7 Month Old Son Seems to Have Lazy Eyes

Updated on November 29, 2007
A.B. asks from Port Charlotte, FL
16 answers

my 7 month old son seems to have lazy eyes and i am not sure what to do when he was smaller i had mentioned it to the doctor and she had told me not to worry about until he got to be 4 months. has anyone else gone through this what are the options? i feel like i did something wrong.

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B.B.

answers from Sarasota on

It's not uncommon for a baby to have a lazy eye and it is easily treated. Find an opthomologist who specializes in children for a difinitive diagnosis and treatment.

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J.C.

answers from Tampa on

My daughter had the same thing (lazy eye, crossed eyes) and I work at St. Lukes too-awesome place but currently they don't have a pediatric doctor. They referred me to Dr. Homsy on McMullen Booth road, she's been wonderful, my daughter is far sighted and they gave her glasses to help correct it. They said if we didn't catch it before age six then it would have been permanent.

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J.I.

answers from Fort Myers on

My son also had a lazy eye, but only when tired. I too mentioned it to the doc who told me not to worry about it. As time went on & he got older the eye was more noticable. I DID take him to a Ped. Ophthalmologist. My so who is 2 years old, I found out was EXTREMLY far sighted!!!! I always wondered why he would trip over things, fall down a lot, but now I know. The doc. perscribed glasses & now my son can see the world. What a BIG difference. I know your son is young, but as a precaution you might want to see a Ped. Ophthalmologist. I am not sure where your located, but in Lee County there is ONLY ONE!!!!! Good luck too you & your family.

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S.B.

answers from Tampa on

You have done nothing wrong. This happens. I had this when i was young. I had the patch over my eye and i had to have the corrective surgery because of how bad mine was. My dr that i went to is Dr Bruce Hess by all children's hospital in St. Pete. I have talen my daughter to him to. He is wonderful with kids, He makes them feel comfortable and he will explain everything to you. He has a son that is in practice with him as well. Everything will work out for you. i say take him and get an opinion. I think he will grow out of it. Nothing to worry about at all.

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B.G.

answers from Ocala on

you did nothing wrong lazy eyes are loose eye muscles, take him to an eye dr that takes children they will put him in prism glasses to start correcting the problem, my best friends son had a lazy eye and they did that instead of the patch, if its too bad they may do surgery to tighten the eye muscles but i believe they try to get them to tighten on their own before going to surgery, my daughter is the other end of the spectrum with one of her eyes crossing in i had the same broblem when i was young just started and when the school board did the screenings they did it twice and her r eye was 20/50 and the l was 20/35 its her r eye that wants to cross.after the vision corrects on crossed eyes if its a specialist they will have me do the same excersises as i had to do 2 pencils and make the muscles stretch by following them the hard part is when the pencils meet in the middle you jerk the apart forcing the eyes to follow the pencil, kinda hurts at first but it does stretch the eye muscles without surgery, this is my autistic daughter so this is gonna be fun.

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M.H.

answers from Sarasota on

Get him to a pediatric opthamologist immediately. There is nothing you could have done to prevent this, but take care of it early. Most people don't think of taking their children to the eye Dr. at such a young age, but it is a great thing to do. My son has been seeing his since he was 3 months old (he had a birthmark under his eye we were worried about). His problems have cleared up, but we still take him once a year for annual check up. Your son's problem can be corrected if you start soon. So go get a referal! Find someone who specializes in pediatrics and is a board certified opthamologist.

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D.J.

answers from Jacksonville on

A., you did nothing wrong! I also had the problem when I was young and then my daughter did also. You must take him to a pediatric opthomologist(?) as soon as possible especially since both eyes are affected. Call his pediatrician to get referrals for the best in town. Our doctors patched our good eyes so it made the muscles in our lazy ones stronger. It does help and then glasses will be needed, but I don't think that will be offered yet at his age. I taught in a special needs school for several years and while in my two year old class many little ones had eye problems and they wore glasses. I didn't have a problem with them taking the glasses off at that age probably because the earlier introduced the easier it was for then to get accustomed to. It is very important for them to see well so they can learn as easy as possible. Some of them wore head straps behind the head to keep the glasses on, and buy the typical kid frames that will keep their glasses on.

