I have one son who doesn’t wear contacts or glasses. My insurance pays for one eye exam per year, but they test his vision at his regular doctor’s visits. Do any of you make appts. just for a regular eye exam for your kids?
I started them all by the time they were 16 to catch things the routine eye exam with a physical could miss. The eye stresses start to increase in HS. 2 of the 4 needed regular glasses and one found reading glasses eased eye stress for studying that did not show up in physical since it is the close test, not the distance test.
Definitely go for at least one formal eye exam now. If your plan will pay for an Ophthalmologist rather than just an Optometrist, send your son there. The exam will be more thorough, and if your son has no special issues, he won’t need a re-check for a couple more years.
Mine both always did…even DD who didn’t wear glasses until age 20.
They began going to an optometrist in grade school.
We take our kiddos to an opththalmologist for yearly eye exams and make sure they test for glaucoma at least every 2 years. The eye test at the regular doctor is to test vision. The tests at the opthalmologist test the health of the eyes. It’s an important difference. You can have an eye disease even without any recent family history of it.
We did, when exploring headaches. It was the only way we learned D2 needed glasses. (Same with my brother, as a kid.) We also learned she had a possibility of a condition that wouldn’t flare for decades. So, we could follow that.
Yes absolutely both of my boys go for annual exams with a special visit to the eye doctor separate from their physical exams. The younger one, who has glasses, picked up his new pair yesterday. He is not very good at taking care of his glasses and they tend to fall apart.
OK, he has an appt. tomorrow morning and I just didn’t know if it is something that needs to be done so often. It’s been 2 years since his last one. Thanks all.
Yes it’s a good idea to have them checked every year. My 14 year old doesn’t have glasses and passes the doctor test fine. However the eye doctor says he is slightly farsighted and that at some point he may need glasses. So even if they can see the eye chart at the doctors office it’s better to have them checked.
I’m a bad mother. 
Eyes should be checked every year. Even if there appear to be no vision problems from a basic exam (at the physician’s office), even minor vision deficiencies can cause headaches and other problems.
Yes, it’s time, especially if they spend time on the computer, are driving, or if you or conpapa need vision correction.
VerryHappy–me too. My S with glasses went regularly. My D got the quick check at her regular doctor visit. The only time she’s ever seen an eye doc was to check for crossed eyes as a toddler (which she didn’t have.) At 31, she still hasn’t been since, and she still has the best sight in the family
I have a kid who was diagnosed with glaucoma (no family history) at age 20. So glad he was seeing an eye doc annually anyway.
I thought my D’s vision was perfect. Last year, went to her annual checkup, where they do the quick eye test and they said all was fine. The next week she was telling me she was having a hard time seeing the white board from the back row of a classroom. We went to an optometrist, and it turned out she needed glasses. It is a weak prescription, but she says it makes a big difference. It’s especially important now that they’re driving.
My kids go to an ophthalmologist every year or so. Ive been seeing the same Dr. For a LONG time, so he found some way to cover our apps with just the copay.
Yes. Stress and studying a lot seem to impact her sight. In college, she found she needed to wear her glasses all the time instead of just in the classroom to read the board.
After law school and med school, a LOT of folks who never needed glasses needed them all the time. Those blasted footnotes on legal opinions that were xeroxed as our “textbook” were nearly impossible to read, which I believe greatly contributed to the deterioration of our eyesight!
My D complained of not being able to see the board from the back of a room when she was 14. I took her in to the eye doctor and D got a pair of glasses. The eye doctor said she would be able to pass the driving eye test without her glasses in order to get her permit.
I took her in to get her permit a few months later. When she started reading off letters and shapes instead of numbers at the DOT the examiner just kind of looked at me and then told her that if she had a pair of glasses then she had better go get them. She ran out to the car, came back with them and passed the test. She has gotten her eyes examined regularly since.