Early Vision Warning Signs & Printable Art

Did you know that you should have your baby’s first eye assessment sometime between the ages of 6 and 12 months? Even if you don’t recognize any problems with their vision, taking your child in for regular, comprehensive eye assessments can ensure your children are able to see clearly and not face any important milestone delays due to something that can be taken care of.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of American Optometric Association. The opinions and text are all mine.

It was just one year ago this July when Baby Piper took Facebook and YouTube by storm (getting over 2 million views!) with a heart-melting 30-second video clip of her first time trying on adorable pink glasses and being able to see her parents clearly for the first time. She was just 10-months old at the time of getting her first pair of glasses. Her parents originally saw a concern because Piper wasn’t meeting developmental milestones for her age, like crawling. She’s now meeting every milestone at an appropriate time.

Vision Problem Signs to Watch For

Piper’s sweet story shows us what an impact poor eyesight can mean for a child, and you may miss catching a problem without a comprehensive eye assessments from an optometrist, as not all children will show signs of a vision problem. One thing you can do, though, is watch for the most common milestones in your own children, such as:

• Birth to 4 months – Focus on objects 8-10 inches from them, focusing on parent’s face, start of eye-hand coordination
• 5 to 8 months – Depth perception awareness begins, crawling by 8 months
• 9 to 12 months – Grasping objects, pull themselves up to standing position, most infants start to walk by 12 months.
• 1 to 2 years – Recognize objects, eye-hand coordination, depth perception

Other signs you can watch for include: excessive tearing, red/encrusted eyelids, constant eye turning, extreme sensitivity to light, and appearance of a white pupil. If you need more help, AOA has a helpful guide, Infant Vision: Birth to 24 Months, which can be a great resource to learn more.

After your child’s initial eye assessment sometime between 6-12 months, you’ll want to schedule a return visit around age 3 and again before the start of school, or based on your doctor of optometry’s advisement. Remember, not all children will display signs of vision problems! 

The American Optometric Association wants to make sure everyone has access to an infant eye assessments. You can use AOA’s doctor locator to find a provider in your area that offers an InfantSEE® comprehensive eye assessments for infants 6 to 12 months at no cost!

Love You to the Moon Printable Art

As an adorable reminder of the important of infant and childhood eye assessments, I created these two cute eye assessment chart inspired printable art prints. You can click on your favorite to view the image full size and print it in an 8×10 size to frame and add to your child’s nursery or room design. These two prints are free for your own, personal use and cannot be shared or distributed. If you know someone that would love this print, just share the link to the post and they can come grab their own free copy of the printable!

Click here to grab a copy of
the free printable (blue version):

“I Love You to the Moon and
Back to Infinity & Beyond”

Click here to grab a copy of
the free printable (pink version):

“I Love You to the Moon and
Back and Over the Rainbow“

I hope this cute printable will double as a great reminder that an eye assessment can be such a simple visit that can mean a world of difference, when needed. My son was having problems in school and slacking off. He kept saying that the teacher wasn’t explaining to him what he needed to do, so that was keeping him from completing his assignments.

We took him in for an eye appointment, and sure enough he needed glasses. This picture is from him trying on glasses, my son had just turned 9. I can’t imagine the setbacks he would have faced had he needed glasses as an infant or toddler, and how easy it might be to overlook that as a problem as it isn’t common. I’m so grateful for the difference something as simple as a pair of glasses can make to a child to really help them explore and discover the world around them.