Recently I was presented with the opportunity to take Evan to Iris to get his eyes checked and to interview an optometrist about kid’s eye health. I jumped at the chance for a few reasons:
- We have been going to Iris at Market Mall for years and love our optometrist, Dr. Hauk, there.
- As a teenager, I had some severe eye issues that we were afraid might end up with serious, long term eye issues (thankfully, they didn’t).
- Evan needed to go back for a follow up eye exam. You see…he has two near sighted (one severely..me) parents so he has little hope of escaping glasses….more on that later.
Thankfully, we were able to pick the Iris location we visited so we headed north to Market Mall to see Dr. Hauk. Evan was a bit nervous about our visit because he couldn’t remember his last one. Thankfully, when I promised that it wouldn’t hurt, he decided it would be ok.
While Dr. Hauk checked Evan’s eyes, we chatted about kids and eye health. His number one piece of advice is take your kids to get their eyes checked. He recommends that you should definitely have their eyes checked by age 3. Many eye health problems are easier to fix if they are caught early. One example is a lazy eye. If it is caught before age 8, it is very treatable. After age 8, it gets more difficult.
Another recommendation is to make sure your child wears quality eye protection (like that sold at offices like Iris). I must admit that we are a little lax about this at my house. If you start your child early, it is easier to convince them to wear sunglasses later on. Make sure that you buy quality sunglasses, though. It is very hard to determine whether many brands of cheap sunglasses are actually made to block out the sun’s harmful rays. A large percentage (up to 80!) of a person’s sun damage to their eyes happens before the age of 18 so it is vital to start wearing sunglasses early!
During your child’s eye appoint, your optometrist will probably talk about the points above. They will also test your child’s sight, eye alignment and eye health. All are easy tests….well at least they are if you can see. Evan got a bit misty eyed because, try as he might….he couldn’t see the pictures until they were really big. While the alignment and health portions of the exam were fine, Evan got a prescription for glasses to wear at school. Iris has a great Kid’s glasses package that combines frames, lenses and a great guarantee (which is vital for little boys!). Plus…the glasses are super cute & will look hipster cool when he wears them with his hat!
So….make the appointment. Get your child’s eyes checked every year. Even if they are seeing fine today, ensure that they will continue to see fine into the future. Many eye health issues show no signs or symptoms until they are a real problem….or never. Oh…and an extra perk for Alberta resident’s….Alberta Health Care covers eye exams for kids every year.
So….how often do you get your kid’s eyes checked? Or have you ever had them checked? If you have a story….share!
Disclosure: I was asked by Iris to write a blog post in exchange for a pair of kid’s sunglasses. I am passionate about kid’s eye health so I agreed. As always….all opinions are my own.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I like his style!
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Alberta still will provide a free pair of glasses to every Kindergarten child I believe. We chose to purchase a different pair of frames (they only have select ones to choose from), but it would be great to have a back up pair. We started taking our boys around age 3. I was anxious to get the eyes tested as early as possible due to both of my nieces having amblyopia. There was a small concern, so we erred on the side of caution and got glasses. Have never had a problem with him wanting to wear them at all. Neither one of my kids will wear sunglasses though. Might have to try harder…thanks for the info on sun damage to the eyes!
Ours was covered. I’m not 100% sure by what. It could have been Blue Cross. I was happy with that!
evan is such a little hypster. awesome. we started the jellybean at 4. and our eye doctor is awesome with kids. the jb’s eyes are fine, though with 2 parents that wear glasses, it’s only a matter of time. though me and the hubby only started to wear them when we were teenagers. we’ll keep bringing him every year. ontario pays for kids up until the age of 16, so why wouldn’t we!
that said, we are pretty lax about the sun glasses. the jb doesn’t really like wearing them much and we have lost so many, i can’t imagine paying more than the 10$ that we have been sending. i know, bad mommy!
It’s so hard to get them to wear sunglasses! Evan is much more apt to wear a hat which still gives a bit of protection.
Teach children not to hold reading materials or small-screen devices too closely to their eyes and to read only under good lighting.
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