Reviewed for clinical accuracy by Justin Bazan, OD.

Does Park Slope Eye see infants, children, and teens?

Yes. Park Slope Eye provides pediatric eye care for children of all ages, from infancy through the teen years. The examination is adapted to the child’s age, abilities, symptoms, and reason for the visit.

We try to keep children’s visits calm, friendly, and age-appropriate, explaining what we’re doing as we go and adapting the exam to the child rather than expecting the child to adapt to the exam.

Pediatric eye care can assess how well a child sees, whether they are nearsighted, farsighted, or have astigmatism, how the eyes line up and work together, how they focus, and the health of the eyes using age-appropriate testing.

Children do not need to know letters or be able to describe everything they see for us to learn a great deal about their vision and eye health.

When should a child have an eye exam?

An InfantSEE assessment in the first year of life and a comprehensive eye exam before school are useful milestones for families to know about. Children with symptoms, a failed screening, known risk factors, or a parent or pediatrician concern may need evaluation sooner or more often.

Does Park Slope Eye participate in InfantSEE?

Yes. Park Slope Eye participates in InfantSEE. Qualifying InfantSEE infant eye assessments are available at no charge. An InfantSEE assessment during the first year of life gives families an early opportunity to check visual and eye-health development even when a baby cannot yet describe what they see.

See what happens during an InfantSEE assessment in Brooklyn.

Is a school or pediatrician vision screening the same as a full eye exam?

No. Vision screenings are useful for identifying some children who may need further evaluation, but they are not comprehensive eye examinations. A full eye exam can assess refractive error, eye alignment and focusing, and eye health in more detail.

If a child has symptoms, a known eye concern, a failed screening, or a family concern about vision, a comprehensive eye exam can provide more information than a screening alone.

When does myopia management become relevant?

Myopia means nearsightedness — distance vision becomes blurry while near vision may remain clear. When a child’s myopia is progressing, simply prescribing stronger glasses corrects the blur but does not by itself address progression.

Park Slope Eye offers myopia-management options including Ortho-K, low-dose atropine, and appropriate soft multifocal/myopia-control contact lenses. The choice depends on the child’s prescription, rate of change, age, eye health, lifestyle, comfort with contact lenses, and family preferences. Treatment is individualized; no method can guarantee that myopia will stop progressing.

Compare Ortho-K, low-dose atropine, and soft myopia-control contact lenses.

Learn about myopia management and Ortho-K.

When is a child ready for contact lenses?

There is no single minimum age that works for every child. Maturity, hygiene, motivation, prescription, eye health, and family support matter more than an arbitrary birthday.

For children who are ready, contact lenses may be used for routine vision correction or, in appropriate cases, as part of a myopia-management plan.

Read our parent guide to contact-lens readiness.

Can retinal imaging be used during a child’s eye exam?

Often, yes. Many children, including children as young as about 5, do very well with our Optos retinal imaging. It takes a high-resolution, wide-angle picture of the inside of the eye in just seconds and does not touch the eye. In many routine pediatric exams, it gives us the retinal view and documentation we need without using dilating drops.

Dilation is still recommended when the child’s symptoms, risk factors, or examination findings make it clinically necessary. If we recommend dilation, we will explain why.

Ready to schedule?

Book an appointment

Questions before you book? Email us at Info@ParkSlopeEye.com.