A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s natural lens, which is normally crystal clear. While most people associate cataracts with old age, babies can be born with one (congenital cataract) or develop one during childhood. Because a child’s brain is still learning to see, even a partial cataract can block visual development and cause permanent amblyopia (lazy eye) — which is why childhood cataract is treated with far greater urgency than in adults.

Signs to Watch For

• A white, grey or cloudy pupil, instead of a clear black one.
• The baby not fixing or following faces and objects as expected.
• A wandering or shaky eye movement (nystagmus).
• A new squint, or holding objects very close.

Why Timing Is Everything

For a dense cataract present from birth, surgery is often needed within the first few weeks to months of life to allow the visual pathways to develop. Delay can cause irreversible amblyopia even after a perfect operation. Treatment includes removing the cloudy lens and then restoring focus — with an intraocular lens implant, special contact lenses or glasses depending on the child’s age — followed by amblyopia therapy (patching) and close follow-up. At Suraj Eye Institute, our paediatric cataract team manages the full pathway from microsurgery to visual rehabilitation.

Eye injuries are one of the leading causes of avoidable blindness in one eye in children — and most happen at home or at play. Everyday objects can be surprisingly dangerous: a sharpened pencil, scissors, knives, a thrown stick, elastic catapults, toy bows and arrows, firecrackers, and even badminton shuttles or cricket balls. Because a child’s eye is still developing, a serious injury can permanently affect vision if not treated correctly and quickly.

First Aid: The Golden Rules

• Shield, don’t rub. Cover the eye loosely with a clean cup or shield to prevent pressure. Rubbing can push contents out of a punctured eye.
• Never remove an embedded object (such as a pencil tip) — stabilise it and go straight to hospital.
• For chemical splashes (lime, detergents), rinse the eye with clean water for 15–20 minutes, then come in. But do not rinse a cut or penetrating injury.
• Keep the child nil by mouth in case surgery under anaesthesia is needed.
• Reach an eye hospital as fast as possible — time matters.

Prevention

Supervise play with sharp or projectile toys, avoid bows-and-arrows and catapults for young children, keep scissors and pencils used responsibly, ban firecrackers without adult supervision, and use protective eyewear for sports. At Suraj Eye Institute, our emergency team is equipped to manage paediatric eye trauma — from corneal foreign bodies to open-globe (penetrating) injuries — with prompt surgical care when needed.

Glaucoma is usually thought of as a disease of older adults, but it can also affect babies and children. In congenital glaucoma, the eye’s natural drainage channel is malformed from birth, so fluid cannot escape and pressure builds up inside the eye. Because a young child’s eye is soft and elastic, this high pressure makes the whole eye enlarge and the cornea turn cloudy — and, if untreated, it damages the optic nerve and causes irreversible blindness.

Signs Parents Can Notice

• Excessive watering of one or both eyes, often mistaken for a blocked tear duct.
• Sensitivity to light — the child turns away from bright light or buries the face.
• Frequent squeezing or blinking of the eyelids.
• Large, prominent eyes or a hazy, cloudy cornea instead of a clear, sparkling one.

Treatment

Childhood glaucoma is treated primarily with surgery to open or bypass the faulty drainage channel (goniotomy, trabeculotomy or drainage implants), often supported by pressure-lowering drops. The earlier the pressure is controlled, the better the chance of preserving vision and preventing the eye from enlarging further. Lifelong follow-up is essential. At Suraj Eye Institute, our glaucoma specialists manage paediatric glaucoma with microsurgical techniques and careful long-term monitoring.

Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer in children, usually appearing before the age of 5. It begins in the retina, the light-sensing layer at the back of the eye. The good news is that retinoblastoma is highly curable when caught early — and the single most important warning sign is something many parents spot first in ordinary photographs: a white reflex in the pupil instead of the usual red-eye.

Warning Signs Beyond the White Reflex

• A white, yellow or glassy glow in the pupil, often first noticed in photographs.
• A new squint (one eye turning in or out).
• A red, painful or swollen eye without infection.
• Reduced vision, or a change in the colour of the iris.

