Just noticed DD has a 'lazy' eye

[suzi2]

We've been seeing it several times over the last few days. Have never noticed before. She's 21 months and always banging her head - has she had a brain injury?

I suppose I'll get her into the Drs this week to get it checked, but just wanted to know what the possibilities are.

she's banged her head that hard?

SHe may just have a bit of a squint. My DS does and has been given glasses to wear which will apparently correct it within a couple of years. Do take her to the Dr though, the sooner a squint/lazy eye is diagnosed, the better.

I wouldn't say so. She had a fall outside last week and banged it hardish but there was no bruising/nothing to see so I assume it wasn't that hard IYSWIM. But she's a climber and is very clumsy so I'm wondering if all the knocks have done something!

Does a squint come on reasonably suddenly? I'm not sure if I'm noticing it loads now as I'm looking for it and she's maybe had it before.

Oh, and I had a car accident a few weeks ago. She was OK, well strapped in etc and was checked over at A&E.

not sure - but defo take her to GP first and see what s/he suggests

I first noticed a squint in dd when she was about 18 months and took her to the hv who referred her to the hospital orthoptist. She has had glasses since then (is now 5) and has also had an op to correct the squint. Looking at earlier photos though, you can see the squint but I just hadnt noticed it till later on.

It's very common to start noticing a squint at this age, as before about 18 months/2 years the eyes aren't focussed properly.

Speak to your GP/HV and they can refer you to the orthoptics dept at the hospital. It's good that you've noticed it soon because it will hopefully be corrected by patching/specs.

Thanks everyone. I'll pop into the HV baby clinic tomorrow and see what they say. I can't stop seeing it happening now I've noticed!

my dd's squint started all of a sudden when she was 18 months (no head banging involved), but it did scare me that it seemed to appear virtually overnight. turned out she needed glasses, and has worn them ever since. her eyesight is very poor, we had no idea until the squint. what happens is if one eye is weaker than the other, the brain stops using the weaker eye, relaxes the muscles in it, and that is when it drifts and manifests itself as a squint. i think it is more likely to be eyesight related in your dd than due to a bump on the head.

OK, bizarre questions now... wouldn't I have noticed if she had sight troubles? She's kind of wild and a bit clumsy, but not overly so. She's not into the 'fine motor' stuff that DS was at that age, but is perfectly capable of things and picking out Barney on the computer or whatever.

Also, how the heck to they do a sight test at that age. She had to get her blood pressure done a couple of weeks ago at A&E and that was a living hell for all involved. Can't imagine her co-operating with a sight test.

Sorry, really jumping the gun here... I just have to know everything ever that might happen ;-)

no, you wouldn't necessarily have noticed sight difficulties, we didn't with dd and she has a very strong prescription. at 21 months, you will be referred to the hospital, they will do some basic sight tests and then put drops in her eyes to dilate the pupil. from that, they can see straight in and tell what prescription, if any, is needed. it's all very child friendly, although the drops do sting a little as they go in, they will be used to dealing with little ones, the vision tests are all to do with pictures to point at etc, the verbal side of it develops as they get older.

Do squints actually get better?

Reason I ask is that DD has one, but so does her dad, and he had glasses/patch.

Also, is laser surgery effective? Obviously at a much later date...

Glasses/patching often cure mild squints, sometimes an op is needed, but a lot depends on how early it's diagnosed and treatment is started - the earlier the better. A friend of mine has a terrible squint which was never treated and he is blind in one eye - the brain switches off one eye if a squint is left untreated.
I thought DS had a bit of a squint when he was a newborn but the HV said that most newborns squint a bit and grow out of it; last year his dad said, he's a bit cross eyed don't you think, and we looked at DS and looked at some photos and took him straight off to the GP.
He has a noticeable squint but quite good eyesight, and at his last appointment they said the glasses were helping and he was making progress.

The HV said that if it's only been happening this weekend, that it's too early to refer her. She has never referred one so young. I said that it was intermittent, but surely it's not the sort of thing that fixes itself. So please refer her now, which she is apparently doing.

