DD diagnosed with a squint- what to expect?

[littlelamb]

DD (just turned 3) has always had one eye that drifted into the centre, and now it has been officially diagnosed with a squint. That was 2 weeks ago and I still have heard nothing from the doctor who was supposed to be referring her. I am really worried, especially as I have no history of sight problems and no idea what to expect? Are the waiting times likely to be long? We can get private health cover through my work and I am considering putting dd onto my policy so we can be seen quicker. Are glasses the usual solution, or are they likely to try other things as well?

I don't think we ahd to wait too long, about a month from referral to appointment. Might be worth checking with gp as you haven't even heard anything. It is worth getting it sorted asap as improvement is mroe likely.

can be glasses or patching, or possibly an op if things don't improve. dd was prescribed glasses, and hers has cleared up now to the point where it is very rarely seen and she no longer needs glasses. I had the op as a child, was very straightforward.

my dd has had glasses from 18 months due to a squint. She is long sighted which is a common cause of squinting. She has had patching treatment to help improve the sight in her left eye but still squints even with her glasses. She will probably need an op to correct it closer to school age (she is 3.8yrs)

Once the squint was noticed it only took a few weeks before her appointment with the orthoptist at the hospital. Dont worry too much as their eyes develop and change up till the age of 6/7 so there is plenty of time for your lo to have treatment.

My son has a squint in both eyes, but vision is absolutely fine and I have been told patches won't work, and tso there's no need for glasses and we should just carry on. He may need an operation when he's older - but it could make it worse not better. We will just wait to see if he worries about it as he gets older (he's 5 now).

dd3 has a squint. but is also very long sighted so wears glasses. we did patching for a while, but she hated it. we did it long enough for her eye to get stronger and for her to start using it again (at one point she wasnt using that eye at all), now we just make sure she has her glasses on all the time.

We were referred from GP to visiting vision clinic to hospital. I think it took about 6 weeks in all. DD has worn glasses since the squint was diagnosed. We did patching for a while, which seemed to work and - with the glasses - has hugely improved the vision in her weak eye but we seem to have hit a plateau and we may have to restart patching in the new year.

An operation hasn't been ruled out. I feel incredibly squeamish about that (or about her having any operation) but am trying to be strong and not pass my anxieties on to her. Has anyone else's child had the operation?

my dd had the operation a few months before she started school (maybe about 6 months ago when she was about 4 1/2). I was allowed to go with her while she got her general anaesthetic and then I was shooed out of the room!! The operation took about 45 minutes and I was allowed to sit with her while she came round. She was not happy and was in a bit of pain but she got to leave the hospital the same day as she managed to eat something and not throw up (the anaesthetic can make them a bit sick sometimes). She had a prescription for calpol and ibuprofen and also some antibiotic eyedrops which had to be put in twice a day (that was the nightmare bit as dd wasnt very co-operative with them). She was back at nursery after a week off.

Hi, my 4yo has a squint - she wears glasses and we do patching. She also has a lazy eye. The problems were caused by her "bad" eye being long sighted so glassed do help. Her eye does drift when she doesn't wear her glasses though.

We've been patching for about 8 or 9 months now and have reached the point where the patches aren't working and in the new year she will be referred for an op.

We went via our GP who referred us to the eye clinic at our local hospital. Appointments do take a while to come through sometimes, but it might be worth calling the GP to see whether the referral has been made and how long it takes for appointments to come through.

Good luck, and try not to worry. It is fairly common and it's been caught early enough that patching etc can really help.

WRT going private - I have no problem with our care on the NHS, it has been first class. Waiting a couple of weeks to be seen for the first time won't do any harm imo, although if your peace of mind would be improved by going private then go for it