Babies' Eyes

When your baby can hardly roll over, it seems much too early to be concerned about eye safety. But babies are naturally curious. After all, it is their job to learn all about the world around them—and it is your job to protect them.

Make your house safe

When there’s a baby in your house, the number of readily available hazards seems to grow every time you look around!  Scissors, paper clips, thumbtacks, coat hangers, pens and pencils, and all kinds of other sharp objects, large and small, suddenly become potential perils for your crawling child.  Equally treacherous are aerosol sprays, perfumes and chemicals that can end up in a baby’s eyes in an instant.

It’s not easy to keep your baby’s eyes out of harm’s way, but the things we do to protect a baby’s eyes have many other benefits as well.  Here are some tips and ideas to make your home, your car and even the playground as safe as possible for your baby’s developing eyesight:

• Avoid toys with sharp points—and keep toys for older children away from infants.
• Examine all the items in playgrounds.
• Keep chemicals away from the baby.
• Use safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs.
• Pad sharp corners on furniture.

Know your first aid

Despite every precaution you take, accidents can occur.  If your baby's eye is injured, it is tempting to think that you can just flush it out with some cold water and it will be fine. However, it is not easy to judge the extent or severity of any eye injury, so you should always get immediate, professional medical attention. It is the best way to safeguard your baby's vision.

Here are some tips in the event of an eye injury (these tips are not meant to replace professional medical attention).

• Trauma to the Eye: If your baby is hit in the eye, rest a protective shield—such as a Styrofoam cup—on the bone around the eye. Make sure there is no pressure on the eye itself.  Get immediate, professional medical attention.
• Foreign Body: If an object has entered the eye, do not try to remove it; you may tear delicate tissue or force the object in deeper. Rest a protective shield—such as a Styrofoam cup—on the bone around the eye, making sure there is no pressure on the eye itself.  Get immediate, professional medical attention.
• Black Eye: If your baby is hit in the eye area, place an ice pack or cold cloth over the eye.  Get immediate, professional medical attention. .
• Chemical Burn: If your baby's eye has sustained a chemical burn, rinse it with fresh water for at least 20 - 30 minutes. Hold their head under the tap or use a clean container to pour water into their eye. As you rinse, use your fingers to hold their eye open as wide as possible to ensure the greatest possible coverage.  Get immediate, professional medical attention.

 

Sunshine and babies' eyes

Sunshine can be tough on your baby's eyes. Take simple precautions to keep your baby's eyes safe outdoors:

• Sunglasses with UV protection will keep sun out of your baby’s eyes. Be sure those cute, character glasses provide the protection your child needs; choose sunglasses with both UVA and UVB protection, to block both forms of ultraviolet rays.
• A hat with a brim will help block indirect sun, which can come into the eyes around the edges of sunglasses.  Look for a hat with a three-inch brim (most baseball caps fit the bill).