I think ds may have a squint [sad] ... he will see an opthalmologist at six months but then what?

[Miaou]

Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself here......but since I missed dd1's squint entirely until she was four years old and had lost most of the sight in her right eye (and bloody hell I will carry the guilt about that for the rest of my life), I am perhaps understandably a little jittery about the possibility that ds may have a squint.

My fab hv (I have to keep saying that, she really is fab) spoke to the opthalmologist at the city hospital, who has agreed to see ds at six months (I have written confirmation of this) due to family history, just as a precaution. But watching him today focusing on a toy, he does seem to be squinting .

What do they do with babies this young? I only have experience of dealing with a very biddable four year old with a squint. Forewarned is forearmed an' all that.

dd had splints noticed at about that age and saw an orthoptist regularly for checks. they didn't do any patching- not altogether sure why- probably very good reason!- but they operated when she was about 2. Didn't get a full correction, and may need them done again, BUT her eyesight is perfect.

Don't worry, picked up at this age, all will be well.

My ds (just 11 months) went for his first appointment at Orthoptics last week becasue I had noticed that his eye turns in. The hv referred him and we went last week. They did lots of test things with pictures on cards and sticks and looked at his eyes with lights. Because my dh is longsighted they are sending Charlie to see the Consultant now. The Nurse he saw said that if a baby is longsighted they over-focus and it causes their eye to turn in. I'm not sure if this is the same as a squint or if it's a lazy eye or what? But we've got to back in about 3 months for Charlie to have stuff squirted in his eyes so they can look at the make-up and shape of his eye balls. I think I'll be asking dh to come with us for that one as it's supposed to be horrible!

think you've already seen the pic of my ds in his glasses today miaou. we've got similar family history with eyesight. dd has poor vision and developed a squint at 18mths. prior to that we had no idea she had a problem. she's longsighted and her prescription is right - +4.75, left - +6. i noticed ds's left eye going at about 8wks and asked the gp to refer him and he's now got glasses. the opthalmist said the earlier its caught the better so you're doing the right thing if your ds has already got an appointment, babies can wear glasses from 3 mths. all the cousins on dh's side also have the same thing so its a genetic problem for us. don't worry if your ds needs glasses. we got ours from specsavers, they are special baby frames with longer curls to go round the ears. our ds's eyesight isn't as bad as his sisters, in fact if the glasses correct the squint, he not need to wear them when he's older. good luck and i'll let you know in a few weeks how our ds is getting on with his, its early days as we only got them this morning, x.

Thanks all for the information. Lucykate, can I ask how old your ds is and how old he was when he was first seen? The opthalmologist has asked me to vist my gp to get a referral once ds is six months old which surprised me because my red book (that the health visitor writes in) says that squints at 2 months should be reported to the gp.

Miaou, I thought DS had a squint when he was about 6/7 months old. I took him to see HV, who reffered me to opthamologist, who saw him when he was about 8 months. He was fine, but told me that all babies squint until they are about 9 months. I know you have a family history, and so did we, but try not to worry just yet. He's a year now and dosen't have a squint. I got very ahead of myself on here about it, so try not to take a leave out of my book!

your HV should be able to refer you.

Jess had a squint from very early days and she got her appointment at 11 months old. She was fine at that time, but have said they will continue to see her every 6 months until they are satisfied she is seeing as she should.

Because of the family history, Rebecca's HV has already referred her, and we will recieve an appointment for her for when she is 6 months old. Not bad considering she is only 4 weeks old at the moment!

Good luck hun, and i hope little DS is ok x

he's 24wks, was referred at about 16wks and was seen at 22wks. i asked for him to be referred early as when dd was, it took about 3 months for an appointment to come through. they did some tests with flash cards but the only sure way of telling was him having the drops in his eyes, which he didn't like but it was over quickly. the orthoptist said straight away, 'yes, he'll need glasses', when she looked at him.

hth

I have taken my ds to the opthalmologist since he was 8 months old. As far as I was told, there's no diagnosis as such until after 18 months, which is when the muslces in that area are fully formed. Some babies do have a squint up until then which disappears completely (apparently, my dh was one!).

The tests done on ds have ranged from drops in his eyes and shining a light in (to see if each eye focussed individually), trying to get his attention with various toys, showing him things to see if he pointed at them and, now he is 2, starting to ask him what he can see.

ds has been diagnosed with Duane's Syndrome; his right eye does not turn right, it only goes as far round as straight ahead. Even now he is 2.3 the orthoptist is at pains to point out that the tests only give them an idea of what's going on, he would have to be much older for them to get definitive results (he might turn his head to look at something through sheer coincidence for example).

The orthoptist and optamologist we see are absolutely lovely and seem very experienced in dealing with babies and small children and have never been anything other than kind and caring with ds.

HTH

i'm glad that my dd can now tell me what she can see without her glasses, she's nearly 4. when she takes them off, her left eye goes in, and when she puts them on, it goes straight again. she says she can see 2 of everything without them.

ds is back at the hospital in 4wks to see how he's getting on with his.

Good luck lucykate; I hope ds gets on with them ok

Don't feel guilty - I had a squint that wasn't spotted until I was 14 Until then it wasn't obvious and only happened when I was tired. I just assumed that everyone saw double when they were tired!