Sometimes a child's behavior can seriously alarm parents. For example, a child rolls his eyes. When should you start worrying, and when should you become alarmed and show your child to a specialist?
In order to understand this issue, it is necessary to decide what is normal and what is pathology.
At the moment, there is no consensus on the issue of children rolling their eyes. If this happens constantly, then you need to watch your child. Only a doctor can make the correct diagnosis and prescribe a course of treatment. It is not always the case that a child makes such strange movements with his eyes because he likes it that way. Unfortunately, in some cases, such child behavior indicates the existence of a serious problem.
Possible reasons
The main provoking factors of nervous tics include:
- Emotional stress. For example, during a change in the usual environment, when the baby goes to kindergarten or school. Such changes cause severe emotional stress in some children. A nervous tic can be provoked by hostility from a teacher or teacher, or conflicts with peers.
- Another common reason for this condition is conflicts at home between parents in the presence of the child, or when excessive demands are placed on him. In this case, he is in constant fear and anxiety, his body reacts with such twitches.
- Genetic predisposition. This factor is very significant.
- A long course of taking certain medications, complications after illnesses.
- Head injuries.
- Staying in a stationary position for a long time, for example, in front of a computer monitor or holding a phone in your hands.
- Incorrect, unbalanced diet, which is dominated by fats and hard-to-digest carbohydrates.
In this case, contacting a neurologist is mandatory.
And another dangerous cause of eye rolling is epilepsy. It appears in seizures, body twitching, head shaking, and convulsions. Additionally, there is loss of consciousness, throwing back of the head, strong clenching of the jaws, breathing slows down, and involuntary emptying of the bladder and intestines may occur. After an attack, the child seems to wake up and does not remember anything that happened to him.
The child rolls his eyes - what does it look like?
Parents often turn to the pediatrician with a complaint - the infant rolls his eyes and opens them in his sleep. A newborn baby’s eyelids indeed often open during rest, with the pupil moving upward and only the whites remaining visible. The eyes can be only slightly open, or they can open completely.
Sometimes an older child rolls his eyes upward before falling asleep or while awake. You cannot ignore such behavior or scold him for self-indulgence. Perhaps something is bothering the baby. Try to monitor the child’s condition - there may be other warning signs.
What is considered normal when a child rolls his eyes and what is not?
A small child who is not even a month old has no coordination of the eye muscles. Therefore, it is very difficult for him to focus his gaze on an object. Therefore, if an infant rolls his eyes, then this can be considered a normal condition.
If after a month the problem has not been resolved, then this may already be a deviation from the norm. A one-month-old baby is already able to focus his gaze on one object, and he has already developed coordination of the eye muscles. If this is not the case, then most likely there is a developmental deviation.
As a rule, the reasons why a child rolls his eyes can be the following:
- muscle tone is unevenly distributed;
- there are problems with intracranial pressure;
- likely to have epilepsy;
- Graefe's syndrome.
Characteristic signs of Graefe's syndrome are the rolling of the eyes downward. If a baby rolls his eyes upward when he falls asleep, then this is his individual characteristic. Very often children fall asleep like this. Such pathologies are extremely rare.
However, if this happens too often in a child, then you should consult a pediatrician, or show the baby to a neurologist. If the child has any pathology, therapy or therapeutic exercises will be prescribed. Often, uneven tone of the eye muscles leads to such problems. That's why the baby rolls his eyes up before going to bed. It would not be superfluous to consult an ophthalmologist.
What to do
The main thing that parents need to do is to calm down themselves. Don't panic. If eye rolling in newborns is no longer accompanied by any symptoms, this is normal, everything will go away after a month.
If this phenomenon occurs in older children, under no circumstances should you engage in any independent treatment or give medications to the baby. It is best to contact a pediatric neurologist who will make the correct diagnosis and, if necessary, prescribe treatment.
Why might a child roll his eyes when falling asleep?
If a newborn baby rolls his eyes, he is calm, sleeps well, sucks normally, there is no reason for alarm. This is a normal physiological state associated with the characteristics of the child’s body and the immaturity of his nervous system. In some cases, children older than one year indulge in this behavior when falling asleep.
On the other hand, in some cases such an anomaly indicates pathological processes and diseases. The condition of children and their behavior should always be monitored very closely. They are not able to evaluate and tell what worries them, so it is the responsibility of parents to notice violations in time.
Experts are much more concerned about eye rolling downward rather than upward. In this case, hydrocephalus or another neurological disorder may be suspected.
What is special about infants?
The eyes of any person are complex. This is an important organ of vision. The muscles that control the eyes are still developing in babies. Children of infancy are able to focus their gaze on an object closer to a month. As a rule, it is recommended to do simple exercises as eye exercises. They involve the child observing bright toys and objects.
However, if the baby was born prematurely, that is, premature, then he may roll his eyes. Most often, newborns roll their eyes when they want to sleep. This is explained by the fact that the child is between wakefulness and sleep. This behavior is not pathological and therefore should not cause concern.
If the eyes roll down and a white stripe is observed between the eyelid and the white of the eye, the doctor diagnoses it as Graefe’s symptom. It will gradually disappear with age. You just need to follow the doctor's recommendations. However, if the child not only has a problem with the eyes, but also:
- throws back his head;
- astigmatism is present;
- vomits profusely;
- cries for a long time.
This is already a sign that the child has a pathology.
[ads-pc-1]
When should you not worry?
