My ped discovered that my DD has a dysconjugate gaze at last week's 6-month checkup. Basically, her eye's don't track together; one stays inward while the moves normally.
It's not extreme; she only noticed it when she examined her eyes with a light, but she's referred us to a pediatric optometrist just to have it checked out completely. Our appointment is in about 3 weeks.
Other than the above, my DD appears to be developing normally, hitting other milestones, growing well, etc. She can clearly see across the room, so I think her vision is good overall.
Anyone else deal with this? What was the final diagnosis/treatment? Thanks in advance.
gretazmama: My DD sounds like she's waking up from her nap, but once I get her situated I'll post my experience, then if you want you may message me privately for more info. Short story is that at 4m DD was diagnosed w/ almost the same problem as your DD.
Hmm, she got quiet...OK, here goes.
We went to a ped. opthamologist (hereafter knows as the P.O.) and he did a very thorough exam. He said she had one eye that was very near sighted and this was causing her brain to "discount" that eye and focus on the better eye which is a just a little FAR sighted. The brain ignoring the near sighted eye was what was causing the eye to wander or not track with the other. Because we caught it so early he said the best way to treat it was to have her wear glasses (yes, glasses) for a couple of months and see if that helped strengthen the eye. Giving the brain a clear (or mostly clear) image would cause it to track the eye correctly, therefore strengthening the muscles.
The other thing we had to do was go to a specialist at the hospital and have DD get a thorough exam under anesthetic. The extent that she was near-sighted was concerning to the P.O. so he wanted her to get checked for Pediatric Glaucoma. He said if she had it, it would be a mild case but he wanted to be sure. I agreed. Luckily, the specialist found the pressure in her eye to be normal, and did not see any reason for concern at this point. I have to say that the exam under general anesthetic was much more stressful for me and DH than it was for DD. She endured it all with grace and good humor, went home and slept it off like it never happened. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck the whole time she was in there. Now, The P.O. will monitor her to make sure her eye isn't getting worse and we will take it from there. Basically it just looks like she is very near sighted in that eye and will always need glasses.
I have to say that you have a good pediatrician. Many don't catch this type of problem, discounting the wandering eye as just delayed development. My P.O. said he rarely sees babies so quickly for this problem and ends up having to treat toddlers, which is apparently harder to do since the muscles in the eye are already much weaker. Thats when they have to wear a patch, or sometimes get surgery.
DD will be 7m old on Sunday and has been wearing the glasses for 2 1/2 months. Her eye very rarely wanders anymore, only when she is very tired or trying to focus on something really close to her face. I go 4-5 days in a row without noticing it at all. I have an appointment with the P.O. in 2 weeks to get her checked. If he is satisfied with the progress, and her eyesight has not gotten worse, we may be able to stop with the glasses until she is a little older and needing them for reading etc. Her eyesight is good enough that she can see me smiling at her from across the kitchen so she would be OK without the glasses until age 2 or so.
Here is a picture of her with the glasses. My awesome little nerd baby!
Last edited by TracyDP; 04-01-2008 at 03:05 PM.
Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement. -From a bumper sticker I saw once
Although her vision may be good now, I encourage you to take her to an opthamologist. S/he may see no reason for anything to be done right now (some say that a wandering eye before a year is normal), but it should be tracked by that person. If it comes to the point of having to wear glasses or a patch, please do, even if you think her eyesight is fine now.
My niece has a lazy eye. She's legally blind in one eye and the other eye is no better. That's because my sister never took wearing the patch and glasses seriously, her DD didn't like it and she didn't want to fuss over it. It's probably not the easiest thing to get a child to wear (I know my DD at 19 months would be constantly ripping it off), but it's definitely a battle that should be waged.
Although her vision may be good now, I encourage you to take her to an opthamologist. S/he may see no reason for anything to be done right now (some say that a wandering eye before a year is normal), but it should be tracked by that person. If it comes to the point of having to wear glasses or a patch, please do, even if you think her eyesight is fine now.
