You may be alarmed because your baby squints. Do not worry. It is totally normal for newborns, and babies, to take time to fix their gaze, and therefore to squint. It is what is called functional strabismus, and it will spend more or less 4 months. Although there are babies who squint up to six or nine months.
Strabismus, squinting, it can be congenital, very early, when it appears in the first months of life, or arrive later, around 3 or 4 years. Although in reality, it can appear at any age. We will talk about these issues and others, such as when it is recommended to take the baby to the ophthalmologist, in this article.
Why is my baby squinting?
Dr. Idoia Rodríguez Maiztegui, from the Barraquer Ophthalmology Center, explains that newborns may divert one or both eyes during the first months of life. This does not mean that there is a real problem. This functional strabismus is due to the fact that the coordination of eye movements has not yet been fully developed.
Once baby has reached 6 months, you can now merge the two images of an object obtaining binocular vision. In other words, you already have a 3-dimensional vision. It is usually at this point that you have learned to use both eyes in a coordinated way that you stop squinting.
If after 6 months your baby continues to divert his eyes, inward or outward, then we recommend taking him to the child ophthalmologist to do a full scan. At the very least, you should discuss this situation with your pediatrician. This is the doctor who has seen the evolution of the child and will be the one who will advise you best.
Is it a problem for my baby to squint in the long run?
There are different studies that suggest that there is a genetic component as well as an environmental component to strabismus. A baby with a family history of strabismus has 4 times the risk of developing it. Low birth weight or a smoking mother during pregnancy also seem to be determining factors. Strabismus before age 3 affects 4% of babies.
Generally, the brain composes the image when it receives two images, one from each eye, of the same object. Thanks to this we can see in three dimensions. But when one eye deviates, the brain receives two different images, and in the case of the baby, it cancels the image of the eye that is deviated, thus avoiding seeing double.
In the long run, like the brain keeps avoiding that image amblyopia occurs, which is popularly known as lazy eye. If the problem is not diagnosed, and remedied soon, the child will grow up with a vision deficit in that eye. Also, you will not have binocular vision, so you will not be able to see in 3 dimensions.
When should I take my son to the ophthalmologist?
No child is too young to have a checkup with the children's ophthalmologist. Developing the vision completely is a process, it is a long learning that begins at birth and culminates at 8-9 years of age or so. The first 4 years are the ones with the greatest progression. For this reason, a complete ophthalmological consultation must be carried out over 2 years, even if the child does not present any symptoms.
One of the most common queries is that feeling that the baby has one or both eyes strayed, squinting. This becomes more evident when the baby looks from the side or we take some pictures. There may also be a false impression of strabismus, even though the axes of the eyes are parallel. It can be due to abnormalities of the eyelids, alterations in the width of the root of the nose, or facial asymmetries.
Strabismus It cannot be prevented, but it can be detected early, to immediately put a treatment. The first thing is to correct the refractive error, if it exists, using glasses or contact lenses. In many cases, when the remedy has been put in time, this is enough to compensate for the deviation.