Tell me about eye tests for children?

[DontCallMeSantaBaby]

DD (4.9) has been complaining of a sore eye today, and DH has managed to get a bit more detail out of her. She claims that her sight is a bit fuzzy, and she can't see too well at school - some element of this was spontaneous and some 'prompted' by DH (he's forgotten the detail now, gah).

I'm not enormously concerned - she IS a bit of a hypochondriac, bless her (has the mildest 'really bad bruise' you've ever seen on her knee right now), and what's more was rather taken by the kids' glasses in the opticians when DH was getting his a few weeks back - hm.

But anyway, what do eyetests for children this age entail? And are any of the chain opticians particularly good at dealing with small persons, or do I really need to find a local recommendation?

probably better to go for a local recommendation but most opticians offer free eye tests for children. So you may as well have one done to be sure.

Hi I tkae my oldest 2 to boots they have always been good.
Younest has her's through the hospital as she has sight problems

I took DD1(4.3) to Specsavers a few weeks ago.

They were really good. She was most disappointed that she didn't need glasses.

I'm not sure if you can still use the health visitor if your dd has started school but my ds (4.10) had an eye test at the health clinic as a pre-starting school check. Our local one had an opthalmic consultant in from the eye hospital, who was specifically trained to test under 5s. She visited once every month to carry out checks on pre-schoolers and anyone the HV had suggested. Might be worth ringing your HV to see if anything similar runs in your area. Otherwise I suppose you'll need to use a local optician. I'd ask mums of other children you know if they've had their eyes tested, and where.

Thanks - I will ask at work for recommendations today! I always liked Boots (in particular one rather handsome optician that I had noooo problem staring into my eyes in a darkened room; yum) but work now provides vouchers that are Specsavers only. They're not as thorough with adult check-ups, I thought.

DD did look adorable in glasses - but as sensible as I try to be, I will be disappointed if she AND DH have glasses, as I really suit glasses but don't need them!