can someone explain long and short sight to me pretty please??

[ihearttc]

Am posting this here rather than in childrens health as thought it might be a bit busier!

Basically I have a 5 year old DS who is in reception at school. Had his eye check thing at school recently and was absolutely fine but am getting more and more concerned that he really can't see things properly but only when they are close up...he can see things far away absolutely fine but is holding his reading books closer and closer to his face to be able to read them as the writing is getting smaller as the books get harder. Does that make any sense at all?

He is doing really well with his reading but they did a reading test on him at school last week at the teacher commented on the fact that he couldn't read the words he already knows. Didn't think much of it at the time as just thought he might have been having an off day but after speaking to DS he said they were sentences which started off as big letters/words but got smaller as he was reading and then he couldn't work out what they said.

Am obviously going to make him an appointment at opticians (haven't taken him before as didn't think there was any problem and now I feel really bad) but am seriously confused about what the problem might be. There are loads of children at school wearing glasses so I realise its quite common in children this young but they seem to be wearing them all the time whereas Im assuming he'd only need them for reading/close up work...is that possible in a child?

Possible - but you really need the optician to check. In younger children (below age 6-7) the most common reason for glasses is long-sight (as with my DD1). They can't see things that are close up. Often, but not always, the first sign of this is a squint in one eye, as the child desperately tries to focus and one eye manages rather better than the other. And yes, glasses might be worn all the time or only for close-up work. From the age of 7 upwards children are most likely to start to wear glasses because they are short-sighted, and start to notice that they can't see eg the blackboard at school. But there can be other reasons for visual difficulties, eg problems with one eye that might be resolved with a patch or filter. And as I say - you need a professional to check this out. And don't feel bad. If there has been no obvious sign like a squint and he has been tested at school then I can't see how you should feel bad at all - just make that appointment and rest assured that you are doing the right thing.

Thank you for your kind reply...just feel bad because Ive been taking him to the dentist since he was tiny (was a dental nurse pre child so didn't really get much choice in the matter lol!) but didn't even really give much thought to his eyes but then again its only really become apparent in the last few weeks.

Will call opticians tomorrow and see if I can get an appointment for this week...and will mention it to his teacher as well.

Thanks once again.