3 Signs That Your Child Might Need Glasses

While it’s easy for you to tell if your vision is becoming impaired, it can often be hard for parents to know if or when they should consider getting glasses for their children. Especially if your child isn’t in school yet or hasn’t yet learned how to read, you may not even be aware that your child is having difficulty seeing. But luckily, there are some signs that you should get your child in for an eye exam to see if they could use glasses to help their vision. So to help you pick up on some of the warning signs, here are three things that may encourage you to take your child to see an eye doctor.

Frequent Squinting

Although it’s common to squint when it’s bright outside or the lighting of a room has suddenly changed, squinting to see everyday things may be a sign that your child is having a hard time seeing in general. According to Troy Bedinghaus, a contributor to Very Well, when you squint, the shape of your eyes is momentarily changed. By changing this shape, it often gives the person better vision for just a moment so they can more clearly see whatever it is they’re looking at. So if you’ve noticed that your child frequently squints when trying to look at things, they may be trying to compensate for not having adequate vision on their own.

Being Too Close To What They’re Reading or Watching

Another sign that your child may have a hard time seeing is if they are too close to what they’re trying to see. This could include sitting too close to the TV or holding books or other devices too close to their faces. Additionally, Dr. Megan Elizabeth Collins, a contributor to Johns Hopkins Medicine, writes that if your child tilts his or her head down when looking at something closely, this could also be an indicator of the same type of eye problems. Your child may be doing these things because their distance vision isn’t adequate, which means bringing an object closer makes it bigger and easier to see.

Rubs Eyes Often

When your eyes aren’t working the way they should, this can cause a lot of strain on your eyes and your brain. For this reason, it’s common for people with uncorrected poor vision to have eye pain or headaches. Knowing this, VSP.com shares that if you have noticed that your child rubs his or her eyes often or gets headaches on a regular basis, they may be straining their eyes too much in order to see reasonably well. These are all good indicators that you should get your child to see an eye care specialist.

If your child is exhibiting the signs mentioned above, consider taking him or her to an eye doctor to see if glasses are necessary for corrected vision.