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Caring for Baby’s Eyes

Baby & Children’s Vision

Did you know that 1 out of every 4 children suffers from vision problems that interfere with learning? Children with uncorrected vision conditions or eye health problems face many barriers in life, academically, socially, and athletically. High-quality eye health care can break down these barriers and help enable your children to reach their highest potential! As a parent, make sure you are giving your children the eye health care they need. Presented are guidelines from the American Optometric Association.

Infant’s Vision

Your baby has a whole lifetime to see and learn. But did you know your baby also has to learn to see? As a parent, there are many things that you can do to help your baby’s vision develop.

When your baby is about six months old, consider taking him to an optometrist for his/her first InfantSEE eye examination. This program provides an eye health evaluation at no charge for children up to 1 year. Testing will be done for excessive or unequal amounts of nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, lack of eye movement ability, as well as other eye health problems. These problems are not common, but it is important to identify children who have them at this stage. Vision development and eye health problems can be more easily corrected if treatment is begun early. 

During the first 4 months

Your baby should begin to follow moving objects with the eyes and reach for things, first by chance and later more accurately, as hand-eye coordination and depth perception begin to develop. To help, use a nightlight or other dim lamp in your baby’s room; change the crib’s position frequently and your child’s position in it; keep reach-and-touch toys within your baby’s focus, about eight to twelve inches; talk to your baby as you walk around the room; alternate right and left sides with each feeding; and hang a mobile above and outside the crib.

From 4-8 months

Your baby should begin to turn from side to side and use his or her arms and legs. Eye movement and eye/body coordination skills should develop further and both eyes should focus equally. Enable your baby to explore different shapes and textures with his or her fingers; give your baby the freedom to crawl and explore; hang objects across the crib; and play “patty cake” and “peek-a-boo” with your baby.

From 8-12 months

Your baby should be mobile now, crawling and pulling himself or herself up. He or she will begin to use both eyes together and judge distances and grasp and throw objects with greater precision. To support development do not encourage early walking – crawling is important in developing eye-hand-foot-body coordination; give your baby stacking and take-apart toys; and provide objects your baby can touch, hold, and see at the same time.

From 1-2 years

Your child’s eye-hand coordination and depth perception will continue to develop and he or she will begin to understand abstract terms. Things you can do are encourage walking; provide building blocks, simple puzzles and balls; and provide opportunities to climb and explore indoors and out. There are many other affectionate and loving ways in which you can aid your baby’s vision development. Use your creativity and imagination. Ask your doctor to suggest other specific activities.

Pre-School Vision

During infant and toddler years, your child has been developing many vision skills. In the preschool years, this process continues, as your child develops visually guided eye-hand-body coordination, fine motor skills, and the visual motor skills necessary to learn to read.

As a parent, you should watch for signs that may indicate a vision development problem, including:

  • a short attention span for the child’s age
  • difficulty with eye-hand-body coordination in ball play and bike riding
  • avoidance of coloring and puzzles and other detailed activities

There are everyday things that you can do at home to help your preschooler’s vision develop as it should. These activities include:

  • reading aloud to your child and letting him or her see what you are reading
  • providing a chalkboard, finger paints and different shaped blocks and showing your child how to use them in imaginative play
  • providing safe opportunities to use playground equipment like a jungle gym and balance beam
  • allowing time for interacting with other children and for playing independently.
By age 3

Your child should have a thorough optometric eye health examination to make sure your preschooler’s vision is developing properly and there is no evidence of eye disease. If needed, your doctor can prescribe treatment including glasses and/or vision therapy to correct a vision development problem.

Here are several tips to make your child’s optometric eye health examination a positive experience:

  • Make an appointment early in the day
  • Allow about one hour
  • Talk about the examination in advance and encourage your child’s questions
  • Explain the examination in your child’s terms, comparing the E chart to a puzzle and the instruments to tiny flashlights and a kaleidoscope

Unless recommended otherwise, your child’s next eye health examination should be at age five. By comparing test results of the two examinations, your doctor can tell how well your child’s vision is developing for the next major step. . .into the school years.

School-Age Vision

A good education for your child means good schools, good teachers and good vision. Your child’s eyes are constantly in use in the classroom and at play. So when his or her vision is not functioning properly, learning and participation in recreational activities will suffer. The basic vision skills needed for school use are:

  • Near Vision: The ability to see clearly and comfortably at 10-13 inches.
  • Distance Vision: The ability to see clearly and comfortably beyond arms reach.
  • Binocular coordination: The ability to use both eyes together.
  • Eye movement skills: The ability to aim the eyes accurately, move them smoothly across a page and shift them quickly and accurately from one object to another.
  • Focusing skills: The ability to keep both eyes accurately focused at the proper distance to see clearly and the change focus quickly.
  • Peripheral awareness: The ability to be aware of things located to the side while looking straight ahead.
  • Eye/hand coordination: The ability to use the eyes and hands together.

