Crossed Eyes in Babies

If your baby is younger than 6 months and you have noticed that their eyes are crossed sometimes, relax. Most babies do not use both of their eyes together until about six months old. It is completely normal for a baby to have one eye that goes off to the side or turn inward up to the age of six months because the brain is not programmed for binocular vision. The brain tells the eyes to work together around this age and this is when vision improves dramatically for infants. This usually occurs intermittently.

Some babies do have a condition called esotropia (eyes turning inward) or exotropia (eyes turning outward). This is caused by a problem with the eye muscles and must be corrected surgically if the vision is to develop normally. Most babies with these types of eye problems have it persistently instead of intermittently and need to be treated by a pediatric opthamologist.