Seekin Mom Worried Bout Her 4Month Old Son Eyes

It seems to be an eye tracking problem. You may want to take him with Dr. Moffat on 1488 and 2978 by Macdonalds. He is an optometrist who specializes on those problems and provides eye theraphy to correct the problem. I'll be happy to give you more info. if interested - just let me know.

A day or two ago you were asking aboout the symptom of your baby on medication, staring into space without responding to you or your husband. Both serious symptoms. Get your baby immediately to your pediatrician or to an urgent care clinic or emergency room! Don't ever use this site as a place for immediate medical advice---call a hospital nurse line or your pediatrician.

Hi V.: I don't have first hand experience, however I found some info on the internet... (By the way, mention it at your next pedi appointment... Between now and then, when you see him do it, write it down in a log, to record if it happens right after waking up or when he is tired, or after eating or when "straining" on a dirty diaper... or if it occurs at random times...)

From http://www.allaboutvision.com/parents/infants.htm:

Erratic Eye Movements

A vision condition called nystagmus can develop in infancy. Eyes that jump, dance, wiggle or oscillate back and forth is called nystagmus.

This condition may be caused by poor vision, defects in the nerve pathway from the eye to the brain or albinism (light-sensitive retinas in albinos contain too little pigment for the eyes to function properly). Nystagmus may also be inherited. Babies with nystagmus may have normal vision or poor vision. If your child's nystagmus persists past age three months, consult your pediatrician.

You're right if you notice that three to four months of age is an important time for vision development in your child. Take the opportunity during well-baby visits with your pediatrician to ensure that your child is visually on track.

From http://home.earthlink.net/~timler/infant.htmlIn:
The first few months after birth, the muscles that control eye pointing are still developing, so the eyes tend to wander, or even cross.

It should be noted that the visual cortex of the brain itself is also immature at this time. The brain’s dendrites are still growing, which limits contrast sensitivity and color recognition, even if the eye were providing ideal information to the brain. Continual visual stimuli and time will develop the neural connections, as the months progress.

After two months, the baby’s eye has improved. The rods and foveal cones have developed, but acuity is still quite limited: roughly speaking, the baby’s eye has the equivalent of adult 20/200 vision. However, color vision is starting to develop. The four types of photoreceptors (the rods, and three color cones) are in place, and the red/green channel of the neural connection is working, so that the baby can distinguish some colors from grayscale.

At three months, the eye has made its most progress, and the infant can now see colors, motion, and details. Color vision is now fully trichromatic, and the retina has developed such that the eye has the equivalent of 20/100 adult vision. (There is evidence that the limiting factor here is not the retina, but that the neural system cannot yet encode high-frequency spatial patterns.)

Furthermore, the eye muscles have developed so that the baby’s two eyes can move together, and follow a moving object. At this point too, the baby begins to respond to depth. The ability to accommodate starts to develop, and the child gains experience in judging distance.

After six months, great progress has been made. The eye has reached two-thirds of adult size. Acuity has improved so that the eye has about 20/50 adult vision. The eyes can coordinate for good binocular vision, and have good motion detection. Finally, depth perception has improved, and the ability to accommodate is near to adult-quality.

PLEASE BRING THIS UP WITH YOUR DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY!!I didn't think anything about the eyes until you mentioned the fact that his right side of his body goes out. He might have something nuerological going on that needs to be checked out.

Hi V.,
I think you should take your little man to see the doctor just to be absolutely sure he is not having sezuiures and as parents it is are responsibility to make sure are babies a safe so just to be sure take him.(Don't ever doubt your mothers intuitions) also u can google the symptoms and c what it says.
Good luck,

I would go to a neurologist asap. We use Dr. Frye of Memorial Hermann Chilren's Hospital. The wait list is long but tell them your issues and you may be able to get in sooner with another doc. IMO, your Ped. may blow it off. Mine does, he only treats colds, ear infections. I have an older son with Autism and my experience with Peds is they don't always know what is going on and tend to have a wait and see approach. Earlier treatment for whatever it might be is better IMO/eperience. Good luck.

I would suggest you call the baby's doctor.Get the baby in to be checked as soon as possible,It could be many things.It is best to be safe and careful. Good luck

This is something that you need to tell your Dr. he needs to see this if possible as it happens.

This sounds like something you should call the pedia about.

V.:
It does sound like a siezure.. there are many different types from mild to servere. You need to take him to a doctor and have it checked out. I worked as a nurse assistqant for 8 yeears on pediatrics and this sounds very much like a siezure or something neurological.

My daughter did this once when she was six months old. I mentioned it to her pediatrician when we went in for her checkup shortly after it happened. He referred us to a specialist that deals with children's eye problems. We had to wait a while to get her seen, but it was worth it. We found out she had a problem with her eyes not coming back to normal position when she looked over to the left. I really can't remember what it is called. In my daughter's case, he thought it was minor, and that she would outgrow it. He did want to see her for a checkup the next year, and by then it was almost gone already! Because of this, we had our son checked out before he was one year old, and he had a similar problem this both directions. He has also grown out of it. If their cases would not have been minor, the doctor could have treated it.

