We were reassured after the first eye appointment, and didn’t really worry about it until around her first birthday when we noticed her eyes crossing a lot more again – specifically, it seemed that her right eye was turning in.

This time we sent digital photos to the ophthalmologist and based on the pictures, she agreed that we needed to bring her in. Before that, though, she wanted us to try patching Zoe’s left eye to strengthen her right eye for a few weeks to see if there was any improvement. She also warned us that it would not be fun or easy.

She was right, Zoe did not like having the eye patch put on. But once it was on, she was pretty much ok. I wish I knew the secret to her keeping the patch on, but in reality, she never tried to take it off. She only needed to wear it for about 4 hours each day, but that meant putting it on before daycare, and then letting the teachers know they should take it off before putting her down for her morning nap. Eventually, she got used to us putting the patch on, and I was optimistic, because she seemed to have no trouble seeing through the right eye when her left was patched, but in the end, the patching made no real difference.

At this next appointment the ophthalmologist determined that both eyes seemed to turn in at different times, and it was probably due to her being far-sighted and needing to cross her eyes to focus. She then held up lenses of varying strength in front of Z’s eyes while holding a toy nearby to see if that lens seemed to correct the crossed eyes. Since Z can’t read yet, it isn’t as important that she see closeup with crystal clarity so much as it’s important that her brain get used to her eyes working together. So, with the closest guess at a prescription in hand, we headed off to get glasses.