Zoe had her follow-up eye exam on Friday. She’s been to the eye clinic enough times now that she just marched in there like she owned the place. Which the receptionist commented, she kind of does. While I know that our ophthalmologist sees other children, the waiting room rarely has many kids in it, but Friday was an exception. There were three little boys, probably all under the age of 5. Clearly they had not been there often because they didn’t know where the secret stash of legos are kept. Zoe and I walked over to the kids table, took off the top to expose the lego surface and the little pail of legos and eye patch cards. All of a sudden, I was the most popular adult in the room as the other boys came running over to check everything out. There wasn’t really enough toys or space around the table for everyone, so I managed to snag a couple of legos to keep Zoe entertained.
When we went in for the first part of the exam with the nurse, Zoe was much shyer than normal, and even hid her face in my shoulder. “We may have scarred eye exams for her,” the nurse commented. But then she pulled out her plush tiger that Zoe loves when she’s there, and all was forgiven. Happily, Zoe has full range of motion in her eyes, and very good distance vision.
The second part of the exam with the doctor was a bit less calm. Zoe was fine until the doctor took her glasses off to take a better look at her eyes. That set her to crying into my shoulder and refusing to move her face to let anyone look at her. Her ophthalmologist took her glasses and left the room, saying she was going to clean the glasses. That gave Zoe a minute to calm down and be distracted by more toys. When the doctor came back, she was fine for the rest of the exam. She still crosses her eyes a bit when her glasses are off, but that was expected. Her prescription has stayed the same, and the doctor thought that while her glasses are getting small, we probably don’t need to replace the frames yet. So we’re going to try to go another 3 months until the next appt before replacing the frames.
I really appreciate how everyone at the office is so kind with Zoe and understanding of how a not-quite-2-year-old can be, and now to put her at ease. How are your kids at their exams? Do they get upset or throw fits at the exams? How is the doctor’s office? More importantly, how are the toys?
For Little Eyes 
Glad all went well and looks good! Our doctor is pretty good- his toy area scares me though- the toy “box” is built in as part of the carpeted toy area- it is between two sections of benches that are also carpeted- It makes me nervous because each time we go- some kid (including mine) stands on the benches and tries to get somthing out of the “box”- they can’t reach the bottom so they are dangling over the side- scares me!! I am always a ‘worst case scenario’ girl- I am always sure someone is going to break their neck!
Braden only gets angry when dilated (knock on wood)
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Boy, aren’t I glad to have found this site… Babies with glasses aren’t so common here in Singapore & so I always ended up having people staring at my son or inquiring if his glasses are just toy ones. My son (now 20 mths old) started developing cataracts when he was abt 3 mths old in both eyes & had surgeries done in both eyes when he was 3 mths & 4 mths old. He is wearing glasses now (hw do I upload his pic here?). The followup visits to the Eye Doctor were fine until recently when he started throwing tantrums. He has somehow developed a phobia for the eyedrops too. Infact, he will scream, kick & cry the moment we reach the clinic. Is there a way that we can help him calm down & make it a more comfortable experience for him? I would appreciate any suggestion! Thanks so much!
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Hi Christina! I’m so glad you found this site. I’d love to post a picture of your son – you can either just email me the picture (ann@shinypebble.com), or if it’s online, just send me the URL.
Zoe has had the same hatred of the eye drops. She is pretty good at the appointment until the eye doctor shows up, then she gets upset. It was only this most recent appointment that she was calm – but then she didn’t get any eye drops at that appointment, either. Do you talk about the appointments at all before heading there? We’ve recently found that Zoe does better if we talk to her before an event starting maybe the day before and explaining what will happen. Maybe also pretend to put eye drops in a toy’s eyes and talking about how brave the toy was.
Best of luck! Please do share a picture with us and keep us updated on how things are going with your son.
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Hi Ann,
Have forwarded you a pic of my son via email. His next eye appt will be on Tues, 23 Jun, so pls do keep us in prayers! I always have the feeling that the whole checkup is just as traumatic for him as it is for me! 🙂
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