Children's Optometrists, Eye Care for children and babies

Optometrists for children

Formerly known as “Children's opticians" this is one of the first opticians' practices in the country designed specifically with children in mind. We have a large playroom and videos, mother and baby room and a particularly large selection of children’s frames to fit all pockets. Our aim is to encourage parents to bring their babies and children for regular eye examinations by providing a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere for all the family.

Eye care in children and babies

From the moment your child is born he is learning and developing rapidly. Much of the information about his new world is received through his eyes, so eye health is of paramount importance from the earliest age.

Welsh Assembly Guidelines - “To ensure that your child’s visual system develops properly, take them to an optometrist for a full vision check when they are 3 years old or before they start nursery.” “Regular eye examinations from the age of 3 years will ensure that many problems can be detected and corrected at the earliest possible time and help your child’s vision develop properly.”

Vision screening in children is not enough

Your health visitor will carry out a simple vision check and squint test at six weeks and eight months. However, this valuable service will only detect the more obvious problems. School vision screening, where it is still available, is also a simple screening procedure, designed to detect only gross abnormalities, such as large differences in vision in each eye, obvious squints or reduced vision.

Whilst these services detect and refer a large number of children for further tests, many will pass these checks but still be at risk of poor vision, squints or visual disabilities which can have a devastating effect on learning ability. This sounds a little melodramatic but it must be understood that the eye is a very complex organ, and good vision is not limited to the focusing of a clear picture on the retina situated at the back of the eye. Distance sight alone is not, therefore, an adequate measure of overall visual performance and all children should have regular eye examinations throughout their life.

The Eye Examination

Although a baby cannot speak it is possible to measure their vision by watching their eye movements in response to patterns of light. From six months old it is possible to test their vision, stereo acuity or depth perception, convergence ability, ease of eye movement, presence of squint, of prescription, pupil responses to light and the health of the eye. From 18 months picture recognition cards are used to measure vision and a more refined examination is possible. From two and a half years shape recognition and matching gives a vision assessment that more closely resembles adult tests, and by three and a half years many children can copy letters from the adult charts. As speech and understanding increase the tests become more refined and further information is obtained about the competence of their visual performance. Regular eye examinations are essential as many eye problems are not present at birth but develop latter with growth and increasing workload on the eyes. Never be afraid to mention anything that is worrying you about your child’s eyes or to ask your optician to explain what they are testing for.

Free under the National Health Service NHS

The eye examination is free under the National Health Service for every child aged 16 and under, or under 19 and still in full time education. Usually it will show that your child’s eyes are healthy and normal and your optician will send you regular yearly reminders for future eye examinations. Should your child require glasses, they would be entitled to a National Health Service voucher towards the cost.

NHS vouchers also help towards the cost of repair or replacement due to breakage or scratched lenses.

To protect children from the possibility of receiving unsuitable lenses or frames, they can only be dispensed by a qualified registered Dispensing Optician or Optometrist.

Lifestyle Lenses for Children

Did you know your child can benefit from the same advances in lens technology as yourself when selecting lenses to suit their frame, prescription and lifestyle?

Considerations before choosing a frame

When will your child need to wear his glasses? A child who must wear his glasses full time may need more than one pair.

In the summer months it may be necessary to have a pair of prescription sunglasses to protect the eyes from the harmful effects of ultra violet radiation. Your child may find sports and swimming more enjoyable if he sees well. Prescription swimming goggles and safety glasses for sports from cycling to squash and skiing are available.

All children's glasses are fitted with plastic lenses for safety reasons but a very boisterous child may still be at risk from eye injury through breakage during play. Under these circumstances, or if your child plays a lot of sport such as squash and tennis, cycles or skate boards, it might be worth considering a more substantial material such as polycarbonate.

A very active child may benefit from a sports band to hold his frame more securely and a forgetful child might find a spec chain or cord useful. Colourful cases help to protect frames and make them easier to find when misplaced. Sticky fingers make dirty lenses and cleaning solutions will enable lenses to be cleaned anywhere.

Things to look for when choosing a frame

The sole purpose of the frame is to carry a pair of lenses in the correct position in front of your child's eyes. So the primary consideration has to be the fit.

There must be sufficient head width, side length and bridge width to ensure a comfortable fit with some growing room. The style must be suited to the power of lens so that the frame is well balanced in terms of lens weight to frame strength. Consideration must also be given to the frame design and its compatibility with your child's facial characteristics.