Now, I am not saying this is what your son's problem is, or that he will outgrow it. I am saying it could be something simple like this, and not to worry until your pediatrician and an eye specialist sees your child. They would be able to diagnose the problem and help you treat it. It is important to get your son seen as quickly as possible, especially since it sounds like this happens often with your son. The earlier the diagnoses, the earlier the treatment, the better.

Blessings,
D.

I would set up an appointment with your pediatrician to discuss it.

Can you record an episode and email it to your pediatrician? Or bring to an appointment to discuss?

Hopefully it is nothing, but better to get it checked out for your peace of mind!

If you're worried, take Ethan to the pediatrician.

This really needs to be adressed by a doctor. It sounds just like a seizure. (Children have different kinds than adults) My husband has epilepsy and you want to get it controlled ASAP! If that's what it is, of course. But whatever it is sounds serious. It may be another neurological disorder other than epilepsy. Good luck

Don't want to scare you but I would advice you to tell your son's doc about it. I work in a state school and am around consumers have seizures and it sounds like it could be one to me. It wouldn't hurt to have him
checked out. Good luck and god bless you and your family

I would for sure ask the Dr. about it...b/c if it is something it is still early and maybe they can catch a problem early. If you see the eyes and part of his body do domething that is not right seek help to make sure it is not something that needs to be addressed. Hope it it nothing!

If you haven't taken him to his 4 mo. checkup yet, I'd ask the pediatrician at the appt. If that's already passed, I'd make a special appt. to discuss it. I think it's worth the extra dr. visit, b/c I don't think that what you're describing is "normal" infant behavior

Take your son to a pediatric eye specialist, now! If there is something going wrong, you want to catch it now! trust me, I know. Was he by chance born premature? Please pick up the phone and take him to an eye dr.
Regards, Deborah

I'm with Deborah on this one. Your childs eyes "shaking" in his head and his body going limp, IS NOT NORMAL. Please take him to a doctor.
Please DO NOT use this site in substitute for medical professionals.
You need to find out NOW what is going on with him.

Margaret :)

I would take him to the doctor.

Take him to the doctor. If you are worried about this (and it does sound worrisome) take him to the doctor. Don't just take advice from a bunch of women you don't know - seek the advice of a professional!

A friend of mine, worried about her son having seizures, actually took her camera and took a video of what she was seeing. She showed it to the doctor who was able to alleviate her fears. If you have access to a video camera and can catch it on video, it might help you explain to the doctor.

Good luck.

The shakin back and forth of the eyes is probably a problem called nystagmus,my son has it too, it doesn't hurt him or mean anything except that his eye muscles are immature. As for the right side of the body thing I'm not clear as to exactly what you meant. I would advise you to take him to a pediatric opthamologist to make sure it is nystagmus and ask them about the body thing and your pedi too
hth

It is difficult not to worry, but take action and talk with your baby's pediatrician as soon as possible. I called my pediatrician's office quite often when I was a new mommy!

I haven't read any of the other responses so this might be duplicate. . .

I only have one piece of advice (and I don't mean to scare you). . . go to the Pediatrician, clinic, or urgent care center ASAP.
If it was just the eyes, I would say call and ask some questions, it might just be weak eyes; but with the addition of the right side of his body "just goes out" it could be nurological. I probably spelled that wrong, but what I mean to say is it could be brain, nerve, or maybe even mini stroke issues.
Find out now so if you need to you can do something about it before any damage occurs.
Good luck and let us know.

Take your child to a doctor who will refer to a specialist!

Sounds like allergies. Take him to the Peditrician...

Please take your child to a doctor immediately. If you do not have insurance, please consider taking him to an emergency room. This is not normal and your child needs to be looked at by a physician. It may be nothing, but you should have this looked into immediately for your child's sake.

V.:

I only read the first couple of responses, and I have to agree that you MUST get your precious baby evaluated immediately.

I am going to tell you that when my daughter was 6 yrs old, she started having seizures. These were not "full body" seizures.... but rather what is called "focalized" seizures. These means that the seizure is isolated to a particular area of the body each time. This was easily brought under control with medication. And, just as the doctors said she would, she "outgrew" this when she started going through puberty and has been off her meds for about 7 months and seizure free for about a year more than that.

If your baby is having some type of seizure (or any other health concern), it doesn't mean it is the worst thing ever. Everything can be dealt with. The important thing is to not be afraid. Not knowing is the worst thing for your baby because he could be experiencing pain and/or discomfort during these "episodes" and yet he depends on you for getting relief. I know that you are a first time mom, but believe me when I say that none of us "knew it all" when we had our first baby. I actually looked my baby's doctor in the eye and told him once, "I have never done this before....you have done it millions of times....I rely on YOU for answers and guidance."

One piece of advice..... if you ever think that you have a "terrible" long-term or chronic illness or health issue with your child that you have to deal with, then I encourage you to go down to TX Children's hospital, valet park your car, hang out in the lobby and the valet/drop off area of the hospital and watch what others deal with.....odds are, you will feel like your "blessed" by having to deal with what you have. This is exactly how I helped my daughter's dad put it into perspective and quit freaking out about it.

I wish you all the luck in the world. I sincerely hope that you have your baby boy evaluated soon.

Best Wishes....