
Your baby’s winsome gaze can be the most rewarding part of early parenthood, almost like a secret communication between just you and her. While it can prove as a memorable bonding experience, this period is also essential to identify vision anomalies and take necessary action. The good news is, diagnosed early, eye problems have a good chance of being treated.
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Symptoms of vision problems vary in accordance with age, so watch for age-appropriate clues in your child. Some of these are included below.

Babies older than three months should be able to follow moving objects with their eyes. Although misalignment of the eyes is normal before 3 months, wandering eyes after this age can signal an abnormality. If your child is unable to focus, make eye contact or follow objects in their field of vision, share your observations with your paediatrician.
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If your child’s eyes are misaligned (strabismus), the problem may become more pronounced at the two-year mark. Likewise, a lazy eye (amblyopia) – a childhood condition in which one of the eyes doesn’t develop adequately – can lead to vision problems. Amblyopia usually arrives without any accompanying symptoms such as vision loss, so it’s important to catch it quickly to prevent its regression. Make sure to have your child’s vision checked regularly to make sure everything is on track; even a little oversight can lead to compromised sight, so it’s important to stay one step ahead.
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If you do notice anything out of the ordinary with your child’s eyesight, there’s no need to panic. Seek a formal diagnosis from a paediatrician to know your options. The earlier a vision problem is detected, the more likely it is to be treated successfully. By spotting signs early, you’re more likely to win the odds.
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Physical red flags, including abnormal pupils, misaligned eyes, bulging eyes, persistent eye irritation and redness, and rapid eye movements, can help detect vision problems in babies. Also, you may notice behavioural signs, including poor eye contact, extreme sensitivity to light, and head tilting, which may indicate vision problems in babies.
Home testing includes checking the response to light for newborns, looking for steady eye contact for babies 1- 2 months of age, a tracking test for babies of 3 months of age, and checking for eye alignment, which can help test your baby’s eyesight. Also, professional medical tests, including the red reflex test and pupil response, are recommended when you notice specific physical red flags.
You can ensure your baby has good eyesight by noticing specific age-appropriate milestones, including focusing on objects or people, tracking objects, reaching for items, demonstrating normal eye-hand coordination, and crawling or walking with depth perception.
Common vision problems in kids include myopia (difficulty seeing distant objects), hyperopia (difficulty seeing nearby objects), astigmatism (blurred vision), lazy eye, and misaligned eye.