Eyesight problems - newborn - is there anyone out there

[HarrietTheSpy]

Whose DC has vision problems, which you noticed when they were an infant? Or if you suspected there MIGHT be a problem, when could the doctors give you reliable information either way?

DD2 is tiny (as in age, she's five weeks) and was a month premature. Doesn't track at all, and her eyes have this sort of glassy look at the time. Sometimes we think she's looking at us/something in particular, but really it seems more by chance.

I can't seem to find any detailed info about this on the web. Can anyone help?

TIA

my dd had sight problems from birth, Not the same as your dd, she couldn't open her eyes when she was born and has had a failed surgery to help her. she's 2 in a couple weeks.

The drs will never stick their neck out and tell us how good they think dd's vision is but there are tests that can be done to give an indication of where problems are. try googling ERG electro retinagram (hope my spelling is OK) they stick electrodes to the babies head and plonk them in front of a TV, and show them flashing black and white squares. This (I think) can tell them if the correct signals are being generated in the eye and recieved by the brain.

In some hospitals they can put a tv program on and flick back and forwards to the test screen to keep the child interested. she was (I think) 17 weeks old when she first did the test and saw Teletubbies for the first time. she is now obsessed by Po and I'm just planning a theme party for her birthday. (thanks Great Ormond st!)

I remember the wait until she was old enough for the test was unbearable at the time. and when they did it all they said was it was not quite normal. then the next test was better then she was bad again... no figures, just fuzzy statements. drives me mad!

I have to call it a night now as I have a sick child and a job interview tomorrow (should be sleeping while I can....) but I will try to get a little more useful info for you tomorrow evening.

have you spoken to your hv/gp? If you are concerned then I would advise you to get a referral to an opthalmologist (sp?) to get her eyes looked at. There are tests they can do even from newborn to establish whether there is vision, and the sooner you get it checked out, the sooner you can get some answers.

Just one thing - if you put her on a surface near a window or a source of bright light, does she react to that? ie does she turn towards it?

One of my DD's had to have eye checks for various reasons from 10 days old. Unfortunately, though the consultant opthalmologist could check physical problems (i.e. obvious signs of damage to the eye itself) at this age, she could do little more and arranged for DD to have further checks at 5 months.

She was of the opinion that until around this age, babies eyes can have difficulty tracking. Having had 3DC, I'd tend to agree that their ability to track can be variable and can take several months to stabilise.

IME, thier eyes can appear to wander, sometimes independantly of each other for quite some time. Unless there are obvious issues other than failing to track, I doubt an opthalmologist would be able to do a great deal more in terms of checks until months further down the line.

FWIW, what you describe sounds reasonably normal though your HV might be able to offer reassurance/advice if you are concerned?

HTH

thanks so much for your great answers. Wannabe - I THINK she responds to bright light, but more by turning away from it?! Someone suggested a flashlight in her eyes to see but I thought I would leave the amateur tests alone as it could worry me more.

Hi, My dd had problems when she was born. similar to what you describe with your dd. She was diagnosed as having Delayed Visual Maturation. She could not see much (if anything) at all until around 8weeks of age.
Unfortunately, at the time she was diagnosed (around 6w) they could not give us any idea of how long it would take for her vision to develop or any guarantee that she would ever see. She was lined up for more tests to find out where the problem was (optic nerve, brain) as all the tests on her eyes came back as normal.
As I've said around 8w she began to see and her eyesight developed normally from there onwards. So further tests became unnecessary.
My dd was 2 weeks overdue but I was asked whether she had been born prematurely as they said this condition occurs more in premature babies as their development needs to catch up.
Visit your gp for tests and get referred. For your own peace of mind that it isn't anything more sinister and for more information.
Hope all goes well for you and your dd.

Juule
Did you notice whether your DD's pupils dilated normally?

Glad to hear things are now going well with your DD.

I'm sorry but I can't remember.
I presume they did as nothing was found to be wrong with her eyes themselves. But I'm really not sure.