Advice/Experience needed - 9 wk old Baby - eyes

[k4mi]

Hi,

I posted on here a few weeks back about my now 9 wk old DD. We were referred to a paedeatrician because my GP thought she was looking down a lot (sunset eyes) and her head shape was unusual/large which can be signs of Hydrocephalus.

I couldn't bare to wait 2 months for our NHS appointment and so booked a private consultation with a neurosurgeon. He looked at her for five mins and said she was fine, that if it was Hydrocephalus there would be other symptoms and that babies/children with the condition hardly look up at all. He also thought her head was on the larger side (75th percentile) but a normal shape.

Anyway since that appointment i have been much more aware of what her eyes do. She seems to look down/stare down a lot. She is totally capable of focussing on an object and following an object and otherwise seems to be meeting all development milestones. Is this normal? Do all babies sometimes look downwards (although i am never sure what she is looking at??) She does look all over the place but it seems default is to look down unless there's something she's actually looking at. Some days she does it a lot (especially in her buggy) and otherwise hardly at all.

When she does it the bottom third of her iris is covered by the lower lid and a large proportion of the sclera (white) is on show. She has somewhat of a constantly 'surprised/shocked' look on her face. Some would say wide-eyed. I have seen photos of myself as a child and i look similar but for some reason this doesn't seem to be getting any better and i can't help worrying it's a sign of something and it's been missed.

Anyone experience anything similar with their baby at this age or know of anything it could be? Or am i just over worrying?

Thanks

Reported

Hi, not sure I can give you the answers you are looking for, but if it helps my dd went a bit cross eyed at around 9 weeks and constantly made an 'oooo' face - she does neither of these things now. They do take a bit of time to completely get the hang of their eyes.

Keep an eye on it - as Mum you always know best :-)

k4mi please ignore sarahluv's unhelpful post. I've reported it.

I don't have anything helpful to say about your post, except to ask whether you're still going to get the NHS appointment? That might give you a second opinion to help decide whether there is a problem?

I think Happy's advice is good. Keep the NHS appointment for a second opinion, and just try and relax for a few weeks. You are hyper sensitive to anything she does with her eyes right now, so you are likely to notice every time she looks down even if it is rarer than you think.

If you are still worried in a couple of weeks, then you need to go back to you doctor and ask for help to accelerate the appointment. Also, you may find that contacting the consultant's office once a week and politely asking whether there are any cancelled appointments might also help. Good luck.

Maybe ask the gp to refer to ophthalmologist my daughter was referred after her 6 week check and seen when she was about 9 weeks,
The opthamologist we're brilliant and confermed she had a bilateral convergent squint. She started treatment straight away and had surgery at 4 months. She would have lost the sight it one eye if she hasnt had the treatment early.
I'm so glad I trusted my instinct, there is no harm getting your baby checked and if her eyes are your main concern, an opthamologist would be better to see than a paediatrician.

I agree, get her checked out but try not to worry in the meantime. As others have said, you're probably a bit hypersensitive to the situation at the moment so it might seem a lot worse than it is in reality.

75th centile for head.... my DD is jee-ust over the 99.8th centile line (HV had to put her on the page somehow!) Her height though is 0.4th centile and her weight is somewhere between 50th and 75th centile (probably mostly her head!). Looks okay in real life though, so measurements aren't always helpful.

Hello, it is very old post but my son has exactly same eyes he had a scan also and it was negative..I wanted to know did the situation improved for your daughter how is she now?