See to it

“Although only 1 in 9 infants have vision problems, parents who take their child for an eye exam will have a new peace of mind that their infant’s vision is developing properly,” says Andrea Thau, OD, president of the American Optometric Association (AOA) and a founder of its no-cost infant vision assessment program, InfantSEE. In addition to scheduling that initial appointment between 6 and 12 months, the AOA advises watching out for these developmental milestones:

• Birth: Focuses on objects 8 to 10 inches away (like mom’s face during a feeding session).
• 3 months: Tracks objects with eyes and reaches for things.
• 5 months: Gains depth perception and sees in color.
• 8 months: Begins to crawl, which helps further develop eye-hand-foot- body coordination.
• 9 months: Pulls up to standing position.
• 12 months: Begins to walk, judges distances fairly well and throws with precision.

RED FLAGS
The following symptoms could indicate a problem and warrant a visit to the eye doctor: excessive tears, red/encrusted eyelids, constant eye turning, extreme sensitivity to light, appearance of a white pupil.

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