In most situations, rolling the eyes upward in children does not signal the development of a pathological process. This phenomenon is observed in newborns.
As the baby gets older, this symptom will go away on its own. If parents are in doubt, they should consult a specialist.
When should you visit a specialist?
You should definitely see a doctor if your eye rolling is accompanied by the following symptoms:
- sleep disturbances, increased anxiety;
- it is impossible to concentrate your gaze on an object;
- increased excitability;
- frequent tilting of the head back;
- delay in mental, physical or mental health;
- jaw twitching;
- signs of strabismus;
- asymmetrical head shape;
- attacks of vomiting and nausea;
- lack of coordination;
- hyperthermia.
Should I worry?
Eye rolling is common in newborn babies. Before the age of one month, they are unable to control and focus their gaze. This is due to the still unformed eye muscles. In such cases, there is no need to worry. After reaching 30 days of age, this disorder will quickly disappear.
If the rolling of the eyes does not go away, then this may directly indicate some kind of nervous disorder. It is also worth paying attention to whether any other accompanying symptoms appear in addition to the main one. Under such circumstances, you should not delay visiting a doctor to rule out any possibility of illness.
Serious diseases associated with eye rolling are quite rare and do not occur en masse in children. There is no need to worry if your child has a habit of rolling their eyes while sleeping. This indicates that his eyeballs have a specific structure and their location is optimal during rest.
One should not exclude the moment when a child tries to attract the attention of parents with such a game. To eliminate this possibility, you need to monitor the baby and catch the moment when the rolling itself occurs.
Normal in newborns
In 90% of cases, eye rolling is normal for a newborn. The baby may try to look at an object that is above it. It happens that a baby who cannot hold his head rolls his eyes simply to look back or in the other direction.
Why is this happening? In newborn babies, the eye muscles have not yet formed, and the eyelids may open slightly during sleep. A month after birth, this will pass, the child will learn to control muscle movement. If eye rolling persists by 2-3 months of age, you should definitely consult a neurologist.
When should you see a doctor?
If the problem persists after the baby is one month old, he should be monitored very closely. Often this symptom indicates the presence of a serious pathology in the baby. Therefore, if the following symptoms are observed, then you need to see a doctor.
- The child's behavior became restless. He often cries, screams, starts twitching, and rolls his eyes.
- The baby is older than 3 months of age, but this symptom remains.
- There is weakness of the eye muscles.
- Suspicion of increased intracranial pressure.
- Development of epilepsy.
Such diseases require observation and treatment by a doctor. Moreover, if a child is already six months old, and his eyes are rolling up, and there are all the listed symptoms, then most likely there are health problems.
Associated symptoms and what they indicate
Sometimes eye rolling is a sign of a malfunction of the internal organs:
- a paroxysmal tonic upward gaze may be detected, which is inherited, is a complication of infectious processes, and can provoke deviations in the development of the baby’s psyche;
- if there are ENT diseases, additional pain, stuffy ears, lumbago in the ears, and fluid leakage occur;
- with epilepsy, there is additionally a lack of reactions to stimuli and tilting of the head;
- with increased intracranial pressure, strabismus, vomiting, and hyperthermia additionally appear.
Parents need to take their child to the doctor if there are accompanying signs:
- sleep disturbances, frequent crying, anxiety;
- the child moves his eyes not only upward, eye movements are uncoordinated and unnatural;
- hyperactivity, excitability;
- the head is often thrown back;
- delayed mental, mental and physical development;
- jaw trembling;
- strabismus;
- very fast and asymmetrical head growth;
- vomiting, nausea, excessive regurgitation in infants;
- the baby does not eat well and cannot breastfeed normally;
- motor coordination is impaired, the child bumps into furniture when walking;
- increase in body temperature.
If a child under one year of age has a very high temperature, convulsions, or loss of consciousness, you need to call an ambulance. Possible disruption of brain function due to severe intoxication during illness or an attack of intracranial hypertension.
Therapeutic measures
This disorder is treated by a pediatric neurologist and an ophthalmologist after a full examination of the baby.
Usually, children are not prescribed medications; eye exercises, massage, visiting the pool and physiotherapy are preferred.
Of course, if serious disorders are detected, treatment tactics will be more complex.
Under no circumstances should you self-medicate, especially with folk remedies. This condition can indicate many diseases, so nothing can be done without examination and consultation with a specialist.
Gymnastics for the eyes
Gymnastics for the eyes is used when an infant has decreased tone of the muscles of the face and eyes. It's easy to do:
- you need to pick up a bright, attractive toy, it’s good if it makes sounds;
- wait until the child focuses his gaze on her and pays attention;
- slowly the parent moves the toy in different directions (left-right, up-down, in a circle);
- the exercise continues until the child gets tired.
It is better to make sure that the child perceives gymnastics as a fun game; it needs to be accompanied by songs, nursery rhymes and a good mood. A mobile that hangs above the crib will help a lot in training the eye muscles, and the child monitors the movement of its elements.
To conduct a massage course, you need to contact a good massage therapist who has experience working with children. The procedures can be done at home or in a clinic. They will help tone the muscles, restore normal coordination of eye movements, and have a general strengthening effect on the body.
Depending on the child’s age, the doctor will prescribe physical procedures that will help restore the baby to normal tone of the eye muscles. This could be reflexology, baths with plant decoctions with a calming effect. If treatment is started on time, recovery occurs fairly quickly.
