building a library of pictures to make sense of the world. If uncorrected, all the images he will build will be blurred and mishapen, and these cannot be changed beyond the age of 6-7.

Apologies for my horrendous spelling by the way. Was typing in a hurry.

Hi op my ds was 3 before we noticed he was sitting sideways to look at things.
He had his eyes tested and he had a similar prescription to your son, he started wearing glasses immediately.
He has problems with relationships, recognising emotions in others and some cognitive processing difficulty.
I believe that these problems were caused or contributed to by not being able to see easily for his first three years.
I still feel guilty that we missed it.

Why don't you post on cheekyginger's thread, she is an eye expert (always get the spelling wrong -an orthroptist (sp?!). Am sure she would have some words of wisdome for you .

I am by no means an expert but can tell you about our experiences.

Ds was prescribed glasses at 3 after failing the standard eye test given to all 3 year olds. We hadn't noticed any problems either and I have to admit that I was sceptical and started a similar thread as hospital consultant had basically thrust a presription at us and ushered us out.

At a follow up appointment an optometrist explained that ds was long sighted and wearing glasses at his age meant he stood a chance of his vision being corrected before his eyes settled down at around age 7 or 8.

Ds is now 6 and they took him out of them around 4 months ago. We need one final check in the summer but they think they have now done their job and his vision has improved to the point he no longer needs them. I am glad we did get them as I have to admit I considered ignoring advice too.

I am by no means an expert but can tell you about our experiences.

Ds was prescribed glasses at 3 after failing the standard eye test given to all 3 year olds. We hadn't noticed any problems either and I have to admit that I was sceptical and started a similar thread as hospital consultant had basically thrust a presription at us and ushered us out.

At a follow up appointment an optometrist explained that ds was long sighted and wearing glasses at his age meant he stood a chance of his vision being corrected before his eyes settled down at around age 7 or 8.

Ds is now 6 and they took him out of them around 4 months ago. We need one final check in the summer but they think they have now done their job and his vision has improved to the point he no longer needs them. I am glad we did get them as I have to admit I considered ignoring advice too.

Thanks everyone for your advice.
Has certainly made my mind up for me and my wife will be going out tomorrow and putting the prescription into the opticians. The advice given seems reassuring and definitly the correct thing today...thank you ladies (and possibly men i suppose ;-))

*to do...not today

Please google amblyopia.
In small children and babies the visual system is underdeveloped. The cells in the eyes need to experience seeing properly in order to develop correctly.
If your son doesn't wear glasses his visual system will never develop properly and he will not be able to see the bottom line/second to bottom line/maybe even third or fourth to bottom even with glasses. He may never be able to see well enough to drive, he may struggle to read normal books, his choice of career may be limited.
The sooner he starts wearing his glasses the better his visual outcome will be, please take him tomorrow to the opticians.

Hi Bashyman

I know you've already decided so just wanted to give you an extra 'positive' story about glasses

took my DD to get her eyes tested at 18 months as I personally have had 7 rounds of surgery to correct a severe squint
I hadn't noticed any problems with her eyes but she came back at +5
within 2 days she was putting her glasses on by herself, no squint developed and at 8 her prescription is +o.25 so she doesn't bother with glasses any more

thanks again. Will google that amblyopia.
Makes me feel hopeful workshy, pleased for your DD.
Cheers

Bashyman, I can see it's been 8 years since your post but I came across it searching for information because I feel exactly how you did in your original post. I could have written that myself, especially the part about seeing other kids with glasses and wonderig if they're just ushering people off with glasses to cover their backs. I'd be really interested to hear how your sons have got in with glasses, well I hope.

Thanks