Why is my 2yo already diagnosed with nearsightedness

[Anonymous]

It's not about upbringing. I have three kids. The oldest has perfect vision. The second didn't need glasses until high school, and our youngest got them in pre-K. She has gorgeous eyes, and big long lashes. People complement her all the time, even with glasses. Eye sight is important, and its better to get used to glasses now so that your kid can see well when he starts school.

[Anonymous]

My oldest has terrible eye sight. He was the one I wouldn’t let watch tv or use any type of screen until he was 3 years old. Needed glasses at 4.
His little sister-who broke all the rules all the time and used screens/tv much earlier has 20/15 vision.
Just genetic lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to the ophthalmologist because pediatrician referred us after his 2yo vision screen. Turns out he is nearsighted and has astigmatism. He doesn’t need glasses yet but will in a few years when he starts K.

- He gets very limited screentime (that too only TV, not phone or iPad) and lots of outdoor time. Eats a very healthy diet with plenty of fish and vegetables

- Both his father and I are near-sighted, and his father has astigmatism. But we weren’t diagnosed until our late teens despite regular doctor check-ups. Have the tests gotten more sensitive nowadays?

- Is it the worst thing in the world if he doesn’t wear glasses when he starts K? Can we delay until he starts to have issues like not being able to see what’s written on the board?

I know I will get flamed but my little boy is very handsome with beautiful eyes and I don’t want them to get covered up my glasses

What is wrong with you?! Your child is a human, not a doll.

Are you a single mother, or is there a sane adult in your house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to the ophthalmologist because pediatrician referred us after his 2yo vision screen. Turns out he is nearsighted and has astigmatism. He doesn’t need glasses yet but will in a few years when he starts K.

- He gets very limited screentime (that too only TV, not phone or iPad) and lots of outdoor time. Eats a very healthy diet with plenty of fish and vegetables

- Both his father and I are near-sighted, and his father has astigmatism. But we weren’t diagnosed until our late teens despite regular doctor check-ups. Have the tests gotten more sensitive nowadays?

- Is it the worst thing in the world if he doesn’t wear glasses when he starts K? Can we delay until he starts to have issues like not being able to see what’s written on the board?

I know I will get flamed but my little boy is very handsome with beautiful eyes and I don’t want them to get covered up my glasses

OMG you suck as a parent.

What the hell is wrong with you?

You need parenting classes.

Yes you should be flamed. Your poor kid!

100% get those glasses now you have to be a troll. UGH

[Anonymous]

I can imagine OP's reaction if her DS had to get leg braces like my youngest did at 18 months. Did I like the looks people gave him, wondering what was 'wrong' with him? Of course, not. But, he was still the same sweet child and it's what he needed.

[Anonymous]

I got flamed on here once for saying something dumb.

Guess what? I deserved it.

You kinda deserve the flaming, OP, so try to learn from it if you can.

Be so grateful this was caught and let your son see the world. And be proud of him no matter what he looks like.

[Anonymous]

I hope you aren’t letting any of this ‘glasses are ugly’ mindset creep down to your son. He may need glasses in 6 months or a year or two, but he WILL need glasses eventually. And they will be adorable! And he can take them off for pictures if you want. And he can wear contacts from an early age if he wants. My DH wears contacts all the time because he finds them more comfortable, but I really love the rare occasion he is in his glasses.

[Anonymous]

Get your kid the glasses he needs to see the world clearly. Don’t be a vain and selfish mother.

[Anonymous]

I think that people our age had bad eyesight and they just didn't catch it because pediatricians didn't do vision screenings back then and nobody noticed up until we couldn't see the board (when it was arguably too late). I got mine in 2nd grade when the teacher noticed I couldn't read the board.

My daughter has been seeing an ophthalmologist since she was three b/c like you, our pediatrician suggested it after a vision screening. The first doctor we saw told me she would absolutely need glasses by Kindergarten. Our current doctor has more of a wait and see approach - she told me to make sure we keep DD away from screens (she said if we do screens, she prefers a tv from several feet away to iPads/phones that they are looking at closely) and to spend lots and lots of time outside. That's what we do and DD is now 8 and still doesn't have glasses (and in fact her astigmatism self corrected and her nearsightedness has improved).

Also if your DD does end up needing glasses know that there are a ton of interventions like eye drops, contacts they can wear at night that will correct vision during the day, etc...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to the ophthalmologist because pediatrician referred us after his 2yo vision screen. Turns out he is nearsighted and has astigmatism. He doesn’t need glasses yet but will in a few years when he starts K.

