4 years old vision

[JSB16]

Hi,

Just looking for anyone who may have had a similar experience. I took my daughter for an eye test just before she started school, I didn’t have major concerns but could see sometimes she’d narrow her eyes a little to look at something a certain distance away.
opticians then referred us to hospital where she was tested and her eyes came out at +10 and +9 for being long sighted. Which is massively long sighted.
Im not saying she doesn’t need glasses as like I say I did noticed her struggle a little and I know everyone says kids have a way of adjusting but I just can’t get my head around it being that bad and never noticing her struggle with anything.

• she’s hit all her milestones fine if not early
• not clumsy
• always drawing, writing words and starting to read books.
• sits on the sofa to watch tv not sitting right in front of it
• if one of her class is across the road she can tell me exactly who it is ( and it’s not like she knows them all well she’s only been at school 5 weeks)

She gets her glasses at the weekend and they’ve gone straight in with the full prescription which I think she will struggle with adjusting to.

does anyone have any experience of similar and thinks this sounds right or do I get another opinion?

Was the test done using dilating drops?
If shes long sighted she can see things in the distance better than she can see things at close range.

I dont see why you'd need a second opinion. Surely you'd see how she got on with the glasses first?

That is a strong prescription.

DS was a +6.50 in each eye at 18 months old. He was started on half prescription and worked up, but he was tested through the hospital and was significantly younger. He also had no issues drawing, pointing to the tiniest thing, the only sign was a turn in one eye.

Long sighted means they will be able to see across the road, it’s really close up they would struggle with but could be straining their eyes to manage.

You could absolutely get a second opinion, but I would get the glasses first so you can take them when you get her retested.

I just wanted to say that Asda opticians do free thinning on lenses, this has been a huge help as, nhs vouchers only thin so much and they did the extra level free. Once out of full time education it has been a huge help cost wise.

One of my children is very long sighted too (+7 in both eyes). I had the same concerns as you and she also went straight into the high prescription. Took a few days to adjust but she’s 5 years in and does fine. She can see without but has to strain and she pretty much wears her glasses 99% of the time.
we go to vision express who also thin the lenses for free!

Thank you so much for the useful information.

Like you say hopefully once she gets the glasses we get a better idea and see how she adjusts. The doctor did mention they usually start smaller and build up but have decided to try all in and see how she gets on.

I have heard that about Asda so I will give it a go 🙂

Thanks for replying and that’s good to hear that she adjusted well, everywhere I read they seem to always start on a lower prescription so I was worried she’d find it really hard to wear them.

do you find the lenses quite heavy and thick? My little girl has only just gone 4 and is really petite, she basically had the choice of 1 pair of glasses due to size and lense

Because everywhere I read glasses tend to be started with a lower prescription, she’s 4 I don’t want her to be given glasses she finds really hard to wear which then ours her odd wearing them.

Yes, is she doesn’t have them thinned, they are shockingly thick if I’m being honest! Her first pair we didn’t have thinned, and they really magnified her eyes and were heavy on her nose. We then made the decision to have them thinned.
you can take the prescription to any opticians btw, you don’t have to go where you’ve got her eye test done. I’ve been in a hell of a lot of opticians during my child’s lives and find that vision express have a really good varied range.
feel free to PM me if you have anymore questions x

You could have bowled home over when the opticians told me my DC needed glasses at 4. They did the drops which showed a +5 in each eye. They were measured at +1 without drops. DC was basically straining so hard to see well which is why I didn’t notice. (At least that’s what they told me 😂)

Another tip following on from the poster above… ask about what happens if they break! The NHS used to do replacement frames of a certain price for free, but it’s changed recently… but I think there is still some frames that will be free.

My DC is on their fourth pair in 5months…!!!

The optician did recommend we thin them so I’m hoping they won’t be too heavy for her.
Thank you so much, I’m sure I will be in touch as I feel like I’ve got so many questions. I had no concept of how high it actually was when the optician told me so I didn’t ask any of the questions that are now buzzing round my mind!

Such a shock isn’t it! Amazes me how well they seem to adjust to things.
Good tip re them breaking, I didn’t even think about that! We are also a house that seems to lose everything so no doubt we will be buying replacements for them disappearing. Thank you

If you struggle to find frames that fit look for opticians that stock tomato glasses. My daughter doesn't need glasses but we had her eye test at an independent opticians that stocked these glasses on recommendation of a friend who has a little girl the same size as my daughter (5 but size of a 3yo) and these glasses were the only ones that fitted her.

Thank you! I have actually read about them glasses and spoken to a local optician that stocks them and they look like they will be better for her.

Just to update we got the glasses today, she’s only worn them a little on and off but they don’t fit her right, they keep slipping down her nose so will have to go back for them looking at. She has a tiny nose and I don’t feel like these are the best style glasses (and of course they are quite heavy even when thinned) but she is back for a check in 6 weeks so will shop around after this for some more suited to her little face.
Im still not 100% convinced about the prescription, even the opticians were perplexed by how she’s functioned so well all this time with eyes that are 10+ but she did look at me with them on earlier and went you’ve got little spots on your face so she’d never been able to see that I have freckles.