Now I'm half wondering if I'm imagining it - but I'm sure I'm not. It's like her eye momentarily drifts in before she 'rights' it. Told the HV that she's a typical toddler but often walks into the edge of door frames and stuff, always has done. And if I cover her 'normal' eye she goes mad, though doesn't fuss with the 'bad' one being covered.

And I'm now wondering about DS (3) as there have been times where we thought there was a slight squint!

Hi Suzi2,

Funny, I searched for discussions about lazy eyes because i have just realised my DD1 has one. She is 2.5 yrs old. I had noticed it on and off for quite some time but thought she would grow out of it (as many do). Anyway, it's got really noticeable in the last week or so and is happening nearly all the time (one eye drifting to the centre while she's looking at me).

So, I took her to the GP and he said yes she has a lazy eye and it is common and curable, probably with a patch. We have an appt with an opthamologist on Monday to have tests done and see what they recommend.

I'm glad I took her to the GP as I think I was not admitting to myself that there was a problem. Now I've faced it, I feel so relieved.

So, it's really good that you are getting this seen to really early and yes, it was an intermittent thing with my DD around that age too. Good luck!

Suzi2, Hv talking rubish the sooner squints are treated the better.

Dd2 was treated from 8 weeks she has had three ops.

The ops don't improve the vision just the apperance of the eye.

Dd2 has had patches on and off since 3 months
nw on just 2 hours a week.

She is 5 now doesn't need glasses has near perfect vision.

As others have said if the bad eye is't used the brain turns off that eye off.

Please get your gp to refer your dc asap it could make a real difference.

Btw they are brilliant at treating babies in clinic they are well used to it.

If you do end up needing a patch, have loads of usefull info and contacts.

hi largeglass,
i am wondering how on earth you get a 2 year old to wear a patch?? anyway, let's see what they say first but i will probably be back onto you for all sorts of tips and advice. thanks

No prob, anytime, there are loads on the market my dd hated the sticky ones so have a few good contacts,

Hope you get on ok

Over the last week it's gone from "am I seeing things" to "OMG she's spending 40% of the day squint!". The HV has arranged an appointment for her with the orthoptist for a week on Thurs. But says if it becomes non 'intermittent' then we're to call for a nearer one.

She's got me a bit worried now TBH. Is the speed of this happening - from never having a clue, to being 'wonky' a lot of the time within a week or so normal? Or should I be really stressing.

I'm also worrying that I didn't see it sooner, or that the latest bump on her head is the 'cause' (as my mum likes to think). I think DD is aware of it all as she frequently blinks hard to try and clear the movement and touches that eye a lot.

On the plus side, if she needs glasses she's be very happy. I wear glasses and she's been totally obsessed with them since birth!

DS used to have this, but only when he was tired. It started when he was around 18 months old, now he is almost 3 and it seems to have corrected itself.

hi suzi - I have/had a squint and a lazy eye, so do both my twins. DT2 was spotted at about 3.2yo, but once spotted we realised he was doing it all of the time. Before that he was so placid and young that he never really needed to focus on anything. His twin, DT1 wasn't spotted til later - well he never had the squint, he was just tested because if our history. We tried 3 times to 'test' him at specsavers, but they are not geared to test youngsters - they still expect them to look through the huge great white machine at objects and identify them all, DT1 got very bored and simply refused to do anything, so we referred him to the local hosp and within 5 mins of him being looked at he was shown to be +1 in left eye and +2 in the right....

personally i would reassure you that the bump to her head won't have been the cause of the squint, but quite possibly a symptom.....I had a social services file when i was little as i was forever covered in bruises (doc wouldn't believe my mum that i couldn't see - he thought she was knocking me about!) - eventually the doctor actually SPOKE to me instead of to my mum about me and i focused on his face and then he saw my eye go in....he had to admit it then, found out i was +5 and +6 - hadn't been able to see a thing!

oh and a lazy eye isn't the same as a squint. Lazy eye is an eye doing less work than the other, for example my left eye is +6.25 these days but my right is +4.75, so my left is lazy. A squint is where one turns in to help the person focus. You can suffer with both as I did, had an op to correct the squint....but my DT2 just had the squint, eye wandered in to focus, but he's actually the same amount long sighted in both eyes (+3.75), so one isn't lazy.

DT1 has a lazy eye (his right +2), but no squint.....