Anyone Have Experience with 'Lazy Eye'?

My daughter sees a pediatric eye doctor who takes awhile to get into for a appointment but he caught several problems my daughter's regular doctor missed. If it is a lazy eye the earlier you treat it the better they can help it and maybe fix it permanately. My daughter doesn't wear glasses but we are keeping a close eye on several things and going back every 6mos. to recheck her vision. They are very thourough and excellant at detecting problems. We go to the Park Nicollet Clinic in Burnsville's eye dept. My daughter's problems are not major or noticable but I had my mommy instinct tell me something just wasn't right and so we went for the heck of it. And it turned out she has 3 things wrong they are keeping a eye on and if it stays the same or get's better she's good to go but if it gets any worse they'll put her in glasses. I guess kids grow out of alot of things but sometimes they don't. My daughter's eyes have a possibility of going cross eyed because each eye has a different vision and so far they are getting better and correcting themselves but if it got worse she would be cross eyed. So I would make a appointment it doesn't hurt.

A.,
Hello! I have a lazy eye myself, and was very paranoid my children would have it. My daughter was fine, but my son had what i thought was a lazy eye, and because I had it my doctor referred me to an eye doctor who looked him over (he was about 6 months at the time, and basically said she wouldnt really be able to tell if what he had was permanent until he was one year, because his eyes were changing so much the first year. she said it was probably nothing, and now he is two, and sure enough, it was nothing.
However- it felt better for me to bring him in. what I did- I searched my photo's to find a pic of him with what I thought was the lazy eye and brought it with me to the doctor. that helped me get a refferal...

(and, just in case it is a lazy eye, they have tons and tons of things they can do now that corrects it!)

I would just take her to a eye specailist for children. Its your childs eyes and if theres nothing you can do well then at least you know that you tried to do something rather then waiting to long and not being able to correct the problem. My daughter had lazy eye when she was 2-3years old she has surgery and had it corrected.

Hi A.,
I would suggest you schedule an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist. My daughter is 9 months old and has crossed eyes and has Congential Ptosis (drooping of the eye lids). She can only open her eyes about half way. Her pediatrian is wondering and referred us to great doctors who specialize in the eyes. We first started seeing a general ophthalmologist but then switched to a pediactric specialist. She is much better in dealing with small children. She is also seeing a Platic Surgeon for the Ptosis.

My daughter is having surgery Dec 22 for her crossed eyes and will probably have the surgery for her Ptosis when she is 3 years old. The whole thing is frightening and stressful, but hopefully everything will be corrected soon and we can get back to enjoying life.

I hope the doctor(s) you select will be as wonderful and will help you through the diagnosis and treatment options.

I myself have a slightly lazy-eye. My grandfather has it, 5 out of 7 of his children, and one grandchild in each family, including myself. For us it seems to be genetic. My first born does not have it. It varies in how severe it looks from person to person but has not caused any sight or other problems with any of us if that is what you're worried about. I agree with your doctor.

what can i say that the rest havent covered yet. if you can afford it bring her into an eye doctor. i had my lazy eye corrected when i was in high school. it has worked for the last 15 years.

My son is going to have his "Lazy eyes" corrected here soon. Actually there is a really good pediatric eye doctor in Maple Grove, she works at Northwest Eye Clinic - her name is Dr. P (she has a very long and hard to pronounce last name) she is great, I just took my twin daughters to see her because I was concerned about their eyes and she takes the time to listen to all of my concerns. Very nice Dr. Great with the kids.

HELLO A.,
MY DAUGHTER HAD WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT WHEN SHE WAS BORN AND ON AND OFF ESPECIALLY WHEN SHE WAS TIRED AND I ASKED HER DOCTOR ABOUT IT AND HE SAID IT IS NOT A LAZY EYE BECAUSE A LAZY EYE ACTUALLY HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE PUPIL SWAYING AND HER EYE DID NOT DO THAT. HER EYE DROOPED LIKE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. IF I CAN REMEMBER BECAUSE SHE IS NOW 15 YEARS OLD, HE SAID IT COULD BE HEREDITY AND HE WAS RIGHT BECAUSE I ALSO HAVE IT IN ONE OF MY EYES AND WHEN YOUR CHILD GETS OLDER IT GETS LESS NOTICABLE AS THEIR FACE GETS BIGGER. YOU CAN HAVE YOUR CHILD WHERE A PATCH ON THE GOOD EYE TO MAKE THEIR WEAKER EYE STRONGER. MY GIRLFRIENDS CHILD HAS THE SAME THING AND SHE SAID SHE TOOK HIM TO A CHIROPRACTOR AND HAD HIS NECK ADJUSTED AND SWEARS THAT IT HELPED HIS EYE. HE IS 4 YEARS OLD. I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING AND MY FIFTEEN YEAR OLD IS FINE.
J.