Why Early Detection Saves Lives — and Eyes

Caught early, retinoblastoma has a cure rate above 95% in most children, and the eye and vision can often be saved with focal treatments. When diagnosis is delayed, the cancer can spread beyond the eye and become life-threatening. Treatment may include chemotherapy, laser or freezing therapy, and — in advanced cases — removal of the eye. At Suraj Eye Institute, any child with a suspicious pupil reflex is examined urgently and, where needed, referred for combined ocular-oncology care.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding eye disorder that affects babies born prematurely or with low birth weight. The blood vessels of the retina are among the last structures to mature before birth. When a baby is born too early, these vessels can grow abnormally — fragile, disorganised vessels that may bleed, scar and pull the retina away, causing retinal detachment and blindness if not caught in time.

Who Needs Screening

In India, ROP screening is recommended for all babies born at or before 34 weeks of gestation or weighing under 2000 g at birth, and for any premature baby who needed oxygen or intensive care. The first screening is usually done 2–3 weeks after birth, and repeated at intervals advised by the specialist until the retina has fully matured.

Treatment

When ROP reaches a treatable stage, laser treatment or anti-VEGF injections can stop the abnormal vessels and save vision. Treatment is highly effective when given on time — but the window is short, sometimes just a few days. This is why no screening appointment should ever be missed.

A squint, or strabismus, is a condition in which the two eyes do not point in the same direction — one eye may turn inward, outward, up or down while the other looks straight ahead. It is common in children and is far more than a cosmetic concern. An untreated squint in childhood can lead to amblyopia (lazy eye) and the permanent loss of depth perception, because the brain begins to ignore the misaligned eye.

What Causes a Squint

A squint can result from an imbalance in the eye muscles, a high refractive error (especially long-sightedness), a difference in vision between the two eyes, or — less commonly — an underlying problem in the eye or brain. A newborn’s eyes may wander occasionally in the first few weeks, but a constant turn at any age, or any turn after 4 months, needs evaluation.

Treatment Options

• Glasses: many squints, particularly inward turns, correct fully once the right glasses are worn.
• Patching: treats any associated lazy eye before or alongside alignment.
• Squint surgery: adjusts the eye muscles to realign the eyes — safe, effective and often day-care.
• Botulinum toxin or prisms in selected cases.

Early treatment protects vision and depth perception, and restores a straight, confident appearance. At Suraj Eye Institute, our paediatric and squint specialists offer the full range of corrective options.

Myopia, or short-sightedness, is rising sharply among children worldwide — driven by more near work, more screen time and less time outdoors. A myopic child sees near objects clearly but distant ones blurred. The concern is not just thicker glasses each year: high myopia raises the lifelong risk of retinal detachment, glaucoma and myopic macular damage. Modern myopia control aims to slow this progression in childhood.

What Causes It to Worsen

Myopia tends to begin around school age and worsen until the late teens as the eyeball lengthens. Prolonged near work, very little outdoor time, and a family history of myopia all accelerate it. The earlier myopia begins, the higher it is likely to become.

How We Control It

• Outdoor time: at least 1.5–2 hours of daylight daily measurably slows progression.
• Low-dose atropine eye drops: a safe, well-studied night-time drop that slows eyeball growth.
• Myopia-control spectacles & soft lenses: special designs that reduce the growth signal to the eye.
• Orthokeratology (Ortho-K): rigid lenses worn overnight that reshape the cornea and curb progression.

At Suraj Eye Institute, we assess each child’s progression risk and design a personalised myopia-control plan, monitored with regular measurements.

A child’s eyesight develops rapidly in the first few years of life, and many sight-threatening conditions show no obvious symptoms. Regular eye checks at the right ages catch problems early — when they are most treatable. Yet most parents wait until a child complains or fails a school test, by which time valuable treatment time may already be lost.

The Recommended Schedule

• Newborn: Every baby should have a red-reflex test before leaving hospital to rule out cataract, glaucoma and retinoblastoma. Premature babies need ROP screening.
• 6–12 months: A check to confirm the eyes are aligned and developing normally.
• 3 years: The first formal vision test, using picture or matching charts.
• Before school (5–6 years): A full assessment of vision, alignment and any need for glasses.
• Ongoing: Every 1–2 years through childhood, or sooner if symptoms appear.

See a Doctor Sooner If You Notice

A white reflex in flash photos, an eye that turns in or out after 4 months of age, constant watering, frequent rubbing, sitting very close to the TV, holding books close, a head tilt, squinting, or unexplained poor performance at school.

Why It Matters

The visual system matures by about age 7–8. Conditions such as amblyopia and squint must be detected and treated within this window. A simple, painless check can prevent lifelong vision loss. At Suraj Eye Institute, paediatric eye exams are tailored to each age group using child-friendly, painless tests.