Fast eye movement 11 weeks

ashleyrene09

Hello ladies. My LO will be 12 weeks on Thursday and following this past holiday and spending longer stretches of time with family, I have 2 family members asking me about my sons rapid eye movements and if I've spoken to my pediatrician about it. He does still move his eyes very fast, constantly looking at everything around except the persons face in front of him. He rarely makes eye contact with anyone but loves his mobile above his crib and will focus on that every night and his activity mat. Basically he does seem to focus on objects but rarely faces and his eyes are constantly moving side to side and up and down. I always thought he was still developing that ability but after seeing my cousins baby who is a month older and will stare at you for minutes at a time when you talk to him and now with 2 people asking me about it (they are on opposite sides of the family and don't communicate with each other) they have me worrying now that something could be wrong - autism maybe is what pops up when I search about it. Just wondering if anyone has any insight on this or how your LOs are doing with this? At his 2 month appointment I didn't bring it up because it wasn't a concern and my pediatrician didn't say anything when looking him over but I just left them a message just for peace of mind. He's developed fine and right on track with everything else. Thanks in advance!

jen83mn

My little guy is 13 weeks and has maintained eye contact with us (and objects too) for awhile now, but that doesn't mean something is wrong ... maybe your baby is just developing that aspect a little later? It doesn't hurt to ask your pediatrician about it though, just for peace of mind

ashleyrene09

Thanks for your response. We have any appointment Wednesday so she can check him out.

dmbfan46835

I wouldn't think autism. The earliest they diagnose that is like 6 mos and even then, it's a little premature. Maybe he's just become incredibly aware and he's overstimulated? I read that if they are overstimulated they tend to not look into eyes... So i imagine that's what he's doing. I wouldn't get too worried or worked up. Hopefully he will get his bearings soon and be able to focus on just one thing at a time. Maybe he's just picky about the faces he wants to look at

ElleMF728

We have a friend whose baby did something like this but also cocked his head to the side a lot to focus on things.  I can't remember what it was called but they told us that it was something that typically sorted itself out and it did.  When we last saw him it wasn't even an issue. 

lynnaeschr

My cousins baby had really rapid eye movement and couldn't focus. They took him to a specialist and it was that his muscles weren't developed quite right. They did some daily exercises and he now is 2 with no problems! Get it checked out as they said the sooner they catch it the easier to fix!

adadrian910

DS1 had this and still does. It's called nystagmus, some also call it "dancing eyes". It can be neurological from eyes still developing. In our case it wasn't and we were referred to and pediatric ophthalmologist at 5 months old. He will be 4 years old Dec 21st and it has significantly decreased to the point it is unnoticeable to people. At 5 months he was also diagnosed with Ocular Albinism, his retina does not filter light and the nystagmus is part of having ocular albinism. He has to wear sunglasses in order to see when it's bright or sunny out or it can be blinding to him. Other than that he is a completely normal kid. This is also an extremely rare genetic condition, affecting 1 in 50,000. DS2 goes in to get checked in Jan. Please don't think I posted this to scare you as there can be a number of reasons little one's eyes do this at this age.

ashleyrene09

Thanks for your input ladies! We are being sent to a neurologist and also hoping to rule out a neuroblastoma! We go in in an hour to have an ultrasound done on his abdomen to check for a tumor. I'm a basket case! I really don't think he has this but the pediatrician wants to rule it out atleast. Prayers please!

rachelkawesome

Good luck and thinking of you! Here's hoping that these tests will rule out all of these things and give you piece of mind! It's good your pediatrician is being so thorough!