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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

17.5 month old - one eye isn't open as 'wide' as the other:

25 replies

lunarx · 07/12/2005 13:08

see here..

(*ignore the fashion sense, its around the house!! :p)

ds is 17.5 months old and his one eye (as you can see in the pic) does not open as wide as the other, sometimes. it doesnt occur all the time. i asked the hv when he was 7 months if i should be worried about this and she said it should clear up/go away. it hasn't. nor does my GP seem bothered by it.

has anyone else's sons or daughters have something like this? i dont want it to be problematic.. i dont care if its just something thats cosmetic, i dont want it to cause him (his visual ..) any difficulties...

thanks..

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snowfalls · 07/12/2005 13:10

Could be a block tear duct, that will make the eye appear smaller, Does he get more sleep in that eye than the other one?

Original poster

lunarx · 07/12/2005 13:12

he hardly gets any sleep (or 'eye-yuckies' as i call them)... the eye doesn't 'run' at all.

OP posts:

21stcenturygirl · 07/12/2005 13:14

I can help - my nephew had exactly the same - it's to do with the muscle around the eye. He's just had an operation (last January - aged 6) and it is nearly back to normal. He has no problems with his sight - it's just purely muscular.

dingdongmeggymooonhigh · 07/12/2005 13:14

Oh Luna he is so adorable.
I just wanted to say that my ds is exactly the same. Somedays I don't really notice and other days or in photos I think it is quite obvious. It really seems quite different after he's woken up.

Personally I don't think there's anything to worry about. Faces aren't symmetrical are they and some more so than others.

I could root out one of ds's photos where he's look particularly wonky if you'd like

Epiffany · 07/12/2005 13:15

What a gorgeous looking son you have Lunarx!
Is his eyelid droopy more than the other one or is the underside appearing puffy?

21stcenturygirl · 07/12/2005 13:19

lunarx - read my posting of 1.14 - it cross-posted with yours....

SpaGlorytoBlog · 07/12/2005 13:20

Is this like my DD? See this thread
Ignore the Down Syndrome bit and look for my message at 11.53 am

Her left eye is smaller than the right eye

Original poster

lunarx · 07/12/2005 13:22

21stcenturygirl > was the surgery needed? i mean, would the condition have worsened if the surgery was not done?
the thought of Calvin having surgery just scares me.........
did your GP recommend this? or did you have to see a specialist, (well probably, right?) i'm trying not to be overly concerned about it.. but its difficult...

dingdong> aww thank you. he's a monkey. i am convinced of it. i guess i dont want to worry about it. i trust my GP... i dont know though..maybe another opinion would help...?

epiffany> thank you!!! i dont notice any additional puffiness or droopiness... but i will have a look when he wakes up, which will be soon!

OP posts:

dingdongmeggymooonhigh · 07/12/2005 13:27

Well I always look a bit puffy round the eyes when I wake up!

21stcenturygirl · 07/12/2005 13:29

He went to see a specialist when he was a baby and, if I remember correctly, they said that they wouldn't be able to do the operation until he was 5 and, only if it was wanted.

They said there was no risk to his sight or him without having the surgery - purely for cosmetic problems. If I were you, I'd see your doctor and ask for a referral (my nephew went to Great Ormond Street). If you want to talk to someone about it I'm sure my sil would be more than willing to chat to you. If you want to CAT me, please feel free to do so.

ISawFrannyandZooeyKissingSanta · 07/12/2005 13:46

I have a droopy eyelid, not as noticeable as in your son's pic (he is GORGEOUS btw!). An optician told me I could have a cosmetic operation if I wanted. It's just a muscular thing and doesn't get any worse with age (yet). I think ds may have an even less noticeable version.

frogs · 07/12/2005 14:00

Drooping eyelid is technically known as ptosis and is likely to be related to some issue of the muscles surrounding the eye. If you google ptosis you should find lots of info, possible more than you wanted!

Ptosis may be harmless and 'just one of those things', but it can also be indicative of various more serious conditions, and you should get it checked out by an eye specialist to rule these out. In your situation I wouldn't panic, but I would make sufficient fuss to get a referral to eye hospital. If your GP won't play ball, I probably would go to A&E dept of eye hospital or paediatric hospital until I got some proper answers.

