Eye Deviation

If you are like a lot of parents with babies, you are taking soooo many photos of the cute new addition to the family. You may have noticed that in a number of the photos baby’s eyes can look a bit cross-eyed or wonky. That is completely normal for the first 6 months of life as baby’s brain is figuring out how best to use stereoscopic (two-eyed) vision. But after 6 months, the kiddo should have a good handle on how to work those peepers in tandem. If you are still seeing one or both eyes not lining up in photos or everyday life, let your pediatrician know to look for signs of a lazy eye or, in fancy terms, esotropia or exotropia. Most pediatric offices now have special cameras in the office to look for early signs of lazy eye after 6 months of age. The earlier we pick up on this, the better. Oftentimes the cause is a difference in eye muscle strength between the eyes, and an eye doctor will suggest intermittent patching or covering of the stronger eye to get the other eye’s muscles stronger and thus avoiding surgery to help fix the muscles later. The eye doctor will also check to make sure that the lazy eye is due to muscular causes and not problems with the eyeball or the retina (a sensory membrane that lines the eyeball).