baby moves objects to extreme right or left to look at them

[Anonymous]

I have an 8 month old. Most often when you place an object in her right hand at midline, she will instantly stick her arm straight out to the side as far back as possible and then turn to look at it. Her right hand frequently fists. She also can easily pass objects from right to left (left hand grasping) but has trouble moving an object from left to right where the right hand should grasp.

Has anyone seen this before?

[Anonymous]

I would bring it up at your DC's next doctor's appointment.

[Anonymous]

Ditto. I have a friend who is legally blind from birth. She cannot see straight on, only from the sides of her eyes.

[Anonymous]

I'm OP. Having her vision checked is a good idea. She can definitely see head on. However, when her vision was checked in March she was moderately far-sighted for a newborn. Maybe it's gotten worse.

I've tested her more tonight and see that she does it with both right and left. I guess that makes it less likely to be neurological (I hope). She still spends lots of time staring at her hands, always with the arm fully extended.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm 17:02. If you are not completely confident in your next pediatrician's check-up, I would certainly ask for a referral (or I'm sure many parents can provide suggestions here, such as Children's Hospital) for a pediatric Opthmal. The eye is immensely complicated - pediatric training only covers so much. Now that I think about it, two older adult friends, same age-group, had this problem from birth. Neither could drive. Perhaps there is techinique or therapy available now that could have been done for them when they were infants. Both could not see dead-on, but through the periphery of their eyes. They had both gone on to be lawyers and were quite adept at compensating but still were "legally blind" and had to walk everywhere.

[Anonymous]

If this were my child I'd go ahead and make the specialist appointment now. The scheduling itself can take a while.

[Anonymous]

I would schedule an appointment with pediatrician and a pediatric ophthalmologist. It could be a developmental issue, an eyesight issue, or both.

For a pediatric ophthalmologist, I highly recommend Dr. Michael Repka with Johns Hopkins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would schedule an appointment with pediatrician and a pediatric ophthalmologist. It could be a developmental issue, an eyesight issue, or both.

For a pediatric ophthalmologist, I highly recommend Dr. Michael Repka with Johns Hopkins.

He is the best

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would schedule an appointment with pediatrician and a pediatric ophthalmologist. It could be a developmental issue, an eyesight issue, or both.

For a pediatric ophthalmologist, I highly recommend Dr. Michael Repka with Johns Hopkins.

He is the best

Third!

[Anonymous]

17:02 back. I just love it when this blog is useful. OP, you now have your name! I agree with PPs - I would go straight to this doctor.

[Anonymous]

If it's not her eyes if might be torticollis (where she's having turning her neck) or possibly fine motor. You could also call Infant & Toddlers for an evaluation.

[Anonymous]

OP, what you describe could be visual, but some of the elements speak to possible other issues, such as the difference passing objects one way but not the other.

If you can get an ophthalmology appointment soon, that is a good first step, but I'd also go ahead and set up something with a developmental pediatrician. If you do the appointments sequentially, e.g. if you wait a while for vision, and then after vision start the wait for a dev. ped, then it could take a long time to sort this out, and time is precious. I'd also meet with your regular ped asap, as he/she may be able to advocate for quicker appointments.

I'll also add that while I think you describe could be something, and I think you should take it seriously, it could also be nothing and just a quirky phase. Nonetheless, I think you need to look into it.

[Anonymous]

Our DS had significant eye issues from birth. We see Dr. Mohammad Jaafar at Children's Hospital. He's the head of the pediatric ophthalmology department there and one of the best in the nation. Children's has clinics in VA and MD too if the DC hospital isn't convenient. I would recommend seeing an eye doc right away just in case. If it is an eye issue, you want to address it right away as there is a window to correct the issue with best results. But of course, hopefully the appointment will all be for not and vision isn't the issue. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

OP, here. Thanks for all of the great replies.

Baby is stellar at tracking objects and eye contact. She also grabs things at midline so I know she can see them in front of her. But once she has the object she moves it to her side. However, I won't put off getting her vision checked.

I am on hold scheduling a vision exam now. Thank you for the referrals!

My baby has been in EI since the first month. The PT and pediatrician have said ruled out torticollis and she has good posture.

She saw her pediatrician and developmental pediatrician last week. The developmental pediatrician felt that she might have a neurological issue because of weakness and trouble with right arm.

We saw the neurologist this morning and he is ordering an MRI of the brain to find out what is causing the weakness and difficulty using the right arm. (Both legs are fine.)

I asked him a few times why she was moving things to the right or left to look at them. He observed her doing it himself. However, he continued to ask me questions instead and seemed much more concerned with the lack of strength and mobility in the right arm. I guess he cannot say yet and can tell me more after the MRI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, here. Thanks for all of the great replies.

Baby is stellar at tracking objects and eye contact. She also grabs things at midline so I know she can see them in front of her. But once she has the object she moves it to her side. However, I won't put off getting her vision checked.

I am on hold scheduling a vision exam now. Thank you for the referrals!

My baby has been in EI since the first month. The PT and pediatrician have said ruled out torticollis and she has good posture.

She saw her pediatrician and developmental pediatrician last week. The developmental pediatrician felt that she might have a neurological issue because of weakness and trouble with right arm.

We saw the neurologist this morning and he is ordering an MRI of the brain to find out what is causing the weakness and difficulty using the right arm. (Both legs are fine.)

I asked him a few times why she was moving things to the right or left to look at them. He observed her doing it himself. However, he continued to ask me questions instead and seemed much more concerned with the lack of strength and mobility in the right arm. I guess he cannot say yet and can tell me more after the MRI.

May I ask why she has been in EI from the very first month? Were there complications that would lead you to believe she may neurological issues?