Preschooler crossing his eyes?

Question

My son is 4, and for a little while I have noticed that he will cross his eyes from time to time, but only at the table during dinner time (rarely does he do it at other meals). I do plan to have his eyes checked soon, to calm my fears, but I wondered if anyone else has had this experience. I wonder if he is doing it just to do it, or if others have learned of underlying issues to crossing the eyes as they get older.

Answer 1

get his vision tested and don't punish him.

Answer 2

I had them as at that age and had to have surgery to correct them because it was the muscles being to weak behind my eyes.  My soon to be 6 year old has wondering eyes and they are trying to fix it without surgery.  My 3 1/2 year old is now doing it too.  My uncle on my moms side had a lazy eye as a child and they say the eye problems can be genetic but not always.  If he can cause himself to do it and it only happens at the dinner table and not other times throughout the day he might be doing it but it could also be another problem.  Make sure to find an eye Dr that specializes in Eye Disorders because not every eye Dr can spot a muscle problem

Answer 3

I would absolutely take him to an eye doctor as soon as you can. I know from experience that the problem can get worse the longer you wait. It is possible that he is just doing it on purpose but I think it's more likely to be related to vision issues and it can be corrected more easily earlier on. Don't talk to him about it in that even mentioning it may make him more aware of it and that is not necessarily a good thing. Bring him to an eye doctor as soon as you can.

Answer 4

im 14 and i crossed my eyes all the time since i was 4 i did it just cuz i could and i have 20/20 vison