My niece has a lazy eye. She's legally blind in one eye and the other eye is no better. That's because my sister never took wearing the patch and glasses seriously, her DD didn't like it and she didn't want to fuss over it. It's probably not the easiest thing to get a child to wear (I know my DD at 19 months would be constantly ripping it off), but it's definitely a battle that should be waged.
And now, I'll step off my soap box.
She posted that she has an appointment with a P.O. so I think she's on it.
I'm glad the ped caught my DD's problem so early. At 4m she took the glasses as a matter of course and has never had a problem leaving them alone. She only gets grabby with them when she's really tired or goes to rub her eyes and pushes them down around her neck. They are a fairly soft rubber with an adjustable band in back to hold them on. I can see how it would be much harder once she was older and more aware of the glasses. The P.O. commented on this also as the reason he was glad our ped caught it so early. At 4m old I think DD just looked at the glasses like another part of her wordrobe. Diaper, onsie, pants, socks, shoes, glasses. Good to go.
Funny thing is, she laughed...I mean really LAUGHED when I put the glasses on her the first time. She stood up in my lap and looked all around the optometrist office and just laughed like I'd never heard her laugh before. People came out from offices and were like "OMG thats the cutest thing I've ever seen". She obviously saw distant objects she had never known existed before. Since she is near sighted she could see me fine, and her immediate surroundings like the inside of our home, but probably had never clearly seen far away objects. We went for a walk around our neighborhood when we got home that day and she was looking around like everything was new. It was so great! I would pay anything to be able to go back to that with a video camera and tape it.
Last edited by TracyDP; 04-01-2008 at 03:21 PM.
Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement. -From a bumper sticker I saw once
My DS has intermittent estropia and is pretty far sighted. He had an eye exam at 11 months, where the doc mentioned he may be far sighted, but wouldn't need glasses until he got to school. I noticed one eye occasionally wandering inwards at about 14 months. It started happening more often and I became concerned. As soon I mentioned it at the 15 WBV, our ped gave him a referral to a pediatric ophthalmologist. The PO did an eye exam, including dilating the pupils. DS sat in my lap for the exam and was really well behaved. He diagnosed DS with intermittent estropia and far-sightedness. (+5 and +6) DS now wears glasses and will for the rest of his life. He is pretty good about wearing the glasses, except when he is eating and sometimes when he is riding in the car. He has metal frames, but they are super bendy. We were fortunate that the month we found he needed glasses was also open enrollment for vision insurance at DH's work. The exam was covered under our medical insurance as the diagnosis is considered a brain and developmental disorder. DS hit his milestones at appropriate times according to his adjusted age (he was premature). Neither DH nor I wear glasses or contacts.
To everyone dealing with eye problems, I wish you good luck. Tracy, your daughter's pink glasses are too cute!
I have seen this mentioned in other threads but I thought I would put it here too because I think it's such a valuable resource and so few people know about it - the Infant See program entitles all children under 1 year old a FREE optometrist visit. Here's a link - http://www.infantsee.com/. I had never heard about it until I saw it on CC and my husband took my son for his free visit at 10 months of age. It was a very thorough exam complete with eye dialation and is great for peace of mind. I have recommended it to all of our friends. I hope it's okay I have posted this here, just wanted to help get the word out - my PED has never heard of this program!
Thank you all so much for your feedback! We see the P.O. later this month (as usual, the wait for a specialist appt. is loooong) and they told us to anticipate a 1 - 1.5 hour appointment, so it sounds like it will be a thorough exam.
Tracy, your little girl is adorable -- and my DD will be 7 months on Tuesday!
Dysconjugate gaze/Eye problems in 6-month old
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Originally Posted by jennylou
The exam was covered under our medical insurance as the diagnosis is considered a brain and developmental disorder. DS hit his milestones at appropriate times according to his adjusted age (he was premature). Neither DH nor I wear glasses or contacts.
