Eye Turning Inward. Is it Normal?

[EMC2022]

Hi all

Recently noticed my 10 month olds eye turns inward in photos. I don't seem to notice it too much in real life but that might be because he doesn't stay still for very long.

Has anyone had experience with this. Is it normal and it will fix itself with age or is it something that needs correcting?

Definitely something that I’d get addressed. Speak to your gp or health visitor and they should be able to refer you.

I would definitely go to the GP, there's treatment to fix this. I wouldn't leave it.

Your baby is gorgeous btw!

Definitely see GP or health visitor for a referral to ophthalmology.
They can't always be rectified but they'll give it a damn good try.

You don't always need to go through your GP or HV. If any your local opticians provide paediatric shared care services with your NHS trust you can make an appointment directly with them and if needed they can do the referral. It's often much quicker this way.

Yes I would definitely get this checked out. Though my nephew had a similar look in photos and had it checked but no issues - it’s just the way his face is put together (one of his parents looks similar). But would still get it checked through optician sooner than later as PP have said.

Also agree baby extremely cute!

I would take him to your local large opticians branch (ie Specsavers), as soon as you can. As a parent whose children all are long sighted, this is how it presented in my youngest child. It is her weak eye and started turning inwards. Patching and glasses fixed it a treat! (They patch the “good eye” and make the inward turning eye work harder to fix itself.
It isn’t half as awful as it sounds btw. You’re better to catch it early.

It needs checking out, but some babies just look like their eyes aren't straight, its just the shape of their nose. My ds was seen a few times as a baby and toddler by the orthoptists as he looked like that, and I have a severe squint so they were extra careful.

We noticed a turn like that with ds2 when he was teeny. By 8 months he and his twin sibling had glasses for their squints. Dd1 had them from 2.

Health visitor will refer to ophthalmology, which at this age will be the hospital. Better to catch it while they're young as there's lots that can be done, and it's easier when they're little. Both dd's had patching for theirs. Ds2 had to have a op as his was more severe.

I remember my daughter’s eyes looked similar. After being fobbed off by a truly atrocious GP who told me to take her to a high street optician (needless to say, high street opticians don’t deal with babies or anyone who can’t read letters off a board 🤣) I got a hospital orthoptist referral.

It was a pseudo-squint. In other words, due to the shape of baby faces and the relative flatness/broadness of their nasal bridge, it gives the look of a squint when their eyes are, in fact, both looking straight ahead.

Looking at your photo, I think that’s what I can see. Look at the pupils: both seem to be pointing in the same direction to me.

It’s still worth getting checked out, but I wouldn’t worry too much.

https://www.moorfields.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/Pseudo-squint%20%28for%20parents%29.pdf

Hi all. Thank you for all the advice. We actually have a HV appointment next week so I will make sure to bring it up and hopefully get a referral.

@Jellycats4life thank you so much for the link. I was actually looking at him from a height (him on ground looking down and me on sofa) and I did actually notice a fold of skin on the inside of his left eye. Hopefully it is as simple as that because I cannot imagine keeping glasses on him. He is a boisterous boy 😅

I’m glad I could reassure you a bit. You’ll have to rule out a squint, but I don’t think it is 🤞

I think I have so many pics like this of my kids around the same age! Definitely mention it though.

I'm not in the least bit broody but those eyes made me smile and think I'd do it again
😍 (I won't but...)

I've just remembered saying to a friend they'll level out soon as dd stared cross eyed at her. That was around the same age!

My son has similar. As others have said I called HV and they got me an ophthalmology appointment. They have told me what it is although it had a long name and I can't remember off the top of my head but basically it doesn't affect his eye sight. The only thing is that he probably won't get the full effect of 3d movies. DS gets sent an appointment every 6 months to get it checked where they measure to see if it's adjusting itself as it can do (so far it doesn't seem to be). Every couple of appointments they also do an eye test too. They've said that when his nose is fully developed they can snip a couple of muscles at the edge of his eye to sort out the cosmetic appearance. They say it's a very straightforward day surgery.

Judging by the other responses on this thread I would definitely get it checked as there could be a number of different causes.

Just wanted to update my post in case anyone else has the same worry and finds this post in the future. I went to HV and she believes it is a pseudo squint as suggested by a previous poster.

The test was to shine a light and see if it reflected off the same point in the pupil on both eyes.

You can see in the picture in my original post there is a light reflection in his eye and although the eyes look out of line the light is still reflecting off the same point in his pupils.

Thanks to everyone again for the advice!

Do not ignore this. It is well known that a "squint" can be diagnosed from a photograph, especially a flash one as the light dot appears in a different place in each eye.

We had exactly this situation with my DD and she had to wear glasses from very small. I was told that if we did not treat it she would lose the sight on one eye as her developing brain would suppress the input from the wonky eye and never learn to see with it. She is in her 40s now and still wears glasses.

I'd never heard of a pseudo squint! Glad all worked out ok though. I noticed similar in my son when he was about 20 months and his is due to long-sightedness - thanks to glasses his eyes both work together now, but he will always need them. They just magnify his already huge blue eyes and make him more impossibly gorgeous though. Also a boisterous lad, I worried about him keeping them on but he's brilliant with them.