What should I do if I am concerned that my 15 month old baby has lazy eyes that seem to move out of sync?

Thanks for your questions. These are very important concerns, and being a new father myself, I know your concerns.

Strabismus is a condition when the eyes may not be balanced, or coordinated in its movements. It is important for your child to be assessed by an Ophthalmologist who is comfortable in examining children, preferably a pediatric ophthalmologist such as one in my practice.

The examination serves to answer 3 questions:

Firstly - Is there a true deviation of the eyes, and what is the size of this deviation. Measurements will be performed for your child at different distances (near and far), with and without spectacle correction, and in different directions of gaze.

Secondly - a thorough eye examination will be performed including spectacle refraction, and dilated spectacle refraction.

Anterior and posterior examination of the eye is essential to exclude an organic disease of the eye that may impair vision quality.

Thirdly - depending on the results of the first 2 parts of the examination, the appropriate course of action will be determined which may include further investigations (including b-scan, MRI of the brain), or simply spectacles / patching for amblyopia (or lazy eye), and even early surgery for large-angle strabismus that is impairing the childs ability to develop proper vision.

Hope this is helpful to give you an idea of what to expect, however it is important that your child is assessed early by an ophthalmologist!

ESG

Thank you for your question.

I see that you are concerned about your child's eye movements.

If your child has been doing child checkups in Singapore, the GP or polyclinic nurse would have noticed the problem and done the appropriate follow ups. Otherwise, you should speak to your GP/polyclinic doctor.

They should be the best person to advice you on the next step. The likely course of action would be a referral to a pediatric ophthalmologist in private setting or at KKH or SNEC or NUH.

you probably need to bring your daughter to see an ophthalmologist for an assessment.

You can speak to your GP/polyclinic doctor first, and then either go to see an ophthalmologist in the private sector at your convenience, or perhaps get a referral to a restructured hospital.

During the examination the ophthalmologist/eye doctor will check how well your daughter sees, as well as the spectacle power, if any. The eye movements will also be examined.

Eyedrops will be required for dilating the pupil, and at the end the eye doctor will also examine the inside of the eyes to make sure there is no other underlying disease.