Possible Eye Problems in Babies

Your child's vision is incredibly important to the developmental process: more than 75 percent of a child's learning occurs visually. So making sure that your child has good eyesight is incredibly important. But it can be difficult to detect many common infant vision problems, since small children frequently don't react noticeably to visuals. This is a major problem, since many issues can be best treated within a child's first few months.

Most children receive a basic eyesight test before leaving the hospital, and many areas also have free eyesight clinics. Here are some of the more common vision problems to be careful of during your child's early development.

Infections and Blocked Tear Ducts

• Eye discharge is a fairly common problem among newborns, but fortunately it is rarely serious. It can be caused by an eye infection or a blocked tear duct. If you are frequently wiping your child's eyes, or if they are sometimes "stuck" together, there is a good chance that he has an eye infection. Your child's pediatrician should be able to prescribe a topical antibiotic eye drop to your child to alleviate the problem.

Styes and Chalazia

• If your child has a bump on her eyelid that looks similar to a pimple, it is likely either a stye or chalazion, with a stye being more red and tender. They are both inflammations of the oil glands inside the eyelid, causing swelling and possible tenderness. The treatment for both is similar: warm compresses applied to the eye with a wet cloth or towel until the stye or chalazion is healed. A stye can also be treated with antibiotics, while a chalazion might need to be lanced by a doctor if it is impeding your child's vision.

Amblyopia

• A more serious problem is amblyopia, commonly referred to as "lazy eye." This happens when one eye is weaker than the other eye, either through a condition such as nearsightedness or a misalignment of the eyes. Over time, the stronger eye compensates for the weaker eye, leading to the brain choosing to "ignore" the images coming from the weaker eye, eventually leaving it useless.

  The most common treatment for lazy eye is for a child to wear a patch over the "good eye" for several weeks or months to force the lazy eye to become stronger. Most children who have lazy eye will eventually require glasses, and in cases of misalignment may need surgery.

Strabismus

• Children whose eyes are misaligned have a condition called strabismus, although it is frequently called being "cross-eyed" or "walleyed." All newborns will have trouble focusing on single points, so parents should not be concerned if their eyes appear to be crossed. However, this condition should remedy itself within the first four months, and any child still experiencing issues may have a more serious problem.

  Most children with strabismus require glasses to help focus the eyes. In serious cases, surgery may be required if the muscles in the eye are particularly weak. Eye exercises can also help strengthen your child's eye muscles.

Corneal Abrasions

• A corneal abrasion can occur when a child's cornea (the thin layer that protects the eye) has been scratched, either by contact with a foreign object or when she rubs her eyes and accidentally "scratches" them with her fingernails. This can be very painful, as well as causing the eyes to become extra sensitive to light. A pediatrician can use a special eye drop with dye to detect a corneal abrasion. In most cases, they can simply be treated with an antibiotic eye drop.