Referal to hospital for squint in 2yr old -

[Milkmade]

Anyone able to tell me what I should expect? I've been on NHS direct, and all they can say is that correction and treatment work best if it's caught young - am panicking that I've been really unobservant and casued long term problems by leaving it until she's 2 1/2 to get it sorted. I noticed she was squiting a bit round christmas, but thought it was becasue her hair kept getting in her eys, so only started sorting it out now. It doesn't help that dh took her to the docs this morning to get the referral, and trying to find out exactly what the GP said seems to be blood out of a stone territory. I know that compared to what some people go through this is minor, but I hate the thought of her having to have eye surgery.

2.5 is fine, and actually still quite young to start treatment. Usually they start with patching first, plus eye exercises, then surgery is only offered much later normally.

It may be that your dd doesn't even actually squint - my DS looks like he does, but it's just the shape of his nose. I however, have a minging squint still after two sets of surgery, but it's totally unnoticable as my glasses correct it

eye surgery is a last resort. DD was 18 months when I noticed her squinting. She wasw referred through the hv to the orthoptist at the hospital and turned out to be long sighted with a lazy left eye (it had poorer eyesight). She was prescribed glasses and had to do patching for a while. The patch is put over the good eye to make the 'bad' eye work harder. Eventually the eyesight was more or less equal and she no longer needed the patch. She will always need glasses for her long-sightedness though. She did end up with an eye op at the age of 4 but only because her squint was still noticeable while wearing her glasses. The op improved the look of the squint. They have up till the age of 7/8 to sort out eye problems so you have caught it early enough for treatment to be effective so dont worry too much.

You can relax! Your DD will, in all probability, be prescribed corrective glasses for long sight which she will need to wear all the time, and that will be it.

Relax. Ds was referred for a squint at about 2ish but now its corrected itself.

My nephew has a noticeable squint and got glasses aged 3 - no surgery.

We noticed a (marked) squint in one eye in my DD just before her 2nd birthday. She is very long sighted (now 11 and it has got slightly 'better' as her eyes have got a bit bigger). She will always be longsighted - this is probably the 'worst' thing that they might discover in your DD - but she will be able to wear contact lenses when she's older and it really isn't a big deal anymore - at her age some of her friends are now being diagnosed with short sight and starting to wear glasses. Yes, I cried at first and it was a struggle to get her to keep the glasses on, but it all worked out.

Moreover, as others have said, it might be something which can be corrected with patches or filters (kind of a patch on a glasses lens - you can't even notice it) or if necessary surgery. (What in the old days used to be called a 'lazy eye' though I'm sure that is not the correct terminology now) And again, as others have said, you have caught it well, well in time.

Milkmaid -
Agree with others that you've caught it nice and early. Also with the glasses/longsightedness/patching.
The only bad thing I can remember about my DS treatment was the "stingy eye drops" which he had about 4 times in 3 or 4 yrs of eye hospital treatment.
We always knew when these were due because we had two different appointments (different departments) within an hour of each other.
DS just wears glasses now - no surgery needed, and his squint was so bad his eye had shut down completly. As others, he'll always wear glasses, but thats ok.
Oh - does the eye turn inwards or outwards?

Hi - this is my first post to this site - but felt I had to respond as my son had a squint as well - first noticed at 3, we went through the patching but still wasn't correcting so he did have surgery when he was 4.
I was really dreading it but it was all really straight forward - it was done in day surgery so we were in and out in the same day and the next day he was up running about as usual - did not seem to be in any pain at all just found his eyes a bit itchy at times over the next couple of days.
Also his eyes were sensitive to the light the day after as well but just put sunglasses on him and he was fine!
And the squint is now completly gone - so try not to worry - you have plenty of time to get this sorted and there is lots they can do.

as others have said, the most likely outcome will be glasses. it's my understanding that in children, often the first sign they have vision problems is the appearance of a squint (dd's arrived suddenly one saturday morning when she was 18 months old). this happens usually because they have one eye that works better than the other. the brain stops using the weaker eye, relaxes the muscles, and the eye drifts, hence the squint.

glasses even out the vision, and make the brain use both eyes equally, and corrects the squint.

don't worry about it, if she does indeed need glasses, there are loads of cute frames now. it's a shock when you first find out, i have to admit, i cried on the way to the optician. but dd is now 8, will always need glasses as she is very severely long sighted. we've done patching, which was successful, and did help her weak eye. now, we don't even notice she's wearing them, they are just a part of her and she feels she looks odd without them.

I thought my DS had one when he was a baby as in all his photos his eye was looking inwards. It has corrected itself but I tild my HV and she referred me to the eye infirmery straight away. They were great and I had a follow up appointment a year later and we are having another one this year just to make sure.

Speak to your HV, they probably get this a lot.

oh milkmaid - I cried as well as my perfect DS was no longer 'perfect'. Oh course he is back to my perfect boy now - complete with glasses (and sports goggles and prescription swimming goggles!)
We got completely bamboozeled(sp?) by all the information we received at the eye hosp, but just don't panic. Take a pen and paper along with you and write key words/phrases they say to you! Look them up on google when you get home!!
Let us know how you get on - there's loads of us on here how've been through this to support you!

Thanks everyone. It's really helpful to get so many experiences. We've recently moved so I'm negotiating a new healthcare system as well as the eye thing itself, which is also probably adding to my feeling a little stressed. Not quite sure when it developed - nothing was noticed at her two year old check-up, but when we took her in to the GP here to register, he picked up on it straight away hence the referral.

Stop saying mum - the right eye drifts inwards.

Well we've now got our hospital appointment date - they can see her in two weeks time which is great,in terms of not having this hanging over us. Apparently it will take around two hours. Thanks again for everyones' responses, they've been really informative and reassuring.

stopsayingmum - you and me both!

milkmade - you have caught this quite early, try not to worry, it will be fine. Three years in and we are goggled up to the hilt etc, but it's just become normal part of life, is not an issue now and DS (5.5 yrs) eye strength is nearly equal in both eyes which is the best result we could expect. the care we have had from the consultant (cambridge) has been fantastic.

dd had her 21 month check and everything was fine with her eys but within 3 weeks she had developed a squint. She had glasses which helped but did not completely correct the squint so she had an op when she was about 2 1/2. She is now 17 and still wearing glasses and her eyes are straight unless she is tired.

Milkmade - it will take around two hours because they will do various tests and you will see various people (probably ending up with 'The Main Man' (or indeed Woman!) consultant, who should have a chat with you and tell you exactly what they think and what's planned in terms of glasses/patches/whatever. One of the tests will almost certainly involve the drops being put in, then a short wait and then an eye test - mine didn't like this at first but its ok. Oh - and given her age they might well have pictures eg 'a cat' instead of letters on the sight boards. But they are obviously used to toddlers. If they direct you straight to an in-house dispensing opticians (as at Moorfields) prepare for another short wait. It can be a bit of a long morning or afternoon - and remember that for some reason every hospital is heated like a sauna - but it's worth it.

Bellisima, they are indeed obviously used to toddlers - when the appointment was made the receptionist asked about her ususal nap times - as she said, trying to get a tired and grumpy 2 year old to tell you if they can see pictures on a board etc is obviously going to be a bit of a non-starter...

My son has been wearing glasses for 2 years, he is now 7 and squint is getting worse optician says they won't refer him for an operation although starting to effect his confidence as his friends are asking why one of his eyes are different. What can i do?