Our 6-year-old daughter had been complaining of headaches. And because two of her aunts wore eyeglasses at very early ages, we knew we had to get her eyes tested.
For whatever reason, our daughter was scared to visit the eye doctor. We decided to go to Dr. Tavel, as they are a family-owned business that has been in Indianapolis for more than 75 years, and they have lots of experience with pediatric eye exams. Dr. Tavel even sees children as young as 6 months old! After meeting Dr. Aaron Cooke from Dr. Tavel’s Greenwood office, our daughter shared that it was the easiest doctor’s visit she has ever had. Dr. Cooke was gentle, funny and wore very professional yet approachable attire. (Read: no intimidating white coat.) He let her get some of her “wiggles” out before the exam, and also let her check out the phoropter (the instrument used to test individual lenses on each eye).
For our daughter’s pediatric eye exam, the staff first took live photos of her eyes, and showed her the cool pictures from the experience. Then, she had to read letters from a screen, and then follow a cartoon character hopping on a pogo stick. No dilation or eye drops were needed at this visit. The whole experience was a breeze!
Overall, the appointment took less than 20 minutes. Even with the required social distancing and masks, the experience was welcoming and overall very positive.
Our daughter passed her exam and does not need glasses! But if she did, we were impressed by the large variety of frames that Dr. Tavel offers for kids in lots of styles and colors, including Ray-Ban Juniors (how adorable!), Limited Too, Nike, Tots Tots and many more.
Dr. Tavel offers some great tips on their website to prepare for your child’s first eye exam, when your child should get an exam and what to expect: drtavel.com/children-infants. When you’re ready to make an appointment at one of Dr. Tavel’s 21 Indy-area locations, visit drtavel.com/location.
