Eye Rolling in a One Year Old.... Normal?????

[mackiners]

My one year old son has recently had a series of episodes where his eyes have either rolled backwards or have rolled upwards and then over to the side. These episodes only last a few seconds and don't appear to cause him any concern. At first I thought he was copying one of my facial expressions, but now I am not convinced. When the episode is happening I am a bit freaked out by it. They happen maybe a couple of times a day (but can then go for days without it happening).

Developmentally he is doing great (crawling, walking, into everything, etc). I was just wondering if any other mum out there has experienced the same thing? If so, is this something that eventually stops happening? Am really worried about this.

Any comments appreciated. Thanks!

Do they happen when he is tired or hungry ?
Could be vacant seizures or petit mal ?
If hes ok otherwise tho i would just write down everything, ie how often ect and mention it to your gp.Some los eye roll when just really tired.

The episodes happen randomly and aren't happening when he is tired or particularly hungry. Think I will get a doctor to check him out.

It could be a sign that he's having trouble with the vision in the eye that's rolling (caused by any one of quite a few eye problems, including just short-sightedness). The brain can switch off from receiving signals from the eye that's having trouble seeing and when it does this it can also lose control of the muscles allowing it to drift or roll away from the other eye - it often happens intermittently at first and then develops into a permanent squint. You should get a referral to a pediatic ophthalmologist - and I wouldn't accept a long wait - as it can be a sign of some problems that should be treated quickly and 'lazy eye' problems are much easier and quicker to correct early rather than later on.

Sorry - I just read your post again - it's both eyes rather than one. It could still be something optical, but probably less likely. Ignore what I said.

this has reminded me of something i saw at a baby group last week - a 4 month old with really "rolley" eyes, for want of a better phrase. mum didn't mention it or seem to think anything was wrong but i definitely don't remember dd having "rolley" eyes.

should i have said anything?

mackiners - i would get it checked out just to make sure but i don't expect it is anything to worry about if he seems fine in himself

Many thanks for your comments. His eyes just seem to occasionally roll for no apparent reason, but he doesn't seem bothered by it. I've made an appointment with my doctor for Thursday to get it checked out. I'm trying to convince myself that it might be one of those thing he may grow out of doing.... if I don't do that then I think I'd exhaust myself with worry!

My ds used to do this from about 6-8mths. It looked a bit like he was trying to look inside his head! I spoke to the HV about it who (helpfully) had never come across it before but who suggested I tried to film him doing it (as it was a random thing and couldn't guarantee he'd do it at an appointment) and take this to the GP. I never managed to whip the camera out in time and after a little while he just stopped doing it. So, sorry not much help but if you're worried take him to the GP.

@mackiners I was just wondering if you ever got to the bottom of this as my 12 month old has started doing it too

My 12 month old has just started doing this too. I am going to call the doctors tomorrow. @mackiners did yours grow out of it at all?

@Georgieadamson1 what did the doctor say? My 13 month old has started doing this too. I was worried as looks like he can't control it, yet at the same time it doesn't affect his flow of play other than a momentary pause. Xx

Hi @rosbee. My doctor has referred me to a paediatrician over a week ago and it’s been triaged still so haven’t yet heard. I tried to go private but with the current climate, private hospitals are not taking new patients. For my son, it can happen in his high chair but more in the bath if water gets in his eyes. It does sometimes seem for a moment he isn’t quite with me. The doctor said he wasn’t sure what it was but wanted to refer to make sure he was covering all basis. I also don’t know if it’s hay fever or something similar. As soon as I hear I will let you know. Interesting that my baby is also nearly 13 months x

Thought I’d give an update although it isn’t much of one. The hospital has put my son on a waiting list but it could be months before he is seen. He hasn’t really done the eye rolling in a while. My mum thinks it was heatstroke causing him to do it. He did it a lot in the bath if water got on his eyes. Now he hates the bath so might be related. I’m feeling a lot more at ease about it all. Hospital do not seem too concerned either x

@Georgieadamson1 thanks so much for updating us. I also have managed to have a chat with a paedatrician and as it appeared soon after my son had been in hospital with a nasty virus, they put it down to sheer exhaustion. The paediatrician said momentary loss of eye muscle control can be down to exhaustion of the body and because my son had been hospitalised briefly and was very poorly, he was quite weak and took some time to recover and it was during this time the eye rolling began. I have a video of it I could email if you wanted to see if it was similar.

