4.5 MO appears to have a lazy eye - will it resolve or should I act?

[Sanguine]

After he was born, my DS's eyes were all over the place, but they soon settled down and started to look a bit more co-ordinated. However, over the last few weeks we have noticed that he doesn't open his left eye as widely as his right eye, and his left eye seems to turn inwards, especially if he's tired. It does appear to be getting more noticeable. Is this something that will just resolve itself? If not, who should I see about it? WHat would the treatment be?

Message withdrawn

Definitely get a referral, eye problems respond really well to patching, but as cod says, by the time they're 7/8 then they're hard wired in and can't be resolved.

Act. Do it. It has to be caught early or vision will develop properly. Don't freak out, but go to GP and get referral to proper eye hospital.

Gosh, I'm trying to imagine keeping an eye patch on a baby... presumably they have ones for babies that can't be easily pulled off then??

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

Easier than keeping an eyepatch on a 6yo, with much more sophisticated ability to remove it, and much better at lying about it too.

Earlier is better.

if it is a lazy eye, it won't get better by itself. he may need glasses, best to go to gp or hv and get him referred to see an optician at the hospital.

it all sounds scarier than it actually is, both my dc's have squints and glasses. we've just finished patching with dd to strengthen her weak eye. the earlier it is treated the better.

at this young age, they put drops in to dilate the eye and can tell straight away by looking what the problem is. we had no idea dd had eye problems, one day when she was 18 months old, her left eye was all of a sudden turning in. we found out she had very poor eyesight, and she's worn glasses ever since.

Right. I was thinking of going to clinic this afternoon anyway, that's decided it! I really don't want him developing vision probs if there's something I can do about it.

Sanguine, I'm an optometrist and it's vital that you get this checked out straight away, more so because the eyelid droops as well. Let us know how you get on.

Well, I saw the health visitor. Of course, the boy's eyes were fine at the time, making me look like a neurotic mum. However, we've been referred to a specialist to get it checked out.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

glad you've been referred, squints are not always apparent, it can depend on how well/tired they are, which way they are looking, if they are focusing on something distant or close up etc, but the referral with check all that and put your mind at rest either way

Sanguine, one of our college lecturers who was an opthalmologist said once that he always listens to Mums if they say there's a squint, regardless of what their doctor or nurse says, because if they've seen a squint, there usually is one, even if it's intermittent. And if it's intermittent, of course it woudln't show up for the nurse, that's sod's law!