"Young child wearing glasses, lying down and reading a book with focus."

Children's Eye Tests

At Ascot Vale Eyecare, our Optometrists Simone and Rob understand how vital good vision is for a child's learning, development and confidence. That’s why we offer comprehensive eye tests and treat vision issues early—giving your child the best start in life. Eye tests should be an enjoyable experience for children and parents/carers and we strive to make the appointment as stress free as possible.

When should my Child start having eye tests?

Rob and Simone Recommend:

First check by age 3
Before starting school
Every 1–2 years during school, more often if advised
If there is a known family history of eye conditions or glasses then start earlier rather than later and monitor regularly

Early testing means support—and often, simpler treatment.

Common Children's Eye Conditions and Treatments

Children can require glasses for the following conditions:

-Hyperopia (Longsighted)

-Myopia (Shortsighted)

-Astigmatism

-A Combination of these conditions

'Lazy' Eye

A lazy eye is a colloquial term for one eye that does not see as well as it should. There can be a number of causes for this including:

- Eye Turning Out (Exotropia)

-Eye Turning In (Esotropia)

- Unequal Glasses Prescription

- Droopy Eyelid (Ptosis) which covers the pupil from birth

Occlusion Therapy

When a child has a lazy eye it is common to treat by wearing glasses full time to improve vision in both eyes. Sometimes this is enough to develop connections between the eye and brain.

If not, your Optometrist will look at patching the better eye to help stimulate the connection between the worse eye and the brain. This is very successful treatment and often requires regular reviews with your optometrist.

Myopia

If your child has recently been diagnosed with myopia or had a large jump in prescription, there is good news.

Optometrists have treatment options now that were not available twenty years ago. These include:

- Atropine (Eyedrop) Treatment

- Orthokeratology - (Contact Lenses worn while you sleep so no visual correction is required during the day)

- Soft Daily Disposable Contact Lenses

- DIMS glasses lenses ( In 2025 these are now available up to -13.00D)

See Myopia Management for more information regarding these treatments