I speak from some experience here as I had ptosis as a teenager from one of the less harmless of the various causes, and it was endlessly misdiagnosed, resulting in my condition becoming much more serious than it needed to be. GPs don't know about ptosis -- eye specialists and neurologists do.

Do feel free to CAT me if you want.

annalucia · 07/12/2005 14:28

After reading Frog's answer I'm now worried. My son's (12 months) left eye is smaller than his right. Sometimes it is not really noticeable other times it is. I had just thought that was how his face is.

I'd better check out ptosis

MIstletAOU · 07/12/2005 14:43

lunarx, I have a droopy eyelid too - see here (you'll have to scroll down a bit - it's dh's thread on another talk forum ). As you can see it is hardly noticeable now (it's my left eye in case you are wondering!!). Never stopped me getting work when I was an actress anyway.

PrettyCandlesAndTinselToo · 07/12/2005 14:44

Ooh he's absolutely gorgeous - what a super smile!

My two both have similar situation with their eyes, and so for that matter do I. Both my children appeared to have lazy left eyelids when they were tiny, sometimes the left eye would close earlier than the right, and also open later. Their eyes, or rather the flesh and hair around their eyes, were not symmetrical either. With dd it was particularly obvious that the whole left side of her face was smaller than the right, but oddly enough nobody else could see it. I seemed to be considered a fussy mummy, attention-seeking, I don't know what. But now, when people look at certain photos of dd they are amazed at the discrepancy she had had in her face.

Both children also have uneven jaws, which only became apparent once they had molars: their molars met on the left, but not on the right, and they had no bite at all in front, they literally could not get their front teeth to meet unless they slid their mouths sideways. Again, no dentist would take my concerns seriously. But ds is 5 and his teeth have evened out almost completely, and the discrepancy between his eyes is only visible in some photos, otherwise they appear completely even. Dd's jaw is still uneven at 3y (not that it stops the little chomp-monster eating anything and almost everything) and her eyes are also almost evened out as well. I'd say it's even less visible in her photos than in ds's, but that could be because they smile differently for photos.

I have one eye different shape to the other: one is very rounded and the other is flatter on top. AFAIK nobody notices. My mum doesn't remember whether they shut differently when I was tiny.

Epiffany · 07/12/2005 14:52

dd has pronounced ptosis, which is why I asked, we have ahd her checked and it is not affecting her vision ( whole lot of other stuff is but not ehr eyelids)
It has got better with age, surgry to correct will be her choice, if she ever decides she needs it.

titchy · 08/12/2005 09:50

My ds also had pronounced ptosis. He had surgery a year ago and is so much better. Feel free to ask any questions about it!

Original poster

lunarx · 08/12/2005 21:01

thanks prettycandles!

and thanks everyone for their responses.. i've made some notes and am going to bring it up to the GP at next visit.. i dont think it warrants a separate visit for now...

OP posts:

ocd · 04/08/2006 08:21

lunarx did you ever get anythign done?

bumbly · 04/07/2009 23:25

any news on this?

Euler · 05/04/2013 14:08

Hello,
My daughter (20 months) has a droopy eyelid. It's called congenital ptosis. We seen the every clinic every 6 months as they want to check her eye sight, there is a possibility that the droopy eye could become much weaker. There's also a chance a stigmatise could occur due to the weight of the eyelid on her eyeball. As she's grown, it has become less noticeable and only my hubby and I can tell now, especially when she's tired. Our doctor dismissed it at first but I kept pestering and said it wasn't normal. In the end he relented!
X

Euler · 05/04/2013 14:09

Meant to say "we see the eye clinic"

coffeewineandchocolate · 05/04/2013 14:13

Zombie thread from 2005.....

Euler · 05/04/2013 19:51

Oops!!!

stargirl1701 · 05/04/2013 19:54

My 6 month DD is the same. One of her facial plates is out of alingment. Every single doctor we ever see comments on it. The NHS has a 'wait & see' policy till 1.

We are seeing a paediatric chiropractor as we aren't content to 'wait & see'.

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