The paediatrician also said that if it was anything like a spasm or seizure, there is normally loss of concsiousness, unresponsiveness or a spell of confusion afterwards, and it would be very unlikely to be anything serious if there were no immmediate after effects.

Hope that puts your mind at rest a bit more, or anybody else on the thread/reading the thread. x

Thank you @RosBee. It would make sense then that my baby had a bit of sunstroke or a little unwell. He was sleeping really well during this time too. Thank you for the update x

My 2.5 year old daughter over the past couple of days has had random moments where he eyes roll back involuntarily. I know she isn’t purposely doing this. I’m so worried something is really wrong, maybe neurologically. She doesn’t seemed to be bothered by it and just continues on as if nothing. We took her into ED and they didn’t seem to been too concerned, but just to keep watching and see a neurologist. Has anyone else has similar experience and what was the outcome

Hi all, appreciate this is an old post but I’m getting desperate for answers. My son is 2.5 and has been doing the eye rolling upwards on and off since he was 9 months. It’s exactly as the OP describes, most often seen in highchair or in the bath, and sometimes when he first wakes up in the morning. I would be so greatful if you could let me know if your child grew out of this or if you have any answers. My boy has had 2 EEGs which show normal but the eye rolling appears to be involuntary and he keeps rubbing his eyes after.

Hi AT20. I realize this is an old post. I have a 20 month old who displays THE EXACT bahaviour. It started at around 1 yr. It comes and goes. We also had an EEG but it did not detect any abnormalities. He unfortunately did not have do an eyerolling during so it was inconculsuive IMO. We have have an upcoming appointment with a pediatric optimalogist. His eyerolling seems to happen after he blinks. Usually while in his highchair, and is often followed by some heavy eyerolling. I pray this is just a sign of eye fatigue that can be corrected with glasses...

Did you ever get any answers? I hope you and your son are doing well. Please let me know..

@Babyboysdad Hi, unfortunately I’m still looking for answers. My son started this at 9 months old, did it for about 3 months then I didn’t notice any for around 6 months. He then started up again for 2 months last September. I had a second EEG done in November which again showed normal. The neurologist said to see if he grows out of it and from then on I thought he had… 10 months went by and I saw the odd roll in September this year when on a changing mat and then an odd roll when listening to music in October but this week he’s displaying new behaviours. I have seen lots of eye rubbing and a few rolls, a particularly noticeable one when I woke him up one morning. He has also started doing some usual tic like behaviour, a couple of shivers through his body which I had never seen before, he does a new thing in the car seat where he kicks, turns his head to the side with his eyes squeezed shut and does a weird smile and rarely but I have noticed a laugh. Now my son is 2.8 he told me after an eye roll on 2 occasions his eyes hurt/feel funny. He doesn’t seem in pain but I think he knows when it’s coming as he rubs or hides his eyes sometimes before it happens. I can’t sleep with worry. I’m going to try and see his neurologist Tuesday if he has an appointments as I’m worried sick. Random question but my son also does a thing where he lies on the floor and squeezed for about 10 seconds, I can snap him out if this as I tested him the other day by saying do you want a cookie and he jumped up straight away. I feel like he does this all the since 9 months (coinsiding with the first eye rolling episode) but this he can snap out of whereas he doesn’t seem to be able to control the other stuff. Please keep me updated with anything you find out.

