The sense of sight is one of the most important sensations that humans experience. It is therefore very heartbreaking to see when parents realize that there is a vision developmental delay in their babies.
According to WebMD, a baby's vision is blurry until it reaches six-months-old. However, some babies continue to have blurry vision after six months. Knowing the causes, symptoms and treatments for vision delay is necessary for every parent since early diagnosis and early treatment can make a big difference in saving the baby's vision.
There are different causes of vision delay. The most common causes are refractive errors such as nearsightedness and farsightedness.
Other causes are the lazy eye or amblyopia, which involves bad vision and a difference in appearance of one eye; infantile cataracts which refer to the cloudy appearance on an infant's eyes; and strabismus or cross eyes.
Fortunately, vision delay can be corrected by early treatment. Common treatments for a child's vision problems include eyeglasses, contact lenses, special glasses, eye surgery and wearing an eye patch.
There are certain warning signs that all parents need to look out for, as these indicate the presence of vision problems. At two-months-old, parents should check if their baby can notice movement of the hands.
At around three-months-old, parents need to contact a doctor if their child does not follow moving objects with his or her eyes. Difficulties in moving one or both eyes in all directions are also warning signs for vision problems.
At around six-months-old, parents should consult a doctor if their baby's eyes turn in or out all the time. Around this time, parents should also watch out for regular eye tears and eye drainage. If the doctor sees any problem with the baby's eyes, the child might be referred to an ophthalmologist for a more extensive eye and vision examination.
To prevent vision developmental delay, WebMD advises parents to eat a healthy diet before, during and after pregnancy. Giving the child some toys that encourage vision development is another good idea to promote better vision.
