InfantSEE, InfantDO

Right around when Molly was 6 months old, I heard about a great program called, InfantSEE which provides a baby's first eye assessment for free. The baby needs to be between the ages of 6 months and 12 months to participate in this no-cost public service. The American Optometric Association recommends scheduling this assessment at 6 months even if there are no eye or vision problems apparent. This is a great way to create a baseline assessment and to catch any potential problems early on. 

Our optometrist was part of this program so I brought Molly into her. She checked Molly for nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, eye movement ability and looked for any eye health problems. While these problems are not common, it is important to find these issues early as these are easy to correct if treatment begins early. 

Molly has a bit of nearsightness in her right eye. Usually kids are checked again around the age of three but because of this issue, we'll have Molly's eyes checked again at 2 to see if she has outgrown this issue. If not, then we'll treat it as necessary. 

Here is a blurb from the InfantSEE website that describes the program way better than I can: 

InfantSEE®, a public health program, managed by Optometry Cares® - the AOA Foundation, is designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an essential part of infant wellness care to improve a child's quality of life. Under this program, participating optometrists provide a comprehensive infant eye assessment between 6 and 12 months of age as a no-cost public service. Click here to learn more and locate a doctor in your area who can provide the free infant assessment.

Molly quite enjoyed having her eyes checked. She's a very social kid and loves toys. The doctor had a great selection of toys and Molly responded well to them. Molly however did not like having her eyes dilated and would not keep the sunglasses on. She cried quite a bit on the way home because as luck would have it, I had her eyes checked on a sunny day. She was fine once we got home and I closed the curtains to block out the sunshine.