Anyone's farsighted child outgrow it?

[kalanamak]

I've read conflicting outcomes. I'd like to be honest with my 6 year old, who, to my relief, only has farsightedness.

 

(And, happy dance, the developmental optometrist confirmed my completely amateur guess that kiddo hasn't a speck of his father's dyslexia)

[Mom to Aly]

I am extremely nearsighted, have to hold a book about 3.5" from my face to read it without glasses, and was very afraid my dd would get this. I took her for an eye exam last month, and found she was slightly farsighted. What the doc told me was that there is no such thing as perfect vision. Everyone is at least slightly nearsighted, or slightly farsighted. He was happy it was farsighted with my dd, because that means she is less likely to go to nearsighted. He expects her to grow to be less so, and did not think she needs glasses at this time. HTH!

[Just Me]

My youngest son, who had surgery as a baby to correct his eyes' tendency to cross, just went in for his yearly exam a couple of weeks ago. His eyes have improved somewhat and the doctor said that as he grows older we can expect them to continue to improve. My dh was also farsighted as a child, and his vision improved to the point that he no longer needed corrective lenses.

 

So there is hope!! :D

[KAR120C]

His improvement from 7 years old to 8 years old was significant (although I don't remember the exact numbers, he went from something that maybe should have been corrected to something that wasn't worth bothering about). And what's more his spelling improved about as much, at the same time! LOL

[Carol in Cal.]

...and then children sort of overcorrect to be more farsighted...

 

And then, if they are living a normal life, they develop their appropriate vision for their own community by around age 7.

 

One of the reasons I did not push early reading is that I have also read that it is well-documented that Innuit people had almost no vision problems until mandatory schooling, and then among those who learned to read before age 7, the rate of nearsightedness jumped to about 30%, but was extremely low (5%, maybe?) among others. I was very nearsighted as a child, and also an early reader. DD is 12 and is only very slightly nearsighted, not enough to even need glasses. If she had been a naturally early reader, I would have gone along with it, but as she was not, this is one of the reasons that I didn't push it when she was very young. Forcing kids to focus when they are still in their farsighted phase is a strain on their eyes, whether they develop nearsightedness or not.

[mom31257]

My nephew has worn glasses for far-sightedness since he was a little boy. He is starting to outgrow it, and he's 14. He does have epilepsy and is on a lot of medication. I don't know if that would change it or not, but the eye dr. did tell my sister that a lot of children out grow far but not near.

[frogpond1]

and they said he'd grow out of it and he did! He was struggling with tired eyes after reading and I think he was 5 or 6 at the time.

[swellmomma]

My oldest DD was farsighted, wore glasses for one year, but as she aged her eyes matured and now she is fine, no glasses needed. Still mildly far sighted, but good enough to do without glasses, optometrist believes by next check up she will have 20/20 vision.

[susie in tx]

My oldest was farsighted until recently. She started wearing glasses at 8. In the last couple of years, at her doctor appointments, her vision has been correcting. Last Spring, she started to get headaches when she was wearing her glasses, so I told her to stop wearing them.

 

The optometrist did mention that eyes can over correct, though, and start to get nearsighted.

[8filltheheart]

I think it is variable. 5 of my kids have now needed glasses starting around age 5/6. 2 outgrew the need to wear them (now ages 19 and 12). 2 have vision that continues to get worse and definitely need their glasses. (ages almost 10 and 16). One just received her prescription. (age 6). The opt did say the 6 yo might outgrow it. Only time will tell.

 

Now I have to take the 3 yo in and find out what is going on with her. Only our 14 has managed to not need them for at least a short time.

[kalanamak]

Thanks all. Kiddo only covers one eye when we get to small print, and he wants to have "no limits", so we are getting a pair for just a few minutes a day when we get to a book with smallish print. I'm still content to read most of it aloud to him, but he's getting uppity about being a big boy.

Thanks again.

[MicheleB]

My 8yo ds has worn glasses for far-sightedness since he was 4 and his never seems to get better, but worse. :confused:

 

He also has "lots" of astigmatism per the doctor. Maybe that makes a difference?

 

How do they actually outgrow it? Would a child outgrow far-sightedness even without corrective lenses? I never knew it could be outgrown. That would be wonderful. :001_smile:

[susie in tx]

 

He also has "lots" of astigmatism per the doctor. Maybe that makes a difference?

 

 

 

Unfortunately, you don't outgrow astigmatism. It just gets worse.

[KAR120C]

One of the reasons I did not push early reading is that I have also read that it is well-documented that Innuit people had almost no vision problems until mandatory schooling, and then among those who learned to read before age 7, the rate of nearsightedness jumped to about 30%, but was extremely low (5%, maybe?) among others. I was very nearsighted as a child, and also an early reader. DD is 12 and is only very slightly nearsighted, not enough to even need glasses. If she had been a naturally early reader, I would have gone along with it, but as she was not, this is one of the reasons that I didn't push it when she was very young. Forcing kids to focus when they are still in their farsighted phase is a strain on their eyes, whether they develop nearsightedness or not.

I've heard various things about the nearsightedness and reading correlation, but DS as an apparently pretty far-sighted kid was also a very early reader. Just goes to show we can't do anything normal! LOL