- He gets very limited screentime (that too only TV, not phone or iPad) and lots of outdoor time. Eats a very healthy diet with plenty of fish and vegetables

- Both his father and I are near-sighted, and his father has astigmatism. But we weren’t diagnosed until our late teens despite regular doctor check-ups. Have the tests gotten more sensitive nowadays?

- Is it the worst thing in the world if he doesn’t wear glasses when he starts K? Can we delay until he starts to have issues like not being able to see what’s written on the board?

I know I will get flamed but my little boy is very handsome with beautiful eyes and I don’t want them to get covered up my glasses

You do know that glasses are clear, right? And if anything, they accentuate and make eyes look bigger.

I can't believe you'd sacrifice your child's vision for your vanity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would the pediatrician refer your child? What is going on that prompted that concern. 2 year olds aren't generally screened for vision at the pediatrician's office.

There have been some interesting studies on the role of time of outside direct sunlight and nearsightedness. One study looked at children in Singapore and Australia of Chinese descent. Australian children average something like 12 hours a week of outdoor activities while the kids in Singapore did around 3. The rate of near sightedness was drastically higher in Singapore.

My DH both are nearsighted so when our kids were little we made sure they got a lot of outdoor time under sunlight with opportunities to look into the distance. For sports we made sure to choose outdoor sports so instead of signing up our kids for gymnastics, swim team, volleyball, or basketball we signed them up for baseball, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, etc. So far they are in high school and don't need glasses.

DP but our pediatrician started optional screening pretty early (maybe at 2). We paid about $30 for the spot vision test (it's a machine) every year because I have terrible eyesight and wanted to make sure we caught anything early (so far neither child needs glasses, they've inherited their father's perfect eyesight, I guess).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would the pediatrician refer your child? What is going on that prompted that concern. 2 year olds aren't generally screened for vision at the pediatrician's office.

There have been some interesting studies on the role of time of outside direct sunlight and nearsightedness. One study looked at children in Singapore and Australia of Chinese descent. Australian children average something like 12 hours a week of outdoor activities while the kids in Singapore did around 3. The rate of near sightedness was drastically higher in Singapore.

My DH both are nearsighted so when our kids were little we made sure they got a lot of outdoor time under sunlight with opportunities to look into the distance. For sports we made sure to choose outdoor sports so instead of signing up our kids for gymnastics, swim team, volleyball, or basketball we signed them up for baseball, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, etc. So far they are in high school and don't need glasses.

DP but our pediatrician started optional screening pretty early (maybe at 2). We paid about $30 for the spot vision test (it's a machine) every year because I have terrible eyesight and wanted to make sure we caught anything early (so far neither child needs glasses, they've inherited their father's perfect eyesight, I guess).

My ped does a vision screen every year as part of their physical starting at 2. I thought that was normal now. I have a terrible astigmatism that wasn’t caught until middle school (eyes are pretty good otherwise); I’m glad my kids will get their vision sorted early if needed.

OP, your son will look adorable in glasses. My friend has an infant with glasses and he’s the cutest thing ever. If anything it makes his eyes even cuter.

[Anonymous]

its normal at that age and most kids grow out of it - don't take it too seriously

[Anonymous]

I had nearsightedness and astigmatism at an early age because I had/have a severely tilted optic nerve. My mother also didn't like the idea of me wearing glasses because she thought they were ugly. I ended up struggling and squinting to see, causing headaches, and having trouble doing school work until my first grade teacher put her foot down because I simply wasn't able to make out what was on the the chalkboard. Don't do this to your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, clearly, you must have F'd up somewhere, OP.

Seriously, do you really not know that you can do everything right and things still not turn out the way you expect? Did you think you were insulating yourself from developmental challenges because of your superior parenting? You think it's appropriate to deny your DC corrected vision because you don't like the esthetic?

My DD got her first contact at age 5. You heard that right. At age 3, she got her first pair of glasses because vision in one eye was so much weaker than the other. She wore those glasses for a year and it continued to deteriorate. At age 4, the opthamalogist gave us the choice of patching her eye or getting a contact. (The concern was that her brain would 'shut off' her weaker eye in favor of the much stronger one.). You think glasses are bad, try patching for a year. Patching marginally helped but not as much as a contact would. So, that's what she got.

How do you put a contact lens on 4-year-old!?!