6 month old with lazy eye

DS2 is 6 months he goes for his check up next week so i will be asking about it then aswell but just want to know what you did to improve a childs lazy eye?

To be honest i never really noticed it until my Mum kept going on about it. EVERY time she see's him she makes fun of his eye, in a good way though lol!!

So just want to know is it fixed easily? What will they tell me to do?

Thanks

Hi there!

I can't really help with your question sorry but how did you know your DS had a lazy eye?

Was it just noticeable or was he diagnosed?

My DS (10weeks) has one eye that I think may be lazy. Or it could be a nerve/muscle problem. When he is laying down his right eye blinks constantly, almost like its weak, and the other one just blinks normally.

I took him to the clinic the other day but she told me to take him to the GP.

Poor little thing - even if your mum is doing it in jest as he gets older it may start to hurt his feelings.

I'd be interested to hear what they suggest to you.

Thanks

Bec

We were concerned that DD had a lazy/turned eye when she was about 6 months old. It was really obvious in photos etc as one eye would quite clearly seem to be looking more towards her nose rather than straight ahead (I think that's what a lazy eye is lol).

I asked my dr about it at her 6 month check up and he was very dismissive about it all - told me not to worry and left it at that. I then took her to an optometrist who examined her and said that her eyes were both actually focusing properly and straight ahead. In DD's case it was an optical illusion as the shape in the corner of her eyes were different between eyes. The one that seemed to be looking straight ahead you could clearly see the little corner bit near the nose (don't know what its called sorry lol) where as the eye shape on the one that seemed to be lazy cut down straight so that it covered up that little corner bit completly changing the appearance of the shape of the eye socket/eyeball. This meant that, while her eyes were actually looking in exactly the same direction, it seemed like her eyes were focusing on different things because there was skin covering over part of the eye that was visible on the other one. The optometrist told me that as she grew her eye shapes would become better defined and that little bit of skin that was causing the "problems" would shift. Now that she's 2 you'd never guess that we had all those concerns back then as both eyes are now the "expected" shape.

While I'm not saying that your child won't have a lazy eye etc (and sorry, can't help you with tips/advice if it is that) it is possible that your case may be similar to what happened with my DD. Until the optometrist pointed it out to me I hadn't even noticed that DD's eyes had a different appearance to them, I'd just gone straight to "lazy eye" and stressed out lol.

All the best.

Leisa.

Thankf for the replys

McMum my mum wont say anything as he gets older if he still has it she had her own daughter with a lazy eye so lazy it had to be operated on as it was just so bad!

His is not that bad infact i dotn even notice but it may be because im his mum LOL! but mum always points it out. So im assuming it must not be too bad and i hope that it fixes its self on its own...

leisah thanks for teh reply. Glad all was ok for your bub i hope it is the same with mine...

Will update after his check up.

Hi,

The same thing happened with my DS1. I didn't notice it but MIL kept saying stuff so got a refferal to eye speacialist. He has to wear glasses and have his good eye patched as he is 2 lines off what he is meant to be. Hope this helps

Jane

My DD had what appeared to be a lazy eye when she was about your DSs age, but it didn't last long. As her eyes and focus got stronger, her eye didn't turn anymore.

My cousin's DD had a quite severe turned eye and required her good eye to be patched in order to make the lazy one do the work (this helped her strengthen the muscles). This definitely helped, as when she got a little older the olny way you could tell, was when she was overtired the eye would turn in. She has since totally outgrown it.

Hope your DS's eye turns out to be like my DD's and he just outgrows it in the next few months. If its not a serious turn, this will probably be the case smile

My daughter has a lazy eye, and a droopy eyelid due to her being 11wks prem..
She sees a orthoptist at the hospital, they are the eye doctors that check the positioning of the eyes, with different lights and games they play with the kids. seeing her has been brilliant it has put alot of stress at ease for us. With my daughter it is simply a case of her being premmie, something they are hoping that she will grow out of.

However if she doesnt grow out of it, they can perform laser surgery on her to correct her lazy eye, and perform cosmetic surgery to fix her droopy eye lid

I would recommend you see a doctor for a referral to an orthoptist, to get it diagnosed while he is still young and easily fixed.

Hi, I'm an orthoptist and work with children with this problem. The first thing you MUST do is get a referral from your GP to see an ophthalmologist (eye specialist), not an optometrist. The cause of the turned eye could be due to any of the following
- 1. Newborns sometimes have a little extra skin on the inner eyelid fold, making it look like there is an eye turn when there isn't. This will change as they grow.
- 2. Your baby may have a congenital (meaning "present at birth") eye turn, which needs to be attended to immediately. Often eye muscle surgery is suggested to straighten the eye/s. This mostly has an excellent cosmetic result and means your child has the greatest chance of having the best cosmetic result and vision possible later in life.

There are several other causes which can be controlled with glasses, but from the age of your child i don't think this is the case. It is so important that you look at seeing a specialist as soon as you can.
It is necessary to correct a turned eye at the youngest age possible to allow the eye the best opportunity to develop all the normal connections between the eye and the brain.

Please don't panic by any means, it's all treatable. But just don't ignore it.

Hope that helps. smile

Hey...my mum was born with crossed eyes and so was I... had to have opperations wen i was a toddler.. my eyes r straight now but wen i get really tired my left eye goes lazy and points towards my nose a little. It sucks now cos i have to wear glasses and my eyes seem to be getting worse even with the glasses sad

Hope your 6month old only has a slight lazy eye and nothing serious...

Hi,

My son had a turned eye when he was 6 months old and this was picked up by our GP at a regular checkup. He was referred to an eye specialist who completed some tests and also he had to have an MRI because a "lazy eye" as such can be the indication of another problem. We were very lucky that our son's problem was not in his brain and occurred when his eyes were developing in the womb. He had surgery to correct this issue and now you cannot even notice it. He had his surgery April last year and has a few appointments with his specialist. He is now on yearly appointments, however, we have been advised that he may need some patching or other treatment as he gets older. The eye specialist who takes care of my son specialists in pediatrics and I found him to be so much better than a normal specialist. My son's eye condition isn't called lazy eye, but extrophia. Sorry I didn't spell that right but it is said x-troy-pi-a.

I hope this information helps and good luck with it all.

Jane

Hi everyone,

I'm new to all of this. But I'm also an Orthoptist, and suggest that you also see an Eye Specialist who specialises in paediatrics known as an Ophthalmologist. Your child will be assessed initially by an Orthoptist who tests his/her vision and then eye movements including a few other assessments.

I think its best to get these things checked as there is a window in a child's development whereby things can be altered before the wiring between the eyes and the brain is finalised.

All the best and hopefully its nothing serious!

Ameenah

Hi, I'm an orthoptist and work with children with this problem. The first thing you MUST do is get a referral from your GP to see an ophthalmologist (eye specialist), not an optometrist. The cause of the turned eye could be due to any of the following
- 1. Newborns sometimes have a little extra skin on the inner eyelid fold, making it look like there is an eye turn when there isn't. This will change as they grow.
- 2. Your baby may have a congenital (meaning "present at birth") eye turn, which needs to be attended to immediately. Often eye muscle surgery is suggested to straighten the eye/s. This mostly has an excellent cosmetic result and means your child has the greatest chance of having the best cosmetic result and vision possible later in life.

There are several other causes which can be controlled with glasses, but from the age of your child i don't think this is the case. It is so important that you look at seeing a specialist as soon as you can.
It is necessary to correct a turned eye at the youngest age possible to allow the eye the best opportunity to develop all the normal connections between the eye and the brain.

Please don't panic by any means, it's all treatable. But just don't ignore it.

Hope that helps. smile