Do you want your child to have no vision problems? Then right from birth, start taking care of it. Doctors say: the baby's visual system needs to be developed, especially in the first years of life when it is being formed. Believe me, this is possible and quite simple. Let your main motto be: "We cherish good eyes from birth." Read on health.
FROM TO UP TO 3 MONTHS. The visual acuity of the newborn is only 0.015, and even increases to 0.03 by 3 months. An adult with such a vision is a blind man. But this is enough for a baby to see his mother's chest and face, as well as the faces of close people. Eyes can still "wander" separately, which makes the child focussed on the eyes. In the second month of life, the baby learns to distinguish colors. Therefore, he should demonstrate motionless or slow moving toys, preferably yellow, red and green colors (their babies are distinguished better than others). At any age, poisonous and very bright colors are banned: they tire the child's vision and nervous system. Since in the first months of life vision and hearing "help" each other, the sound of the rattle guides the little child in search of her eyes. Use this. Try to ensure that in the field of view of the child more often came the faces of relatives and various objects. Scientists have established that in this case, vision in children develops faster.
FROM 4 TO 6 MONTHS. Visual acuity increases to 0.4. The kid begins to follow slowly moving bright objects, fixes a look at them. Eyes can look together at the same point, and stereoscopic vision occurs. The child can already reach the toy and take it in hand.
FROM 7 MONTHS TO 1 YEAR. The visual acuity continues to grow gradually. The child can already consider objects that are at a distance of 7-8 cm from the eyes. He "sees off" the things that you are cleaning, actively looking for the right toy that he does not see at the moment.
FROM 1 YEAR TO 3 YEARS. Visual acuity reaches 0.6. The Kid already easily looks from the subject to the object, and also watches fast moving objects. Also there is a consistency of movements of eyes and hands.
TO 4 YEARS. Visual acuity reaches 1.0 - as in an adult. From this age, you can begin to learn to read through books with very large letters.
"What should a baby doctor do with an eye doctor?" Some parents would ask. The answer is simple: eliminate risk factors that can harm his vision.
The doctor first of all will be interested, if at least one of the parents has problems with vision. They are inherited. Doctors advise in the first year to visit the eye cabinet four times: at the age of 1, 3. 6 and 12 months. The fact is that 30% of newborns have a special nasolacrimal canal that connects the tear sack to the inner corner of the eye and is closed by an epithelial stopper. Because of this, often there is a purulent inflammation of the tear sack - dacryocystitis. The task of an ophthalmologist is to restore the patency of the nasolacrimal canal, otherwise the eye may suffer and there will be problems with vision in the future. At preschool age, doctors advise visiting the eye department at 3, 5 and 6-7 years before the school.
It would seem that the child sees everything perfectly, so why should he go to an ophthalmologist? In order to identify the minimum visual impairment and correct the situation in advance, until things have gone too far. Young children actively watch TV, try to read books, draw - in short, they do everything that hurts their eyesight. Therefore, the doctor will check whether there is ametropia (hyperopia, myopia), amblyopia (weakness of vision) and strabismus.
The greatest burden on the eyes of children of school age. Therefore, 30% of them become short-sighted. From constant stress, the eyes get tired, sore, watery. The rate of visual impairment in schoolchildren can be simply catastrophic. Therefore, the child may need an urgent correction of vision (selection of new glasses, for example) or special exercises to stop the deterioration of vision. Doctors advise schoolchildren to visit the eye cabinet once, and even better twice a year - in the fall and spring, to assess changes in vision during the school year.
Attention!
Problems with vision may appear between the two scheduled visits to the ophthalmologist. Is it possible for parents to independently assess the visual acuity of their child? Completely. To do this, you need to pay attention to early signs of impaired vision. What should alert you?
FROM 1 YEAR TO 3 YEARS.
- One eye at the kid does not open completely when he is examining something.
- To look at you, the child turns his head, even if you are almost in front of him.
- Before you take the toy you are holding out to him, the child flashes.
FROM 4 YEARS OLD AND OVER.
- Low bends over a book or notebook.
- When something is carefully scrutinized, the head is slightly tilted, and one eye is narrowed.
- Strives to move as close as possible to the screen of the TV or computer.
- Often he rubs his eyes.
Caution: myopia!
Or, in our opinion, myopia, This is the most common visual impairment in children. There are two peaks of vision impairment - at 7-8 and 12-14 years. It is not difficult to guess that they fall on the first class and the transition of the child from primary to secondary school, when the load on the eyes grows. Its main reason is that the shape of the eyeball is modified. With myopia, it is more like an oval than a circle. Refraction of light is significantly impaired, which causes light rays to pass through the eye and focus against the retina. And all the items that are at a decent distance, spread out. In people with normal vision, light is focused on the retina itself. And the child sees well both near and far. Elongation of the eyeball is a direct consequence of incorrect writing and reading. Gradually the child ceases to distinguish well written by the teacher on the board.
Myopia can develop absolutely in any child, if it sits wrong, does not follow the distance from the eyes to the book or notebook. But doubly risked by one who is in one of the following groups:
Children of myopic parents. The chances of the child to acquire glasses are almost absolute, if short-sighted and dad and mom. The cause of the hereditary defect is the weakness of the connective tissue. Because of this, the eyeball sclera easily stretches, and the eye lengthens.
Premature babies. Born in time, the baby by nature is a bit far sighted - +3 diopters. Preterm infants come to this world with only + 1 diopters, which makes them candidates for short-sighted army.
Allergy sufferers. In such children the metabolism is disturbed, the blood supply to the eye worsens. As a result, the sclera becomes pliable to stretch, and hence to myopia.
"The child prodigy". Among the children who were sent to school from the age of six, three times as short-sighted as those who had a childhood one year later. The reason for this - intraocular muscles, which are finally formed in 7-8 years.
The concept of a "lazy eye".
The "lazy" eye is a scientific amblyopia. In this disease, one of the two eyes is almost (or at all) not involved in the vision process. Too different pictures see the eyes, and the brain simply can not combine them into one whole. Therefore, it simply suppresses the activity of one of the eyes. Any body, if you give him a "rest" for too long, begins to atrophy. A healthy eye becomes the leading one, and the weaker one remains out of work and can even "not participate" at all in sight, so the squint develops. To treat this disease appoint glasses, drops, special exercises, contact lenses and even laser correction of vision.
How to protect the eyes.
Let's rest our eyes. A child with a norm of vision, a break in classes is needed every 40 minutes, and a child with myopia - every half hour. This "change" should last 10-15 minutes. At this time, let not the eyes work, but the muscles. Let the baby run, look out the window, but do not turn on the TV in any case. But to a computer to 8 years in general, it is undesirable to approach. Children under 12 years can sit in front of the monitor no more than 30 minutes a day, the elder - not more than an hour. And always do breaks every 15 minutes for 15 minutes. Feed the baby with products that are good for the eyes. For example, milk, cottage cheese, carrots and cabbage, greens and berries, kefir, fish.
Do a child massage, it improves eye blood circulation and nutrition of eye tissues. With your thumbs, lightly guide upwards along the wings of the nose to the corners of the eyes, then, without taking your hands off, until the eyebrows begin and along them until they end. And so 18 times. Let the child close his eyes. His eyeballs should be massaged, moving from the outer corners of the eyes to the inner ones. At the same time gently press on them with small pinches of thumbs.