Children rarely understand if something is wrong with them. Unless they are hurt or ill, most of the times they tend to be reckless and disregard any safety measures to keep themselves out of trouble. Eyes are extremely delicate and any damage to them could not be treated as easily as you think. Kids eye care is an essential thing to be kept in mind as a parent and it can be done using some simple techniques.
10 Simple Tips for Child Eye Care
Kids are careless and hence it should be your duty to take care of them. To protect your little one’s eyes, you can follow these tips:
1. Prevention Should Be the First Line of Defence
Rather than reactive, taking proactive measures to prevent injury in the first place is necessary, especially when it is about your child’s beautiful eyes. Make sure your kid is wearing safety goggles whenever he is playing any sport or doing any activity that has a potential to hurt the eyes. This could be while playing with fireworks or playing with colours or so on. Even while swimming, the chlorine in the pool can hurt the eyes so it is necessary that you make your child wear swimming goggles.
2. Avoid Using Hard and Sharp Toys
Even the games that seem harmless, such as playing with toys or other board games, the slightest mistake or an accidental movement of somebody else’s hand could cause them to accidentally hit the eyes. In this case, if the toy or object is soft or blunt, the damage is minimal and doesn’t permanently hurt the eye. However, a sharp object can be risky.
3. Don’t Apply Eye Cosmetics on Your Child
Older people in your house may insist you to put kajal or soorma in your child’s eyes, as it looks pretty or simply because it is a long-held tradition. However, the substances used in kajal found generally in the market are not safe for the eyes, especially for young kids. Even the high-quality eye pencils also contain chemicals that are not safe. If these chemicals come in the contact of the eyeball could affect a child’s eyesight.
4. Teach Your Kid to Stop Rubbing the Eyes Constantly
An irritation in the eye and the first reflexive action is to rub the eye to relieve it. However, this aggravates the problem. Any external body present in the eye can rub against the eyeball even more. Also, if the hands are unclean while rubbing the eye, this could transfer germs and bacteria and then result in an eye infection. If your kid already has conjunctivitis, the rubbing of the eye can worsen it. Teach your kid to refrain from doing so and instead clean the hands and use water to clean the eye in the right way.
5. Reduce Continued Exposure to Digital Devices
Digital devices and screens in all shapes and sizes are nearly unavoidable in today’s date. Kids love playing video games, watching videos on mobile phones and playing games on a computer. This results in sitting in front of the computer for long hours or playing video games for extended durations, as a result, their eyes are constantly focusing at a specific point throughout the process. This can cause the eyesight to degrade, leading to vision problems at a very young age.
6. Keep a Good Distance from the Screen while Watching Television
Most kids end up watching cartoons and favourite shows on the television for long hours. They sit in front of the television and keep watching it for hours. This not only strains their eye which ultimately results in eyesight problem. So, make it a rule in your house to watch television by sitting on the couch that is placed at a good distance from the screen. Ensure that the room is properly lit so that the only source of light is not the light from the TV that leads to eye strain.
7. Maintain a Balanced Diet that Supports Eye Development
A healthy diet is necessary for proper growth of the body and eyes require special attention. Green leafy vegetables and iron-rich foods develop sharp eyesight. Fruits such as papaya, mangoes, and others that are primarily yellow in colour, contain good amounts of beta-carotene, which assist in eyesight development.
8. Give the Eyes a Break and Get Enough Rest
We don’t really pay attention, but our eyes tot need rest. For kids, looking at the blackboard in school, and staring at books and notebooks throughout the school days, followed by playing video games in the evening can put a stress on their eyes. Make sure they get enough sleep at night to allow their eyes to rest. Replace evening activities with ones that don’t need any focus of the eyes. These could be like taking a stroll in the park or playing games that depend more on other physical activities or simply lying down with eyes closed and listening to music.
9. Make Use of Sunglasses When Stepping Out of the House
The sun can get quite bright at times, especially in summers and on peak afternoon times. If you are travelling or are on a vacation where you are spending a lot of time outside, it is important that your eyes get protection just the way you would use sunscreen for your skin. Get sunglasses for your child that don’t just look good but provide a decent degree of UV protection from the sun rays.
10. Undertake Regular Checkup of Eyes
It is necessary that you take your kid for an eye test at least once a year. If your kid complains about eye related problems or cannot see things clearly, he might be suffering from an infection or could need glasses. These should be confirmed by an ophthalmologist and necessary action should be taken.
Eyes are our window to the world. And kids gain a lot of information by just observing and seeing everything around them. Make sure they can live their life just as beautifully as you do by taking good care of the eyes and ensuring a trouble-free childhood.
