How can they tell if babies need glasses?

Question

ive seen kids under 3 with glasses some can barely talk how can they tell wut prescription the kid needs or if they need it at all

Answer 1

My daughter first got her glasses at 14 months - she didn't have many words past "mommy" and "daddy", we definitely had the same question for her eye doctor.  And I know I've seen kids as small at 4 months with glasses at the kids eye glasses shop.  

There were a bunch of things that they do at my daughter's eye exams, but one thing to keep in mind is that they don't have to get the prescription quite as exact for babies as they do for adults since babies aren't going to be reading:

1.  They dilate her pupils and measure the curvature of the back of her eye.  Which gives an indication of the prescription.

2.  They have these cards that are long rectangles (probably 2 feet long, by half a foot wide).  On one end is a little square with black and white lines.  The rest of the card is the shade of grey that's exactly between the black and the white.  They have a whole series of lots of these cards with progressively

Ok, so you know how when you look at black and white lines that are really thin and close together, they kind of look like they're moving?  Well the same happens with kids, but it happens with wider lines.  So if the child can distinguish the lines, then they'll notice the square.  The eye doctor watches to see if the child focuses on that square.  They show the child the cards with smaller and smaller lines until the child doesn't notice the square because the lines have all blurred together and match the grey.  The smaller the lines, the better their vision.

3.  My daughter crosses her eyes because she's farsighted and is trying to focus so hard that her eyes cross.  The doctor gives her a toy to play with, and then holds lenses of varying prescription up to her eyes to see which one straightens her eyes the best.

Answer 2

12fr34 - I've seen children as young as 1 year wearing glasses - there are eye exams designed for young children.  Make an appointment for them to have eye exams.