My son is 3 years old and I have been having his eye evaluated by a pediatric opthamologist since he was 1 year. They have certain tools that allow them to induce involuntary movement so they can detect if the eye truly is "floating".

I encourage you to have your daughter evaluated as soon as possible because the earlier they catch it the better it is treated. The tendency for this condition is also familial (did a relative have this as a child?, my son's uncle had it)

Best of luck to you, I hope this helps. I also strongly suggest the opthamologist is a pediatric specialist.

Definitely have her checked out. I worked for an ophthalmologist practice for 7 years in Edina and it's imperative probelms be diagnosed early. I worked for www.ophpa.com, who are a wonderful staff of ophthalmologists. I would also recommend Dr. Paul Bruer who used to work for the practice but broke off on his own. I believe he is in Edina. They did refer a lot of kids to the U of M so maybe you should start there.
Good luck,
C.

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say her eye "droops" if it's her eyelid that droops, but the eye stays in alignment with the other, I don't know what would cause that. But if her actual eye is drifting when tired, definitely get to a pediactric othomologist. Two of my four daughters have this condition. If caught before age 4, they can do wonders with glasses, patching and exercises. If caught after 5, the brain has set the eyes and decided to rely on the strong eye. Even surgery won't correct the vision in the weak eye. The surgery helped my older daughter keep her weak eye in alignement for about a year, but it's drifts again if she's tired or hasn't been wearing her contacts. My younger daughter is 6 and just now diagnosed...so, there is little we can do. I am kicking myself for not really noticing it before the school did their annual eye exams and told me to get her to an eye doc promptly! Poor thing, her eye sight was TERRIBLE! Ok, I'm rambling on now...but like others have advised, get refered to an opthomologist :)

My son has lazy eye in his right eye but what you are describing does not sound like lazy eye to me. My son who is 17 months old now has had the problem since he was around 10 months old. We took him to a pediatric eye doctor who said he has severe far sightedness and was straining his vision and had developed a lazy eye do to the straining. The eye crosses. So he got glasses and special drops in the good eye to blur his vision so he would work the lazy eye better. Patches are used too. It is hard to make him wear the glasses. If I was you I would tell my doctor you want your child seen by a pediatric eye doctor and do not take no for an answer. Mothers are usually right when we suspect something is wrong. Good luck.

Good Morning A.~

I have a two year old daughter and she has been diagnosed with strabismus. I don't know if it is actually called lazy eye, however when she is tired her eye seems to float off. We have been seeing a doctor since she has been six months old. The doctor tried patching her strong eye, but I am sure you can imagine how unproductive that was with her; all she did was pull it off. The doctor since has just kept us on an every six month checkup. My daughter does not seem to have this all the time it is usually just when she is tired or daydreaming. The doctor said that she thinks the should strengthen on it's own, but if it does not she will have to have surgery. I am not a big fan of the surgery word, although if it will help her out in the long run I guess that is what we will do.
Just stay on top of this and make sure to get second opinions if the doctor would like to do surgery down the road. I wish you and Charlotte the best. I am sure everything will turn out.
God Speed

Mya and Mommy

A little about me:
I am a SAHM of two; daughter two years old and son seven months old. My husband and I can't imagine life without the little ones! Family life is GREAT:)

My son is 3 and has worn glasses since he was 10 months old. We noticed that one of his eyes wandered to the corner of his eye, especially when he was tired. He was diagnosed as being far-sighted and he's worn glasses ever since, which has helped. I would recommend a pediatric ophthamologist if you possibly can. We took him to a regular ophthamologist at first and while the diagnosis was good, the pediatric docs just make the whole process much easier - they have the toys, the attitude, the understanding. Also, Glasses Menagerie in Uptown Mpls (on Hennepin, near 32nd Ave, I think) has a fabulous selection of glasses for even the tiniest kids and they are wonderful with the children. The replacement policy is great and they'll adjust glasses enytime they need them.

Absolutly take her in to an eye doc, pediatric. Dr Bothun at the U of M is who I take my daughter to and I love him! She does not see him for "lazy eye" but yes I would at least get an opinion.