leaky goobery eyes at 1 week?

[prettymachine]

my LO woke up this morning with leaky goobery crusty eyes... i cleaned them but it keeps coming back all day...its this normal for 1 week olds?

 

[alc316]

very normal!

Of course, just mention it at your babies next Doc visit. But my DD had this starting at around a week too. Its blocked tear ducts. Our Doc told us to use a damp, warm washcloth to gently massage from the inner corner of the eye, down along the nose. make tiny circle motions as you slowly sweep downwards. You are essentially breaking up the blockage. Do it as much as you want but at least twice a day. I did it everytime it got really goopy. My poor DD= she would wake up and not be able to open her one eye at all. She had it in both eyes but one was worse. Also- always make sure to rub each eye with a new part of the washcloth, and to change the washcloth often, to avoid infection from one eye to the other (this is very important!)

So yes, totally normal- but still hard for a Mommy to deal with. I was hit pretty hard by the baby blues around this time too, so basically it didn't matter what the Doc told me, or how many times, in my mind I was convinced it was something worse- that she was going blind or something! But no- shes fine It took about two weeks or so, but it eventually cleared up completely. Just keep massaging

Congrats on your brand new baby Hope things are going great!

 

[Bec27]

Yes my son had the same and they took a swab to make sure there wasn't any infection- if it's at all red you should take lo to docs or mention it to your midwife. For us it was blocked tear duct though same as above- good advice there. We were told to clean the eye with cotton wool and saline. To make saline measure 1 pint of water and add 1 tspn of salt. Boil for 10 mins. Then sweep from inside corner out when cleaning. Solution only lasts 24 hours so you might like to halve it as it makes a lot. Definitely do the massage explained above too as that will unblock the duct and clear it up x

 

[bigbetty]

Yep that's totally normal. I just soaked cotton wool balls in cooled boiled water and swept it along her eye from the inside out - we did take her to the doctor and she told me this was the right thing to do. Luckily it wasn't infected and was just a blocked tear duct as the others have said.

 

[Jeewizz]

My DS had this too - we started off by cleaning it with cooled boiled water for a few days without much luck. Then the HV advised putting a drop of breast milk in twice a day... and hey presto, it was gone in 24 hours! Amazing stuff

 

[prettymachine]

Ive heard the beastmilk thing before... Does it need to be directly on the eyeball or is ru bing it in her lashline when her eyes are closed good enough?

 

[Jeewizz]

I used a teaspoon to drop some in like you would an eyedrop. I didn't feel like wiping it from cotton wool or whatever would get enough in. DS didn't seem to mind!

 

[Aunty E]

Breastmilk is great for this. Imogen's persisted, so we asked the midwife what to do and she recommended optrex infected eye drops. They're not licensed for use on babies though, so you have to lie to the pharmacist to get them I would try breastmilk first, but the optrex was the only thing that cleared up Mog. I've also been given them by a doctor for her when she was a year old, so it's not just a midwife thing!

 

[stardust599]

It can be totally normal but I would also call NHS Direct as eye infections in newborns can be more serious. When my LO was around 5 or 6 days old she had it in one eye and we had to go into hospital for observation as they can be quite severe. They will take a swab and prescribe a cream and if they find an infection will start LO on anti-biotics too xx

 

[summer rain]

OP is in the US . I agree try the breastmilk thing; what I used to do was saturate a cotton wool ball with it and half wipe/half squeeze the BM into the eye xx

 

[v2007]

Totally normal.

Boiled water cleans it well as does booby juice

V xxx

 

[prettymachine]

I have to use a nipple sheild do getting enough to drop in is easy...its getting her to open her eyes while feeding thats hard lol.

 

[Lauki]

Ive heard the beastmilk thing before... Does it need to be directly on the eyeball or is ru bing it in her lashline when her eyes are closed good enough?

My LO had a goopy eye for like 8 weeks straight. Nothing would clear it up, I cleaned it for weeks several times a day with boiled water and even had drops from the Docs.

Then one day someone said: Use some breastmilk. So I sterilised a bottle and my pump, pumped a bit of breastmilk and with a cotton wool pad I used that to wipe her eye for 1 day. The next day it cleared up and she's been pretty without goopy eye ever since.

 

[dueinmarch]

Um, this is also another suggestion - it's a european thing.
But dip a cotton pad into diluted chamomile tea. Pure.
It works way better then just water.

 

[DarlingMe]

It is from a blocked drainage duct in the eye. Usually your eyes tear up and drain into your sinus cavity. Sometime that duct isnt quite mature and causes excess tears which get goopy too. I think the breastmilk just helps flush better. Our ped said to massage the duct in the corner of the eye with warm water. I am glad that it cleared up quickly with the BM for most of you! I didnt work for us. He still has it at 8 weeks, but it is improving.