Turning Eyes...

Is he following straight lines on objects when he is doing this - like window sills or the kithcen table? My now 7 year old son started doing this when he was 3. He is mildly autistic and his nuerologist called this a self stimulating behavior or paralell walking. It was something that he did when he was tired or stressed and needed to soothe himself. He also would do it when he was bored. I hope I haven't freaked you out. With a little bit of ABA therapy it went away as quickly as it started. He is now a happy easy going first grader. Good luck!

Hi, My Niece did that, they found it was a lazy eye, they corrected it with glasses. They found i early and she doesn't wear glasses anymore...
C.

The same thing happened to my daughter when she started kindergarten. I brought her to her pediatrician who referred me to Dr Janine Eagle at Tallman Eye in North Andover. Dr Eagle is wonderful with children. My daughter had a turn in her eye and she did need glasses. She is now 7 years old and still wearing glasses. We have to patch her strong eye 3 hours a day(to make her use her lazy eye) and have been doing this for the past two years. It is really helping and Dr Eagle said we will slowly stop patching and she might even be able to stop wearing glasses soon. It is amazing how much improvement we have seen. It's definitely worth a visit to the pediatrician. Good luck.

My son did that, right around the same age as your son. It was also when he was tired. I brought him to a pediatric eye doctor. His vision was fine, and he didn't do it in the Dr. office! We decided on a wait and see approach. He has never had a problem with his vision, and it only bothered him momentarily, when it happened. Otherwise, it seemed to have no effect on him. My son is now in first grade. I really don't think he does it anymore!

It might be strabismus (sp?), especially if it's happening when he's tired. Certainly check with his pediatrician. An eye exam by a pediatric optomotrist is probably your best bet. He can check your son's eyes ability to track, and determine the problem. This is young still, so a program of eye exercises could strengthen his muscles and make it better. Don't put it off.

I would take him to a pediatric ophthamalogist to have him checked out. They are the experts. It could be a vision problem that gets worse as he is tired out. Sometimes prescription glasses are used to easy the stress on the eyes.

I would take him to an optometrist or pediatric opthamologist possibly to see if he has a vision problem. My brother, who is an optometrist, told me of a case where a child turned his head sideways - they did all sorts of muscles tests, etc., thinking it was a problem with his neck. Turned out he had a rare condition where only a certain part of his eye focused, and he had to hold his head that way to keep things in front of him in focus. Good luck!

Your son is at an age when quirky behaviors can develop. My son did a similar thing with his eyes and then later added an upward look and even a nose twitching behavior. It lasted til he was about 10 years old. I think in part it had to do with allergies but then just took on a life of its own. I'm sure there is a developmental explanation for these quirky behaviors but we never uncovered it. Now, he's 18 and we laugh hysterically with him when we watch videos of his younger days. Hope this is reassuring but, of course, check in with your pediatrician if you feel something is really not right.

sounds like it could be a lazy eye.. it gets worse sometimes if the child is tired.. call a specialist - don't go to a regular eye dr.. if you are in Ma, DR Jeff Sorkin is THE best.. he's in Peabody and has another office someplace (can't remember) well worth it going to him!!!!

My 3 year old daughter has a similiar thing where her eyes look crossed when she looks up & to the right. Also, when she was younger, her eye would "float" a little when she was tired. My pediatrician refered us to Dr Blocker, a pediatric opthamologist in Framingham. He is great with kids. We saw him alot at first & now only go back once a year for check ups. You should see your pediatrician so that they can refer you to someone near you. even if your doctor says that it's nothing, You should get the referal to be sure.

B. - a working mom of a great 3 year old girl

Hi B., My daughter started to turn her head and look out of the corner of her eyes to see better, I discovered this when I took her to the opthamologist to have her eyes tested. She wears glasses now and loves them. Just a thought
A.

We noticed something similar in our little boy just before he turned two. One eye would turn in at night during storytime. His pediatrian confirmed he would need glasses - which made me feel better because I thought he would need an eye patch. Turns out he's just far-sighted and will need to have his glasses until at least age 7. There's some developmental threshold that peaks at age 7-8 and he may not need glasses after that, but i'm not holding my breath.