There is an old wives tale that says to pierce ears to help with lazy eyes for girls (for others out there who have daughters). When I had mine pierced at age 11 it worked. Back in the 70's it didn't make sense, but now we all know about accupuncture. I had my daughter's pierced at age 5 and it helped her also. She no longer likes to wear earrings and her eyes have weakened, so that proved the point. Good luck to you and your son.

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K.W.

answers from Pensacola on

No you didnt do anything wrong things like that just happen My daughter has seizures and we dont know why she has them! Dont worry darlin the baby will be fine take him to an eye doctor! That is what your pediatric dr should have said!

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T.J.

answers from Jacksonville on

A., you're doing such a good job! I was a stay at home Mom w/four 'stairstep' children and often wondered about my parenting abilities. Now I'm a grandmother of eight and realize I did my very best. Know your son will be fine. I had a 'lazy eye' when I was a child and remember being treated (w/a patch)at the age of about 6 or 7. You're wise to be attentive to such things when your babies are young. If you have good docs, you can trust their guidance and follow up as they think necessary. Blessings on you and your family.

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E.T.

answers from Tampa on

My son had the same problem. He is now 16, but when he was a baby the eye dr had me patch his eyes. He didn't like it much but he got used to it. The patches were put on the oposite eye to help strengthen the muscles of the lazy eye. It did seem to help some. Now when he gets tired or excited his eye wanders a bit. The doctors wanted to do surgury to shorten the muscles of the lazy eye, but I lost my medical soon after so we never did the surgury. You can ask the eye doctors for some excercises you can do with your son to help strengthen the muscles. Good Luck hope this helps.

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T.M.

answers from Memphis on

My sisters son had a lazy eye. The doctor put a patch over the strong eye and the lazy eye got better. I am not sure how old he was when they did that. He had to get glasses.

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S.C.

answers from Sarasota on

At 3 months old I took my son to see a peadiatric opthalmologist because he didn't seem to be tracking properly. The doctor told me it was unlikely my son would ever see properly, he had a condition called optic nerve hypoplasia, and he needed an MRI to rule out any other more dangerous conditions. I decided to get a 2cnd opinion, but the only other peadiatric opthalmologist in the area was over an hours drive away, there aren't a lot of 'baby eye doctors'. But I am glad I did. My son just had his follow up appointment with the second doctor, and I was told that there is nothing wrong with his vision, he just has a small optic nerve. While I regret having put my son through the MRI, and all of the tests, it also lifted a weight from me. So, if you're worried, get it checked out.I very strongly reccommend Dr Hess at Tampa's All Childrens Hospital.

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J.B.

answers from Tampa on

The St Lukes Cataract and Lsser Institute in Tarpon Springs has a doctor that could possibly help your son. Their phone number is: ###-###-#### and find out if they take his insurance and maybe set up an appointment.

I used to work there and have had 4 eye surgeries and several laserings done. The doctors are wonderful and very kind and friendly.

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T.F.

answers from San Francisco on

First of all it's not your fault if he does have a lazy eye - so stop being so h*** o* yourself. I would ask for a referral to a pediatric eye doctor if you don't feel your pediatrician is being proactive enough. I know a little girl that is wearing a patch and she will do daily exercises on both eyes once she is able to understand the directions. There doesn't seem to be a problem with her vision but they will know more later. She's a bit older than your son though. Again, don't blame yourself just get him looked at. Good luck!

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S.S.

answers from Tampa on

I think they asked me to wait till 4 years .. so the nose bridge or whatever it is called, grows. I was also worried and went 3 times to the eye specialist, but she said my son does not have lazy eyes .. it looks that way because of the bridge and FAT on the nose .. not equally distributed .. I guess.. He is 5 year old now .... so you have to wait until the baby is older and then get it checked .. he might be fine
Take care

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V.W.

answers from Orlando on

Morning A., My son Andrew now 13 had strabismus, he had surgery at the age of 4 months. He too had a lazy eye, he also had really bad eye sight (AT 4 MONTHS). I had taken him to a pediatric opthamologist it is amazing how they can do what they do. my son did have to wear glasses as well with the lazy eye. we caught it in time. he wore glasses and a patch on the good eye for about two years half a day on and a half a day off. so you need to see a doctor now. if you nip it in the butt now you will be fine. I am not saying you would even have to do any of this but if you wait it is irreversible. I'd be safe than sorry.. by the way he wore glasses till kindergarden and now just has blue blue blue eyes. Please just go and put yourself at ease and check i out..

hugs
V.

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