Two parents with terrible vision- how did your kids’ vision turn out?

[Anonymous]

Both my husband and I are very nearsighted. I had glasses starting in 2nd grade and at its worst, I was over -10 (I’ve settled into -8.5 with astigmatism as a middle aged woman). My husband started with glasses in 6th grade and I think he’s in the -7 range. Our son is 10 and still has 20/20 vision. The eye doctor said that the longer he has good vision, the milder any eventual nearsightedness will be.

I’m adopted so I don’t really know my medical history other than that my birth family all wears glasses but I think I have the worst vision. My husband’s family is all nearsighted too so clearly genetics aren’t in our son’s favor.

If both parents have bad vision, how has your kids’ eyesight turned out?

[Anonymous]

Two parents here with glasses for nearsightedness (started wearing them in elementary school). Both kids - 13 & 11 - consistently pass vision screenings and have never complained about not being able to see the board at school. No glasses yet for either.

[Anonymous]

not answering your question directly OP but just want to jump on here to say that studies are coming out that links bad eyesight with being too much indoors (the eye is still developing during childhood and the amount of lumens the sun gives, even on a cloudy dark day, is way higher than indoor light, and it triggers the eye development).

So one helpful thing to do is have your kids do homework or even play on their devices outdoors in good weather.

[Anonymous]

DH and I both nearsighted. 3 boys 20, 18, 14 and none with any need for glasses. 14 yr old has a slight astigmatism in one eye (I have astigmatism too, on top of the nearsightedness.)

I second the time outdoors. My kids all played soccer and did summer swimming. Lots of outdoors all year round every day (until recently of course.)

[Anonymous]

Both parents have poor vision. Both kids needed glasses by 1st-2nd grade. We held off about a year until it was difficult to see the board at school. And we are more conscience about having outdoor time (per ophthalmologist's suggestion). It's been tough this year though with extra screen time. I'm guessing they will have more degradation than usual at their next exam.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I have terrible eyesight. 2 kids needed glasses by 3rd grade, the other is a rising 4th and will likely need them this year.

[Anonymous]

Child needed glasses by third grade. Eye doctor started her on atropine eyedrops in hopes of slowing down vision degradation. Now I'm feeling guilty about the screentime and lack of outdoor time during this pandemic.

Second child, now 6, is still ok on vision.

[Anonymous]

She’s 14 and has 20/20 vision despite devices. It perplexed me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:not answering your question directly OP but just want to jump on here to say that studies are coming out that links bad eyesight with being too much indoors (the eye is still developing during childhood and the amount of lumens the sun gives, even on a cloudy dark day, is way higher than indoor light, and it triggers the eye development).

So one helpful thing to do is have your kids do homework or even play on their devices outdoors in good weather.

NP. That's interesting about the light. I had understood that time outdoors was critical to preventing nearsightedness because the eyes are focusing over longer distances. That's why being bookish is associated with needing glasses-- because hours spent focusing on something (a book) close up affects the eyes' ability to focus on distance.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I both have terrible vision. We were in strong glasses by 1st/3rd grade.

All of our 3 kids (14/12/10) have a very slight perception but none need glasses to function and don’t usually wear them

Our kids read a lot less than we did as kids. We both read for hours a day. Our 14 yo never reads and the other two kids read 1-2hrs at most.

[Anonymous]

I'm very nearsighted with astigmatism (now corrected via Lasik) and my husband has low vision (but can still get a driver's license). DD, 18 mos, is always pointing out gnats and tiny little things in the distance and every time I'm confused as to how she escaped our curse.

[Anonymous]

We are both very nearsighted (-9/-10 diopters) and our kids both needed glasses starting in second grade. One of them started a course of orthokeratology in third grade and it has worked wonders: stopped the worsening of the prescription entirely and all DC needs to do is wear hard contact lenses at night. The other child still has glasses and has a worsening prescription (currently about -5 diopters in HS).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:not answering your question directly OP but just want to jump on here to say that studies are coming out that links bad eyesight with being too much indoors (the eye is still developing during childhood and the amount of lumens the sun gives, even on a cloudy dark day, is way higher than indoor light, and it triggers the eye development).

So one helpful thing to do is have your kids do homework or even play on their devices outdoors in good weather.

NP. That's interesting about the light. I had understood that time outdoors was critical to preventing nearsightedness because the eyes are focusing over longer distances. That's why being bookish is associated with needing glasses-- because hours spent focusing on something (a book) close up affects the eyes' ability to focus on distance.

Top PP here. Yes I had always understood it that way as well, and based on that idea, that even when reading, to take breaks and look out the window (look far away). But what I wrote above is different than that, and has to do with the sunlight triggering a hormone(s) to reshape the lens of the eye--or something like that. The study was with Chinese kids; you could probably find it by googling.

(I've done a bit of eye research because one of my DCs has an eye condition that my dad had but skipped over me)

[Anonymous]

My husband and I both have moderately bad vision and got glasses in middle school. His is a little worse than mine (at least it was before he had Lasik).

One child has worse vision than both of us (glasses in middle school), one barely needs glasses (got them senior year of high school), and one has vision that's about the same as my husband's was (glasses in 3rd grade).

[Anonymous]

My mom has awful vision and my dad’s not much better; glasses in second grade and high school, respectively. Somehow, my sister and I (both early 40s) have outstanding vision. Neither of us need any vision correction. I’m sure I’ll be due for reading glasses soon—I’m the older one—but so far, so good.

Our three kids are young still (8, 6, 4), but so far their vision is good.