Hi @AT20 . Thanks so much for getting back to me. I feel for you and understand your desperation. My wife and I are right there with you. Stay positive. It could be nothing! To answer your question, he does not really do any of the other described behaviors. The main things are hard blinking, followed by eyerolling, usually followed by eye rubbing. I have also noticed he will very quickly roll is eyes and tilt his head if he is switching viewpoints. For example, he could be looking at mom or dad while eating and then turn to look across the room and we'll see an eyeroll and a head tilt while he is turning to look at something else. I also just wanted to mention that IF they are tics, I have read a lot online indicating that 20% of children develop some at some point and most outgrow them. I wish you well and please stay in touch with any updates! We have an eye exam with a pedi optomologist nxt week and will keep you posted.

Sorry to jump on your post, but what you are describing is exactly like my 3 year old son, he started blinking quite alot around 7 weeks ago which I didn't really worry too much over but now it's gone from that to randomly squeezing one eye shut then the other but it's as if the other eye is looking down? It's very hard to explain but this very concerning and it's making me panic each time he does it. Ive had him to the Gp because we originally thought possibly dry eye? Which they said it wasn't, we booked an eye test off the back of talking to his pediatrician which was all clear. He is under pediatric care for a severe dairy allergy and Sandifers syndrome (a reflux disease) but it's not linked. He had an EEG when he was 9 months old to rule out infantile spasms because they were sure why his body was 'fitting' it turns out his dairy allergy is very severe and it was missed on multiple occasions so I don't have too much faith in the GP but our pediatrician is really great. His eeg was clear at 9 months but he wasn't doing these eye movements then. They have came from nowhere. They seem to be more when he's focused on something, the TV, I initially thought he was tired etc but I've tried more sleep as he still naps but he's still doing them. He hits all his milestone's and is a great talker, he tells me 'i like to blink mummy' but he doesn't realise he's doing the other eye movements because I feel like I need to ask if he's ok during them, they last around 3-6 seconds. I have some videos if anyone would like to see them to see if they look similar? I've never wrote on Mumsnet before but I'm so anxious all the time I just worry someone is missing something. Does it sound like a seizure? Do I ignore it? I've been in touch with his pediatrician and I think she will arrange another eeg, I'm 7 months pregnant so I'm trying to keep calm but I feel like I'm just forever online looking for an answer.

Hi @Babyboysdad and @AT20 ,
Our baby boy is 11 months and for a few days now he started to do the same thing. Have you figure out what may be the issue?

@Jadeb1986 @nestorasg no definite diagnosis but we have seen a paediatric neurologist twice over the last couple of weeks. He sent my son for another EEG but again it’s normal, this is now his third one as he had (the first two at 9 months and 18 months) After watching my son in the playroom, the neurologist said he is not concerned as my son is very intelligent for his age, great speech and memory and has been hitting all milestones on or before expected. He also said that as the episodes have been happening since he was 9 months old, if it was something sinister he would expect to see more signs as he is now almost 3. After assessing my son, he believes it is linked to the ADHD umbrella as my son is extremely hyperactive, can’t sit for a minute and is very impulsive and emotional. I asked if ADHD could cause this eye rolling and he confirmed it can. The main thing the neurologist wanted to check for when it all began was epilepsy / seizures and has always said to me to take him back to see him if he is development delayed or regresses. Please keep me updated with anything you find out and good luck.

Hi @AT20 ,
Thank you for the update.
Have yoou heard anything for that "paroxysmal tonic upgaze" or your pediatric mantiooned anything for this. It's seems that there are a lot of similarities to our baby boy actions etc.

@nestorasg in my sons case he doesn’t think that’s what is causing it as it seems to happen in certain settings. When he was 9 months - 18 months it was mainly in the high chair. Then we had a long gap when I didn’t notice him doing it and it come back in September this year a month after his baby sister was born which the neurologist said could be a trigger. Now he is older we very rarely see it when he’s eating as he feeds himself and is in control. Now I mainly see it when he first wakes up, like he’s adjusting to being awake then he’s fine. Other times is when the sun light hits his eyes, water in the eyes or songs he doesn’t like / know can overwhelm him so I think in my sons case the neurologist thinks it seems more like a tic.

Thank you for your reply. Have you experience any chnages in the behavior, less energy, loose appetite to eat food or day dreaming.