All children are free-spirited. Eye safety tips for children at home as they are excited about exploring new objects and engaging in play without any limitations. Even in the most ordinary of circumstances, their excitement and lack of experience with the world frequently expose them to the risk of ocular injuries.
Consistent supervision of children is therefore crucial, regardless of their activities. In children, the majority of ocular health issues and injuries are caused by:
- Handling toys and everyday items like pencils, tools, and cutlery incorrectly
- Getting hit by furniture or falling down the stairs
- Coming into contact with hazardous chemicals and products, including glue, paint, or insecticides
- Automobile accidents and incidents
Eye Safety Tips for Children at Home
By taking the following simple precautions, parents can significantly reduce the likelihood that their children will get eye injuries:
- Finding all the sharp edges and corners in furniture and home appliances and covering them with padding and pillows to protect them
- Promoting the avoidance of all unsupervised sports and leisure activities that may result in ocular trauma
- Staying away from toys that shoot or fly, like guns, bows, and darts, or toys with pointed protrusions, spikes and sharp edges
- Making sure that all accessories, toiletries, food, and office tools are kept out of reach of children
- Putting insecticides, fertilizers, gasoline, paint, and other dangerous products in a safe place with the right labels
- Parents should also make sure their kids are buckled up in the back seat of the car and that they are properly tucked in. Children shouldn’t be able to play with fireworks, fake colours, or water guns during the holidays. Additionally, if anyone gets hurt, they should call emergency medical services right away.
Following these easy tips and directions should help your kids have fun without hurting their eyes too much, according to Sightsavers.
When Should You Take Your Child To An Eye Doctor?
“Prevent Blindness America” says that one in four school-age children may have some kind of eye problem. Making sure your child has healthy eyes is very important because bad vision can hurt their ability to learn and do well in school.
The most common eye problem in kids this age is refractive error, which means they have trouble focusing on things that are close and far away. Not only this, but kids can also get other common illnesses, like allergies and infections, that are very painful but do not affect their eyes. One of these is easy for a trained eye specialist to find during a normal eye exam.
Cataracts, squints (crossed eyes), and even glaucoma are some other serious but less common eye diseases that kids can get. If signs of these diseases are found during the first eye health check, the eyes will need to be dilated and given a thorough exam.
Parents should take their kids to the eye doctor once a year and also be on the lookout for signs of eye disease in them. This is very important because kids don’t usually say they have eye trouble. When kids have eye problems, some of the most common signs that they have them are:
- Constant eyes rubbing
- When you sit too close to the TV
- Having trouble reading the blackboard
- Having more blinks than usual
- Putting things too close to your face
- Frequent headaches
- Wet, swollen or red eyes
- Having more blinks than usual
- Face movements that show eye stress
Seeing a doctor should also be done on kids whose eyes squint, do not line up, or look like one eye is crossed. Also, seeing the eye doctor regularly is important if someone in your family has had eye problems in the past.