InfantSEE®

Cooing, sitting up and crawling are signs that your baby is growing.

Did you know his/her vision has stages of development too?

Most parents believe that vision is something that just develops naturally, and therefore does not need to be checked until school-age when it has already fully developed. The truth is that vision is learned—and the most critical stages of vision development occur in the first year of life.

AGE	VISION
At Birth	Focus on objects less than a foot away, such as mom’s face when nursing
By 3 Months	Follows moving objects and reaches for things It is normal for a child’s eyes to not always track together for the first 6-8 weeks
By 6 Months	Both eyes should focus equally; brainwaves can demonstrate ability to see 20/20 detail Eye/body coordination skills develop
By 9 Months	Eye contact begins to replace physical contact Eye/body coordination skills develop further
By 12 Months	Uses both eyes to judge distance

 

In an effort to encourage infant eye and vision assessments and ensure they are accessible to everyone, the American Optometric Association (AOA), and The Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., and Optometry’s Charity™ – The AOA Foundation, partnered to create InfantSEE® a no-cost public health program developed to provide professional eye care for infants nationwide.

Through InfantSEE®, optometrists provide a one-time, comprehensive eye and vision assessment to babies in their first year of life, usually between the ages of 6 and 12 months, offering early detection of potential eye and vision problems at no cost regardless of income or ability to pay.

The program’s goals:

Though babies can’t talk, optometrists use their clinical education, training and experience, along with instruments such as lighted toys to provide non-invasive eye and vision assessments for infants.

The Optometrist evaluates:

The doctors at Central Ohio Eyecare are among the thousands of members of the American Optometric Association enrolled as InfantSEE® providers.

According to new data collected by the American Optometric Association (AOA) there is a growing need for early vision examination in infants. The data also showed that two groups at greater risk for visual concerns were premature babies and minority babies.

Parents may learn more about the importance of infant vision care and the InfantSEE® program by logging on to www.infantsee.org. Please call Central Ohio Eyecare to schedule your baby’s InfantSEE® assessment.

Mission Statement: InfantSEE® is a public health program, to ensure that optometric eye and vision care becomes an integral part of infant wellness care to improve a child’s quality of life.