The lenses must sit so that their optical centres are in the optimum position in front of the eyes. Generally this means that your child's eyes should look approximately through the centre of the lens vertically, and slightly nasal of the centre horizontally. In order to achieve this, the positions of the eyes, ears and nose must correspond with the bridge design and side height and angle of the frame.

The next consideration is personal taste. Obviously if your child likes his glasses he will be happier to wear them so it is important that he has some say in the final choice.

Fortunately, there are beautiful frames around today to fit all budgets and hopefully there will be a pair to suit everyone. Take your time choosing and involve the whole family if you can. Sibling approval can be as powerful as peer pressure.

Choose when your child is in a good mood. If he is tired after his eye examination call in on a different day. If he is distressed at the thought of having glasses take him home and talk it through. Most children come round to the idea and many are surprised to find that their friends are actually jealous.

Glasses are very 'in' at the moment. Many celebrities make a fashion statement with them. People own more than one pair now so that they can change their glasses to suit the occasion or their mood. Sports manufacturers are joining the increasing number of designer names that manufacture their own range of prescription and sunglasses. Eye protection for leisure activities such as cycling and racket sports is becoming a familiar sight. Glasses are creeping onto the catwalk and into the fashion magazines. A significant number of people even buy empty frames to enhance their image.

Be careful not to let any prejudice that you may have against glasses influence your child's attitude to wearing them. He must feel secure and at ease with the idea that glasses are a tool to promote healthy efficient eyes.

Choosing a quality frame

A quality frame does not necessarily mean an expensive frame with a designer label, and a designer label does not guarantee that a frame is of adequate quality.

When choosing frames for children resistance to impact is all important. It is advisable to consider spring loaded joints if your child is boisterous or likely to mistreat his glasses. These joints flex and 'give' if there is impact to the side of the frame or if a child has a tendency to remove the glasses using one hand only, and then spring back to their original position. On less substantial frames the side joint will readily splay, compromising comfort and stability of the frame. The frame will then require repeated adjustments and over time the metal will fatigue and distort with the slightest pressure.

Some good quality frames do not have sprung joints but are constructed using more robust metals that have greater resistance to impact and wear.

A good quality frame is well balanced with good bridge support on the nose so that the weight of the lenses does not pull the frame forward. A lot of children's frames come in a number of bridge and eye sizes ensuring optimum fit. Some have, and most can be fitted with, silicone pads which, although less robust, are made from a 'tacky' material that grips the nose more securely than hard pads. These are very useful if your child has a small bridge to his nose or heavy lenses. Some baby frames have built up bridges to compensate for immature nose development and curl sides that can help to grip the ears more securely.

Choosing a budget frame

Budget frames are just that. The quality is not marvellous and they are designed to fit the 'average' face. This usually means that they are made in a limited number of sizes and are basic in style. For this reason they can be mass produced at cheaper prices. They will not generally fit unusual facial characteristics such as asymmetric faces or immature noses on older children and, unless very carefully looked after, are not suitable for high or asymmetric prescriptions where good fit and a well balanced frame are crucial.

Their one advantage is that they cost little or nothing and can be repaired and replaced at little or no cost. But be prepared for extra visits to have them realigned and possibly repaired at regular intervals.

Perils of a poorly fitting frame

When lenses are prescribed for your child their power is determined on the understanding that they will be sitting at a specified distance from your child's eyes. If this distance is altered the effective power of the lens is altered. This change is relatively small for low powered lenses, but becomes more significant as lens power increases.

If the frame is distorted so that the two lenses sit at different distances from the eyes then the balance between the lenses will alter so that two lenses that were the same will now have different effective powers at your child's eyes.

If your child has astigmatism it may have been described to you as a rugby ball shape on the refractive surface of the eye, so that there are two different shapes curves, at ninety degrees to each other and orientated at a particular angle. The corrective lens is of equal and opposite shape, and also at a particular orientation. If the frame is misaligned or a nose pad is missing so that the front is tilted then the orientation of the lenses will change and they will no longer correct the astigmatism.

If your child wears bifocals a tilted front means that one eye will look through the reading segment when the other is not, putting the eyes out of balance. Your child may have to adopt compensatory postures to cope.

A frame that is too far from the eyes will reduce your child's field of view through the lenses and maximum field of view is essential to good eye movements.

A distorted frame is an uncomfortable frame and the discomfort will distract your child's attention from his work and to his glasses.

As soon as you notice that your child's glasses are out of alignment then pop in for an adjustment. If you do not feel confident in your ability to judge this then pop in regularly and have them checked. How often will depend on your child. For some weekly, or even daily, is necessary.