Far-sightedness never occured to me. I'm nearsighted so I couldn't comprehend not being able to focus on things up close like books. If you are near-sighted, your kids are more likely to be near- and/or far-sighted.

Get him checked out by a pediatric opthomologist. Ours was in Arlington and was great.

Good luck! Christy Y

Hi,
Do you have a school nurse who can screen his eyesight? Please do not excuse this as a habit, it may be important that you noticed this.

I would definitely ask the pediatrician to a referral to an eye specialist - if there is something neurological going on, you don't want to waste any time!

I'm a single working mother of three children, 1 boy who's 8 yrs old & 2 girls 6 and 4 1/2 yrs old.

I was born with a weak eye that developed into a lazy eye. By the time I was 2 or so my right eye turned into the inner corner and stayed there. Keep in mind I'm 29 yrs old now so the technology now is far more advanced then it was 25 yrs ago when I was treated.
You can take your child for routine eye exams every 1-2 years with most insurances. If there is any question you should talk to his Dr. It wouldn't hurt to get his eyes checked if you have any concerns. I'm not saying he would have a lazy eye but that's the worst case & if so he's young enough that it can be corrected.
Best of luck to you!!

~S.

I have a "lazy eye" which goes out like your sons. I have had it since I was 2 ish and went to many doctors. They were not able to help me but that was also in 1980! They can do wonders these days. They treated me with an eye patch on the better eye, glasses and chiropractic treatments. Also the older I got the better it got the only time it goes out is when I am very tired or drunk (drunk huh, not for years...lol).
I then took my son to a pedi eye doc because I noticed his eye going in. Doc said everything looked fine and no sign of a lazy eye. It then seemed to go away until recently. He is going back next month for a follow up. The doctor also explained that everyone has a "lazy eye" to a certain degree like when tired or (adults) drunk. I would take your son to a pedi eye specialist and have it checked out ASAP. The longer you let it go the worse it can get. He sees Dr. LaRocca in Taunton, MA Good luck!

Sounds like he might has an astigmatism. I had one as a child and I started wearing glasses when I was 2. Fortunately astigmatism can correct itself if caught early. Take your son to an ophthalmologist--not an optometrist. With 12 years of loyal glasses wearing my eye strengthened and I don't wear glasses anymore.

is this a twitch or a bad habit?? I have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), and I used to do all sorts of weird things, that when I think back---it started as far back as 4 years old.
One thing in particular----You notice a spot in the middle of the windshield, and when you close one eye the spot moves--then you close the other eye, and the spot moves again--I would find myself doing this all the time---where I couldn't even focus on reading, watching TV, even driving. It sounds very bizarre, I know--but it is a common disorder.
Absolutely have him checked out, and try to see if he knows he's doing it. If he doesn't do it all the time, try video taping.

I've got an eight year old daughter who we noticed at the age of 3 doing the same (but one eye turning in)she would also close that eye and just look with the other, if we had shown her something close up. Then she started bringing her chair right in front of the tv to watch, and after repeadtedly asking her to move back she said I can't see it from there mom. To the eye doctor that week we went, and she has been wearing glasses since. Her eyes have definately improved over these 5 years, if for some reason she has her glasses off, it is rare to see the eye turn now. As children grow their eyes change, so glasses may not be forever. Watch for more signs of strain and ask him about how he is seeing not if he feels the eye turn, the eye sends a signal to the brain and essentially tells the brain to turn the eye off, and they (without even knowing) use the "good eye" to see. You could see your pediatrician and he can refer you to an opthamologist. We had Dr. Gilligian @ Manchester Eye Assoc. on Second St in Manchester, and she was so good with my daughter, she has an 8 year old boy and a 5 year old girl so she's a mom too, she had my daughter at such ease, right from the start and at 3 that was sooo important to me we were both a little scared. We had to change doctors because our insurance changed and I was sad to go, she let's you sit right in there even with the lights off during all the tests so I I saw for myself the weakness in her sight etc. You'll feel better when you get to the bottom of it, your little guy may not see as well as he could.