Exploring Eye Developments

Many people, especially new parents, are going to ask their Miami eye doctor tons of questions about how the human eye develops and what the natural stages of this process are. Knowing how the eye development progresses is important for parents so they can catch any vision issues their kids may have early enough before it becomes a problem. There are times when a parent can catch their child’s vision issues and get an eye doctor in Miami to prescribe them contacts or glasses while they are still young. Some children have to wear glasses from a very young age, but this is a good thing because undiagnosed vision problems in children can seriously affect their performance in school and life overall.

The Eye Development Process

When a baby is still inside the womb, many things are happening all at once. The formation of fingers, hands, muscles, the brain, essential organs, and much more. Development of the eyes will begin at around three weeks into the embryonic development, and they will continue to develop until around the tenth week. Eye doctors in Miami often explain to their patients that it takes such a long time for the eyes to develop because they are so complex and intricate.

● The actual eyes will begin to form on a fetus at the end of the fourth week of pregnancy. They will initially be formed as optic vesicles that are connected to the brain.

● The vesicles will eventually develop into an optic cup, where the retina is formed at the back, which will eventually be the innermost portion of the child’s eye.

● This optic cup will then go through an invagination period, where it continues to form until the complete eyeball structure is developed.

Early Eyesight in Young Children

A child’s eyes are completely formed and will remain roughly the same size as the day they are born up until the day they die. When a parent takes their child to their Miami optometrist, they are going to recommend keeping a close eye on the way their child acts and performs for the first 2-6 years of their life. During this point of their life, their eyes are going to continue developing slightly and any vision problems are likely going to become apparent during this time. If a child is squinting, rubbing their eyes, complaining of headaches, or anything else like this, then the eye doctor can perform thorough examinations to figure out the exact type of vision problem they are suffering from.