19 Month Old Daughter Has a Lazy Eye

I personally have a lazy eye but there is no physical signs of it. I knew I couldn't see properly before I was 5, but I didn't know how to explain it to my mom. At the end of Kindergarten, I had an eye exam and they found out then. They suggested that I wear an eye patch. I did as told until one day, at elementary school, when I literally walked into a basketball poll. Then it was too frustrating (and embarrassing) to use. So in middle school they suggested that I just wear it after school when I watched TV or drew. But it was again incredibly frustrating not to see. So much so that I would peek, as often as I could, around the patch or through the itsy, bitsy hole that the sting threaded through.

My recommendation: patch early and patch often. The more the bad eye is worked out, the stronger it will get.

My daughter(who is now 22) had a lazy eye when she was little also. We did the patch thing for about 6 months and her vision improved tremendously and she never had to wear it again. She does a lot of computer work now and wears glasses for reading or detail work only. I'm glad we did the patch...we did a cute pink one with jewels...she thought it was cute!

I had Amblyopia and Strabismus as a child (I am now 41). By two I was wearing glasses complete with the patch - which I wore a minimum of 8 hours a day. The patch has more to do with the fact that the brain and the lazy eye do not communicate than a problem focusing. Basically you are training the brain to recognize the eye. By 5 I had surgery which then was largely experimental. For a few years after that I continued to wear a patch, then just glasses full time until I was in 10th grade. Then for about 3-4 years i wore glasses when needed, after that to now I dont wear them at all. It sounds like your daughter has Strabismus - which can cause amblyopia. I would do more research, esp on your pediatric opthamologist, and explore surgery. I remeber it being a day or so in the hosp and then drops as treatment which of course I screamed bloody murder getting (and the patch). I am always thankful that my parents were aggressive on my treatment - esp when I see adults with those "blue" eyes (One "blew" this way; one "blew" that way, as my brothers often taunted). If you dont correct this by I think, 7 years, its too late. good luck.

I was diagnosed with strabismus when I was 3 and had to wear glasses with prisms until I was 16 (talk about opportunity for ridicule from other kids!) at which time I got contacts because the glasses had "straightened" my eye. I've been fine for 16 years, but now my eye has been crossing badly (almost worse than when I was a kid) and effecting my vision. Now at 34 I'm finally having the surgery that I wish was available to me when I was little. The only problem is that the younger you are the better the surgery will take and last without having multiple surgeries. I would recommend getting a second opinion (call Dr. James Plotnik w/Arizona Pediatric Eye Specialists), but patch vs. surgery--go for the surgery; you'll save your child the embarrassment and hassle of poor vision. We're only given 2 eyes and if the lazy eye isn't taken care of, they could eventually lose vision in that eye because the brain will eventually stop recognizing it. Don't wait until your child is in their adulthood when it could be too late. Good luck!

My son had the same thing before he was a year old. We patched his eye and had him wear glasses, but it did not work. He ended up having 3 surgeries and now he is 10 YO and fine. My niece is going throught the same thing right now. She had to wear glasses first for 6 months and she just had the surgery on march 5th. She just went back to the doctor this past week and she now has to wear a patch on her eye. It all sound more traumatic than it really is. In the long run, it is best to deal with it when they are young and won't remember.

D.

A.,

My daughter had a similar problem and when she was 11 months old she has Surgery on both eys for Strabismus...wondering eyes. It has corrected the problem ahs it was fine. I agonized for a while but it really will be o.k. We had a the best Dr in the state, Dr. Oneil. You may want to see if you can get an appointment with him. The best of luck-

N.

Hi A.,

My son is now 2 1/2 and he had eye surgery in January. I started noticing his eye turn when he was one. Both of his eyes turned in, the right much more than the left so he started wearing glasses. After a year of wearing glasses and little improvement we planned the surgery. Tyler never had the option of wearing the patch because his condition was different than a lazy eye. The surgery Tyler had was an outpatient surgery, it took about 45 minutes. The doctor cut the muscle in both eyes. Tyler must still wear his glasses, but the surgery went very well and Tyler's eyes are now straight. If you want another doctor to check into for a second opinion I would be happy to pass on the contact information.

The hardest part about the surgery for me was having the nurse take him from me and then waiting! They say it is much harder on the parents than the children!

Good Luck and Best wishes.

K.

I had a lazy eye when I was an infant and had to wear glasses from age 6 months till I was 5 years old. The glasses I had corrected it, not sure how though. The patch should work though as it will force the eye to focus and get stronger. I am now 39 years old and you cannot tell I ever had a lazy eye when I was an infant. I guess they don't use glasses for the problem anymore though.

