Lazy Eye in a Baby

Definitely talk to the doctor so they can keep an eye on it. My son also had a lazy eye when he would look in a certain direction. It went away when he was around 10 months.

My son had lazy eye and the pediatrician noticed it at his 6 month check up. I also had lazy eye as a baby. I had one surgey and also the patching. My son has had 3 surgeries and also had tto go through the patching. The first surgery he was 10 months old, the second he was 11 months old and the third he was two years old. He now has to see the pediatric opthalmologist once a year. My sons eye still goes out when he is tired and not focusing. The earlier you catch it the better. Only the doctor could tell you for sure and I would ask at the check-up. It may be too early to tell now. Good luck.

Hi P. - the good news is that ALL babies get free eye exams before their 1st birthday. I don't have the website or 800# handy at the moment b/c my 3 yr old is climbing all over me. Your pediatrician will have it or you can call your eye doctor for the information. OR - please email me to remind me to look up the details for you... ____@____.com sorry I can't give it to you now... my son is climbing all over me! M.

my 2 year old had a lazy eye at that age. The doctor noticed it at the 4 month check up by the time we were at our nect visit 6 month it has seemed to correct itself. We have no problems with his eyes at all now.

Sometimes babies can seem to have a lazy eye and it is actually just assymtry in their face. I think it's called pseudostrabismus (my spelling may be bad). So I wouldn't panice but bring it up at the next visit. There is a lot they can do to fix it.

Yes! My son had a lazy eye. My doctor said it was no big deal and he'd grow out of it, but I just didn't like that answer. I took my 22 month old son to a pediatric opthomologist and he now wears glasses and is very far-sighted. If the lazy eye goes untreated, the muscle stops working and you can lose sight in that eye. I would see what your pediatrician says, but if you're still not comfortable...follow your instinct. Good Luck, R.

Hi P.,
My daughter has a lazy eye (I have one too). We had her checked out at 18 months old. Our doc said that up to 6 months, a little wandering is normal, but after that if there are still probs you should have it checked out. If you are on an HMO plan, you should get a referral to a pediatric opthamologist. They somehow determined that my daughter is extremely far sighted in her right eye and are hoping that glasses will strengthen the eye and the laziness will go away. So far, so good. My daughter is 2 1/2 now and has had the glasses for almost a year. I personally had surgery on mine when I was 25. Hopefully my daughter will be able to avoid that. Your daughter may still just be young. See what your doctor says.

Good luck!

Definitely talk to your doctor about it. My daughter had a lazy eye up until about 5 months, then it went away. My doctor said until the eye muscles strengthens that can sometimes happen. My doctor told me to try switching sides while nursing her or giving her the bottle. She most likely looks at you when feeding so if you switch you'll work the muscles in both her eyes. Feed her on one side for a week, then switch to the other for a week. I hope the problem corrects itself. Best wishes-

My son had the exact same thing at 3-4 months old. I was so worried. I know it's not the worst thing by far...but it was still worrisome. We took him to a pediatric opthalmologist, and she found nothing wrong. She said to follow up in 6 months. Within maybe a month or 2 at the most, it was gone, and he's completely fine....haven't had a problem since. Hope this is the case for you too. I had read a lot about it at the time--patching the good eye, glasses, surgery...I'd talk to your ped, and then make an appt. with an opthalmologist just to give you peace of mind. Good luck.

None of my children have a lazy eye, but I was born with lazy eye. I had to wear a patch over one eye for a while to try and strengthen the lazy eye, but eventually I needed surgery. I believe that if surgery is required, it has to be done fairly early on to better your chances of it being corrected and I had surgery when I was in the first grade. I am 29 and my eyes are just fine. The doctor that did the surgery is actually still in practice, I haven't seen her in more than 20 years, but if you ever decide to see an eye doctor and need a referal, let me know. Best wishes

Hi P., Mu daughter, now 6 has a lazy eye, left eye. She had surgery almost 2 years ago on it and it has gotten better although without her glasses it does still turn in. However, her vision has imporoved dramatically in that eye. Her Opthamologist(?) is wonderful. She was first seen around 22 months. Her name is Dr. Kimberly Curnyn. Her office is out of Elk Grove and Arlington Hts. Babies eye muscles do take time to develope, so this may also be the case. Best of Luck to you.

R.

We noticed both of our son's eyes were not tracking correctly when he was around 1 year old. We took him to the eye doctor who stated the muscle in his eyes weren't strong but as he got older, they would become stronger. Well, when he was 9, we took him to an eye surgeon and they ended up doing eye surgery. It was done as an outpatient surgery, came home a few hours later. What they did was cut the muscle and pulled it back and reattached it. Now he is a healthy almost 13 year old! Blessings, D.

Hi P.,
We didn't really catch this until our first daughter was 12 months. Long story short, she ended up having 2 laser surgeries on her right eye. Turned out there was a problem with her retina. The first surgery was due to bleeding and the second due to fluid. At this point, she has no vision in her right eye. This may not be your baby's case but since you're noticing it now, look into it now.

~M

Depending on what your insurance is, you may want to call the Chicago School of Optometry. They have a really good pediatric unit there. Its in the city, but its a great facility and the staff are wonderful.