Squint?? Reassurance required please!

[Flossam]

Ok, I have convinced myself that DS has a squint, going to pop him along to the HV on Monday - which is something in itself as I haven't seen one for about 5 months! But I'm worried about what it will mean if he does? Do they still wear patches? Glasses? Other treatments? Also, I'm sure when DS was first born and the HV took over our care she was concerned that SIL had a squint as a child. I thought that must mean that it is genetic, but MIL says not - didn't want to cause a scene and make it look like I am laying blame but am I right?? As you can tell - I know nothing about squints and am getting myself in a bit of a lather worrying about it.

My daughter is longsighted, has an astigmatism and a squint in one eye. She needed patching when about 3 1/2 for 18 months or so but now wears glasses all the time. No patching during school hours. She's lost without her glasses and looks great with them. You do need to get it seen to since the eye will become lazy and, as already said, effectively blind. She doesn't squint with her glasses on and, as far as I know, has never been teased in school about it - there are lots more kids with glasses now.

An op isn't always suitable (not for my daughter's squint) but you do need to get the strength up in teh weak eye because, as teh optomologist told me, if she were ever to lose the good eye (I know, horrid thought) or vision deteriorate in it, she wouldn't be able to drive, for instance.

Your little one might not need glasses but they're really not the worst thing in the world. And they'll use contacts when they're older. Oh and doesn't seem to be genetic in her case. Just one of those things.

My dd (3 today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) wears glasses and a patch for a lazy eye and she looks really cute. They were a problem as she was prescirbed them when she was about 6 months and she just wouldn't wear them, she's not so bad now though and she likes wearing her patch.

My ds aged 3.9 years has just got glasses in the last couple of weeks and taken to them like a duck to water. He did have a squint at 6 months and we were referred on to a specialist, though after 3 or 4 appointments over a year or so nothing came of it, it turned out to be a developmental thing that did just disappear, hopefully Flossam your DS will be the same.

However completely non connected he does have long sight in both eyes and they are not sure whether one eye is lazy or if he has infact got a micro-squint which means the light doesn't land bang in the centre of the retina and is slightly off so he will never actually see in true 3D, this is permanant thing, hopefully it will turn out to be a lazy eye. (You see Flossam how bizarre, I am now wanting him to have a lazy eye and patches!) We find out if his eye hasn't improved sightwise in 6 weeks. Anyway can anyone give me more info on the micro-squint?

Thanks everyone. I have chilled out a bit today and I'll take him to the HV or doctor either tomorrow or tues. Sorry Furball, I know nothing about micro squint, but hopefully this might bump it up for those that do! I hope that it is just a lazy eye for you DS.

Don't know if this will help at all, but my HV thought that my dd1 had a squint at her 9 month check-up. We hadn't really noticed it, but we duly took her to see the dr, who said that it was just that she had a very broad epicanthus (sp?) - the space between her eyes... I know, we'd never heard it called that before either! - and her eyes were moving in synch, but just sometimes LOOKED as if they weren't because her eyes were so wide-set. (Hope that doesn't make my dd sound deformed - she's very very beautiful, honest .)

Flossam... I have worn glasses all my life for very bad short-sight and astigmatism, and have never been bullied about it. I did have some particularly naff blue plastic ones in the 1970s for which my parents/the optician who sold them to them should have been shot... but my parents, bless 'em, have always been a bit of a style-free zone! If your ds does need specs, I'm sure you'll avoid the Dame Edna look...

Good luck with getting it checked out, anyway.

Message withdrawn

Well we've seen HV, she didn't so much as glance at him though, just reffered us for a vision screen. So my mind is no more at rest!! Never mind, maybe it won't be a lifetime wait for the appointment?!!

Flossam, how old is your DS? Most high street opticians will test children from being around 2.5-3. Some are also able to do optometry tests, which are what you get at a hospital referral.Ask around at a parent and toddler group.

My dd1 has had a squint from being about 15mth old- one day it just appeared. Her left eyeball just totally turned into her head, so all you could see was the white part! It still does if takes her glasses off.

You may or may not need to go down the patching route- it all depends on why the squint has occured. For my dd, it's because she has a large degree of astigmatism and is severely long sighted, so patching for us wouldn't have had any effect. Having said that, when she wears her glasses there is very little trace of any problems, so much so we have difficuly getting her teachers to recognise she has some special needs.

I felt very similar to you, in that I didn't initially want to put glasses on her face, particularly after bad childhood experiences myself, but I'll never forget the first time she put her glasses on, looked at me, and said "oh, *hello!". It brings tears to my eyes even now.

HTH, feel free to cat me if you want to.

You do need to get it checked out as if it isn't detected and sorted the eye will become lazy and the brain switches off from it. The experts say before the age of 4 otherwise its too late. I know it sounds a long way off but it isn't as the treatment can take ages. My ds1 was diagnosed before his first birthday. He was considered too young for glasses by the consultant and as the squint was quite bad an operation was needed. He was patched for a few months a couple of hours a day which was fine, then he had the operation. We then moved to another part of the country (this was london) and saw another consultant. ds1 was now 2. We were told he was badly long sighted in one eye and needed glasses. He had to wear them for a while until it was established this was not correcting the squint. He has now been patched on and off for about 5 months. He is having another operation in the summer and will then wear glasses probably through primary school. His squint will be corrected and his eye shouldn't be lazy due to the patching reminding his brain about the eye. He will need checking until the age of 7 to make sure his lazy eye hasn't regressed and if it has he will be patched intensively for a week to bring it back up to speed. ds1 is now 3 and a half so you can see how long the process has taken. We should be okay and I have a lot of faith in our consultant now but you need to be on the ball as the information surrounding squints is complicated and contradictory and its easy to feel totally lost within it all! Incidentally, I was told too it might be due to the forceps, although I never heard this before giving birth that it might be a complication of forceps. Please don't worry about the glasses. I remember crying in Sainsburys (I was pregnant with ds2 at the time!) at the thought, and my little boy looks absolutely gorgeous in them and has never bothered about them at all. He even wants to sleep in them which shows how much they have improved his vision - that is the most important thing.

Oh, thanks so much you two for your lovely long replies and reassurance. DS is just six months, so too young for the high street testing. Fingers crossed the wait won't be too long. Other people think I am talking absolute rubbish about him mind, so maybe it is me with the problem; paranoid annoying mother syndrome!

I agree with BC. I think the key to it if your ds does need glasses is to take as long choosing them as you would for yourself, and look in as many shops as possible. I've found that specsavers are pretty good. We now see dd1's glasses as a pretty disposable fashion item now, as she rarely has a pair for more than 3 months. The other thing is not to be too swayed by what assistants think, and choose a frame using the same guidlines as for adults concerning face shapes etc.

DD1 looks amazing in her glasses, so much so she doesn't really look like my baby without them!In fact, I don't actually like how she looks ( I know, it's terrible and I'm a bad mother!)without them! I hope she never decides to have laser surgery

I know what you mean about annoying paranoid mother syndrome. When dd2 was squinting at 6months, we got a referral for her. It was decided she most likely had a latent type of squint, which would either become more apparent like Erin's, or would disappear when she was older. It didn't help that it was very fleeting, and no one other than dh and I ever saw it. Happily, she is noe 3.5 and has no visual issues at all.

Blimey, I've written another epic! Feel free to ignore my prattling, I just remember the feelings I had when we were going through it with DD1. I wish MN was around then!

Floss, dont worry about it. Ds1 had a terrible squint for ages and I thought he would need glasses etc but it suddenly rectified itself and now he is fine.

DS2 hasnt got one at all.