When babies, infants, and toddlers are struggling with developmental issues, oftentimes, parents don’t know where to turn and feel helpless.
What many parents don’t know, or even think about, is the fact that the issues could have something to do with their eyesight. Infants can be reluctant to want to venture out into the world around them if they can’t quite see what’s going on.
“Infants can’t tell you what’s going on,” said Josiah Young of OptiCare Vision Center in Newport, Kentucky. “Their world is very dependent upon vision and touch. They bring things to their mouth to feel and vision is a huge part of that.”
Studies have shown that kids with vision issues who get glasses earlier end up performing better in school.
Even though poor eyesight or vision problems aren’t common in young children, it’s still important for parents to be proactive. In fact, one in nine children will end up having a refractive error with their vision.
“It’s hit or miss and you don’t know about it until it’s checked,” said Young.
For one family, their baby named Piper was experiencing vision issues but, luckily, they were able to diagnose the problem at an early age.
After taking baby Piper to the optometrist, they were able to pinpoint her vision problems and create custom-made glasses for the little baby. And the moment when she finally tries them on was all captured on video for the world to see!
Little Piper sits in a car seat as their mom begins to film the momentous occasion. At first, Piper seems distracted by the buckle on her car seat, paying no attention to her mom who is calling her name.
After finally being able to snatch her attention away from the buckle, it was time to slip on the light pink tiny glasses that fit her little face perfectly. You can tell that the little baby is confused as to what the heck is being placed on her face.
Once the glasses are on, it takes a second for Piper to realize what exactly is going on. First, she’s looking down, not noticing that the world around her has completely changed.
Then, Piper comes to the realization that everything – including her mom’s face – is now crystal clear.
At first, it’s almost like Piper is in a bit of shock. Her growing and developing brain needs a few moments to take everything in. And then it happens – the smile begins to spread across the precious baby’s face in an instant.
“Hello! Hello! Oh, my goodness,” Piper’s mom says excitedly in the background. You can hear the happiness and emotion in her voice as she watches her baby’s eyes light up. We can only imagine the joy that a parent would feel at this moment.
Piper’s little legs kick around in excitement as she takes in all of the new sights around her.
It’s a video that’s only 47 seconds long, however, it’s a video that’s touched over a million people around the world. Piper is also helping bring awareness to childhood vision issues.
To help parents recognize vision milestones in their children, here is a helpful guide from the American Optometric Association:
Birth to four months: Focusing on objects eight to ten inches from them or focusing on their parent’s face, and the start of eye-hand coordination development.
Five to eight months: This marks the start of depth perception awareness and once a child reaches the eight-month mark, he/she begins to crawl.
Nine to 12 months: During this time, babies start to grasp objects and pull themselves up to a standing position. By 12 months, most infants will start to walk.
One to two years: Children will begin to recognize objects and should now have a developed sense of eye-hand coordination and depth perception.
Watch Piper’s touching and monumental moment in the video below.
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