Vision problems?

Well, I finally set up an appointment with an eye doctor for Allison. Lately her issues are really worring me. I was worried about autism like my son, but this weekend my husband asked me, "Do you think there is something wrong with her eyes?" I hadn't said anything to my husband about my worries so when he said that it means I am not making it all up in my head.

Here is what is going on.

1. Little to no eye contact
2. She doesn't track
3. The only thing she looks at is bright lights and black objects
4. She will only smile when she hears a happy tone of voice coming from you, and she never looks at you (she only looks at bright things and black things!) She does smile when she hears you happily talking to her, like a social smile, but it is not the same as Ellie.
5. She doesn't seem to notice things like her bottle or my breast. She will scream for food but doesn't settle like Ellie does when I am getting her ready to feed. The only thing that gets her attention is touching her lips or cheek with a nipple.

I can say, there are no sensory problems like my son. She sleeps well. She transitions from breast to bottle well. She doesn't need background noise. She likes being swaddled and cuddled and touched. All her problems and delays seem to be visually related. I don't know if I just so don't want these to be the early signs of autism that I am making myself believe that it is her vision or if it is actually her vision. She didn't have any more than just nasal o2 (no vent or cpap, just nasal o2)

What is your opinion? I just crazy and these things that she isn't doing are normal for her age - I am just comparing her to her very social sister?

Angel

 

Well, I finally set up an appointment with an eye doctor for Allison. Lately her issues are really worring me. I was worried about autism like my son, but this weekend my husband asked me, "Do you think there is something wrong with her eyes?" I hadn't said anything to my husband about my worries so when he said that it means I am not making it all up in my head.

Here is what is going on.

1. Little to no eye contact
2. She doesn't track
3. The only thing she looks at is bright lights and black objects
4. She will only smile when she hears a happy tone of voice coming from you, and she never looks at you (she only looks at bright things and black things!) She does smile when she hears you happily talking to her, like a social smile, but it is not the same as Ellie.
5. She doesn't seem to notice things like her bottle or my breast. She will scream for food but doesn't settle like Ellie does when I am getting her ready to feed. The only thing that gets her attention is touching her lips or cheek with a nipple.

I can say, there are no sensory problems like my son. She sleeps well. She transitions from breast to bottle well. She doesn't need background noise. She likes being swaddled and cuddled and touched. All her problems and delays seem to be visually related. I don't know if I just so don't want these to be the early signs of autism that I am making myself believe that it is her vision or if it is actually her vision. She didn't have any more than just nasal o2 (no vent or cpap, just nasal o2)

What is your opinion? I just crazy and these things that she isn't doing are normal for her age - I am just comparing her to her very social sister?

Angel

 

I don't think you have anything to worry about honestly. I know nothing will make you feel better though until you get her to the doc, but I worried about the very same thing with one of my girls! It took her FOREVER to make eye contact and I kept telling myself well it must be a bad thing because her sister is doing it! I had convinced myself she had all kinds of syndromes and really they just do things at their own pace...they really do. I am sure she is fine, but let us know how the appt goes!

 

i thought one of my daughters had vision problems as well. she kept staring up towards the top right corner of her eyes. almost like having "staring episodes" - that's what my mom called it. the pedi kept telling me to wait and see. her vision ended up being fine. but I am curious, what were the signs that you saw with your son?

 

My DS didn't track consistantly until around 4 months. And if he was at all over stimulated, for example too much back ground noise (which you can't avoid with 2, 4, and 5 year old siblings), he wouldn't smile either. I worried a little about him as well. Now he's 5.5 months, and he's become the little laugher, talking and smiling all the time. Hopefully nothing is wrong and she is just getting there at a different rate. Good luck

 

There is a program in the States called InfantSee. However, it's for babies 6 months to 12 months.

 

I think I wrote your post as I was worried about the same things. My one daughter really looks at my face and tracks well. The other doesn't want to look at me at all and I was concerned about autism or blindness (as my son is blind in one eye). However, when the Colts played the other day, all she wanted to do was watch television and the WHOLE game. She got mad if she couldn't. My doctor told me to not to worry until her 6 month check up. And, she has been looking at me a lot more the last couple of days. It is just so hard not to compare them when you have two completely different kids.

 

Was she on oxygen in the NICU? My pedi/neonatologist has all babies who had been on O2 in the NICU have their eyes checked as part of protocal. Nicholas was started out on a canula, then put on CPAP and finally intubted. So, we have our eye appt tomorrow. He really likes looking at lights as well and has just started to track objects. I think his eye contact is fine but DH thinks he hardly makes any.

I'm sure she is fine but is always better to have things checked out. As far as eye contact and tracking goes, she may not be hitting those milestones at the same time as other babies because she was a little bit early. I try to keep that in mind with my guys. As as far what she smiles at and her responses at feeding time compared to her sister, it just be due to personality difference.

Hope everything is okay!

 

Oops, just saw your post that she was nasal O2!