If any of these or other vision skills is lacking or does not function properly, your child will have to work harder. This can lead to headaches, fatigue and other eyestrain problems. As a parent, be alert for symptoms that may indicate your child has a vision or visual processing problem. Be sure to tell your doctor if your child frequently:

  • Loses their place while reading
  • Avoids close work
  • Holds reading material closer than normal
  • Tends to rub their eyes
  • Has headaches
  • Turns or tilts head to use one eye only
  • Makes frequent reversals when reading or writing
  • Uses finger to maintain place when reading
  • Omits or confuses small words when reading
  • Consistently performs below potential

Since vision changes can occur without you or your child noticing them, your child should visit an optometrist at least every two years, or more frequently, if specific problems or risk factors exist. If needed, doctors can prescribe treatment including eyeglasses, contact lenses or vision therapy. Remember, a school vision or pediatrician’s screening is not a substitute for a thorough eye health examination.

 Source: https://www.afvcweb.com/eye-health/childrens-vision.html

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6 Key Points Regarding Hearing Protection

The importance of protecting children’s hearing in noisy situations with earmuffs is a recent phenomenon and 6 key points to bear in mind when looking at hearing protection.

Point 1: Is hearing protection good for my child?

  • The designers of Banz earmuffs know that if you needed to get your child’s attention urgently and they couldn’t hear you, it would be dangerous – and putting babies and children into a ‘cone of silence’ would be upsetting, especially to very young ones.
  •  As total noise cancelling is impractical, Banz earmuffs reduce loud, damaging noise to a safe level – and let softer sounds, such as speech, be heard. Sensitive Care. Sensible Choice” is Banz Carewear motto

Point 2:  Should earmuffs be worn over a beanie or hoodie?

  • We recommend adjusting your child’s earmuffs to fit correctly before putting them on over the ears, THEN put the hat or beanie over the top.    The reason is that the earmuffs can’t seal properly over the ears and there could be “sound leak”.  An opinion from David Welch, head of the Audiology Department at the University of Auckland, says: ” Make sure babies are not wearing hats when you put the earmuffs on. If the cushion cannot seal on the side of the head, the sound can get through and it is amazing how much gets in. It is a real problem we encounter often in adults who work in cold environments and wear woollen hats to keep warm, then don earmuffs on top – the sound just cuts through wool as though it wasn’t there.”

Point 3: Why do the earmuffs need to be specific to baby and kids?

  • The one need that is different from adults is size, especially babies, the other point is weight as well as the incorrect size earmuffs can’t seal property around the children’s ears so the protection factor is then gone.
  • Babies heads are softer head than adults, with the fontanelles or ‘soft spots’ yet to close. Adult-size earmuffs put an adult-force grip over the head which can be dangerous, especially for children under two years.
  • Banz earmuffs, both the Mini size for under 3 years and the Protective size for 3-10+ years, are especially designed to fit correctly – and they will keep up with your child’s growth, as they are adjustable. Importantly, the headband on the Mini Muffs is specially made with a light tension, so the earmuffs won’t put the squeeze on soft baby heads.

Point 4: What is different about Banz hearing protection.

  • The classic ‘earcups connected by an over-the-head band’ has stood the test of time as earmuffs were invented back in 1873 (for warmth, not for noise reduction).  . The specially-designed headband on Banz earmuffs won’t slip – and there’s a lot more technology in a padded Banz headband to keep soft baby heads safe than there is in a piece of stretchy material!
  • A word on using earplugs for babies and small children: Experts recommend that nothing smaller than an elbow goes into a child’s ear canal, for good reason – trying to fish out an earplug, and especially ear putty, from a super-small baby ear canal is dangerous. Also, earplugs are a choking hazard for small children.

Point 5:  What is the cleaning protocol?

  • To clean your Banz earmuffs simply wipe over the set with a cloth dampened by mild soap and water.  Recommended after each wear.

 

Point 6 : What about using the correct size for my little one?

  • Banz earmuffs give an age recommendation as a guide.     Every child is different and some will need to update their earmuffs to the larger Protective Earmuffs size a bit earlier than others. Once the earcups on the sliding adjustment of your child’s Mini Muffs are sitting at the bottom of the band, it’s time to consider upsizing for the near future – their age doesn’t matter.

For More Information:

www.banzworld.co.za
info@banzworld.co.za

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