Sticky Eye

My darling boy has got sticky eye, which means that the tear duct is blocked or not working properly or something, and yellow 'gunk' is constantly around his eye and sticks all over his eyelashes, it is very hard to remove. He hates it when we try to remove it, using a warm washcloth.

I know he will eventually grow out of it, but I was hoping that one of you would know how to clean the eye and whether any sort of eye drops work?

TIA

When Lachlan had conjunctivitis, we just used warm washcloths as well.

Love

I was told by the CHN to squirt some breastmilk in and it worked really well with Matilda... I have no idea why or how LOL and I thought it was really weird at the time :D

I did the breast milk thing too, and that also worked well for us. Apparently it is to do with the antibodies in breast milk?? And otherwise just wiped his eye with warm wet cotton wool.

I did the bm thing too and it is like an atibiotic. I also got some salt water solution from Chemist or make some yourself and wipe it with that. Ensure you only use the cloth once as dubble wiping it can re infect. I found cotton balls the best. one wipe and throw out. and wipe from inner to outer part of eye. If you are using wash clothes be sure to wash them after each use.
hth they do grow out of it.

Both my girls had sticky eye too, and we had to wash the eyes for months until it cleared up. I was also told that a saltwater solution you buy from the chemist or make up is the best. If you have to do it for months like I did, it is much cheaper to make your own saline solution with boiled water and a sterilised bottle. One wipe across the eye from tear duct out with a cotton ball was the advice I had.

Apparently you need to do it at least 3 times a day, which is a real hassle but bubs will get used to it eventually and they do stop wriggling and crying.

Jacob had conjunctivitis when he was just a week old, the poor little blighter. The GP prescribed chloromycetin drops, which really helped, but we also used a cotton ball and warm water to clean the eye, which we did several times a day. We used a separate cotton ball for each eye and wiped from the inside of the eye to the outside.

Hope it clears up soon!

hi nellbe

same suggestions here as everyone else. my poor ds suffered from in on and off for his first six mths, lani had it about 1mth ago, all i do is make salt water - cooled boiled water with a bit of salt, wipe the eye from inside out with a clean cotton ball each time then squirt the milk in when feeding - she got such a shock when she got an eyefull of milk she looked at me as if to say wtf lol - cleared it up brilliantly though.

good luck

Both of my boys had blocked tear ducts. The breast milk and wiping with a wet cotton ball will help get the gunk off easy. I was told to massage with light pressure from the corner of the inner eye down the side of the nose a couple of times a day to help unblock the duct. I'm not sure if that worked or if it was the fact that Angus had a growth spurt but one morning it was cleared up like it had never been blocked!

thanks ladies, I have done the breast milk and cotton ball thing and it is looking so much better already.

appreciate your help and advice :)