A.,

My son is 3 years old now and had ptosis (which is a droopy eyelid, but not a lazy eye). We have been patching his eye since he was very young (only a few months old)and he had eye surgery when he was about 18 months. It was out-patient and went well. I think it is so much harder on us as parents to watch them go through the surgery than it is on them! His eye is much better, but we still patch it to strengthen it and go on for regular check ups. She may go through a phase, as my son did, where she doesn't want to wear the patch. I gave him a sucker to suck on while he was wearing it to distract him and we also put stickers on his patches so they would look "cool". I also found an awesome company that makes eye patches with colors and fun designs for kids. The website is www.ortopad.com and they are based in Tucson. Good luck! Way to go for getting your daughter in early, that is the best way to take care of her eye health. Keep up the patching, because the consistency makes a big difference.

Hi A.,
When we were little, my cousin needed corrective surgery for this exact same reason. Her's was too severe to be corrected by just the eyepatch. The surgery was a success, and she's a beautiful woman now.

My only advice (if she does end up needing surgery): make sure you have complete trust in the surgeon. Get a second, or even third, opinion if you feel you need to, if only to make sure you really like the one you choose.

Good luck.
T

A., my daughter had the same thing as a child. It improved somewhat using a patch on the eye but still not enough to make a significant improvement. When she was about 9 yrs. old we did opt for the surgery. It went fine and was successful. Her eye straightened out just fine and has stayed that way. (She is now 27 yrs. old!) It was performed in the morning in the same day surgery unit and we had her home by the afternoon. Recovery time was minimal. I know it is hard to have to make a decision to have your child undergo surgery, but in this case there were no regrets. Best of luck to you and your daughter!

I babysit a 4 year old with the same problem. His eye problem only recently surfaced and he needs to wear a patch for 2 hours each day along with glasses. Your daughter may need glasses at an early age, but her eye should stop turning in. I hope this helps.

Maybe her left eye isn't lazy, maybe her right eye is just an overacheiver! :):):)

One of my friend's son had a lazy eye that pointed outward, the patch didn't work well enough, so they did do the surgery, the first day after the surgery he asked his dad if he could get new eyes, so he was in a little discomfort, but he healed quickly and is at 100%, so the surgery did work. No one likes to see their baby in pain, or teased. I hope everything works out well, Good luck, J.

At some point I would recommend that you also seek a 2nd opinion. I would make sure that one or the other doctors you see is an opthmologist (sp) rather than an optometrist. We didn't discover my son's lazy eye until he was 4 years old and he's been wearing glasses & an eye patch for almost 2 years w/o a lot of improvement. The 2 docs we went to had very different ideas on how long the patch should be worn.

we did the patch with my son (didn't work) but then found out his vision was really bad (astigmatism) and with his little glasses (he was 3 at the time, awww) they made it so the glasses forced his eye to focus right. for a while though, you'd take off his glasses to wash him and his eye would go right inward, but now that he's 18 he can keep it focused when his glasses are off for bedtime or when he washes them.

I have identical twin girls who both have a lazy eye. One was patched for about six months. It didn't work. She had surgery in September. It was less than an hour out patient surgery at the Children's Hospital. She was fine within about 20 minutes of waking up. (She was just upset waking up some place strange.) They both wear glasses that also helps correct the vision problems. If you need a good pediatric opthamologist try Brendan Cassidy. He's awesome. My other daughter is looking at surgery now to correct her lazy eye too. Good Luck.

Our son and daughter have both had problems with lazy eye.

DS had severe retinopathy of prematurity and as a result has really bad vision in both eyes. He's had the surgery twice, and it also helped with the nystagmus issues he was having.

DD had ROP but has generally good vision (20/60, better than mine!), but she is having surgery for strabismus this Thursday. It is a fairly quick procedure, about an hour total from the time they get wheeled back to the time you meet them in recovery.

Our doctor is Dr O'Neil at AZ pediatric eye specialists. He's great, he's taken care of their vision since they were born. Our son had the dubious honor of being the patient with the strongest lens prescription for many years, but now he's lost that honor to another patient.

When she was 4 my daughter had a strabisthmus (eye turned in) and wasn't focusing. I noticed it and took her to an optometrist and he said wait until kindergarten and then check again. After a week or so I knew this wasn't right, and so I called an ophthalmologist and had her checked out. He said it was serious, she needed surgery soon or else her brain would quit listening to the defective eye and the nerves would begin to atrophy. Her eyesight would diminish, and if it went on too long and she could go blind in that eye. Needless to say, we had the surgery as soon as we could schedule it. The surgery itself only took about an hour, and it was done outpatient, so we were only at the hospital for 4-5 hours. The first night was hard for her, her eyes hurt and we couldn't let her rub them. She looked awful because all the whites of her eyes were full of blood. But, the final result was good. Her eye turn was almost completely gone. She still wears glasses to correct the slight turn that is left, and probably will at least until adulthood. But we felt it was worth it. I know some eye turns are correctable with patches, and only a doctor can tell you what you need. But if you are worried about the advice your eye dr. is giving, get a second opinion. I'm SO glad I did. Good luck.