Ways To Take Care Of Newborn's Eyes

Hello,

My name is Dr. Niket P Sheth. I am basically a cataract surgeon I do cataract surgeries, and also a general ophthalmologist. I see patients in the OPD which are newborns also toddlers, also teenagers, also old age and pediatric patients. Today we will talk about young patients or newborn patients. When a baby is born in a house there is joy and a very happy atmosphere, and slowly mother and father start observing the baby. So, so many people ask me how to take care of a newborn baby’s eyes? So, mother and father, number one, they should be observant towards the baby’s eyes. So, what should they observe in the baby’s eyes? They should observe the pupillary area of their baby’s eyes. So, now what is the pupillary area of the baby’s eyes? Pupillary area of the eyes is the center part of the eye within the black portion of the eye. What should they watch in the pupillary area of the eye? They should watch for any whiteish cloudiness or any haziness within the pupillary area of the eye. And if they find something like this they should definitely go and visit the pediatric ophthalmologist. Other things which they can search or observe in the baby’s eyes, whether there is any discharge in the corner of the baby’s eyes. Sometimes, there is discharge in the corner of baby’s eyes near the nose, this indicates that sometimes what happens is that the canal between the eyes and nose does not develop fully or sometimes it is closed which over a period of time usually develops by massaging the corner of the nose. Now, while massaging the corner of the nose, the mother or the father should be very careful that their nails should not be very sharp that they should not hurt the baby’s nose or eyes with their nails or basically they should be very gentle while massaging the baby’s eyes. Number three, they should avoid giving baby very sharp toys to play which when a baby does a jerky movement that might hit the baby’s eyes. And if at all they find any squinting or turning out of any eye of the baby, with sometimes it is natural, it goes away with little time but it still persists, they should definitely go and visit the ophthalmologist.

Now let’s talk about the eyes of children in the age group of 2-12 years of age. So many people ask me, when should we check the eyes of our children? Every child needs an eye check-up regularly. I always suggest all the parents to not wait for complaints. So many people wait for complaints to arise from the baby or the child that he is unable to see and wait for such complaints. I always tell them, do not wait. So many people wait for complaints to come from the school, some teacher will tell them that your child is unable to see on the board or locate certain objects on the board and always wants to come and sit on the front bench. These are tell-tell signs that you have to go and check for the eye-sight of your baby. So I always suggest everyone that all babies’ eyes or all children’s eyes need, between the age of 2 and 12, needs to be checked every two years or certain interval of that case. Now, after coming to a doctor everyone expects their child to look and see everything on the first go, sometimes it doesn’t happen, the child is little scared, it is a little apprehensive, so you have to consider that and sometimes the whole check-up does not happen in one visit, sometimes you will have to come again and put some eye drops in the eyes and again see the baby’s eyes or children’s eyes. Now, many people also ask me whether the spectacle number for a baby is a disease of the baby’s eyes or a child’s eyes? I always tell them that it’s not a disease like fever or any jaundice to the eyes or something like that for which I will give some medicine and it will go off, usually it is not a fever or any disease rather, it’s basically an error or refractive error of the eye, which can be corrected with spectacles. Once the baby starts wearing the spectacles he will see clearly, he will see better and he will learn more faster. So, this only helps the baby in growing a very nicely and very healthy lifestyle. Finally, I hope you all have understood whatever I have said. I wish you a very healthy and happy life for all the children and a good diet always helps in a healthy and happy life for the eyes of the children. And if further any queries, you can definitely contact me on lybrate.com.

Thank You!