Pink Eye -- Cleaning House!

My oldest had pink eye. We didn't clean anything and no one caught it. The biggest thing was making sure he washed his hands and did so if he touched his eyes.

I believe it needs moisture to stay contagious.

What did your doctor say?

After reading what Sunshine posted, one thing you should be careful of is external infection. What I mean is your daughter got it somewhere, most likely someone who didn't want to keep their child home. That same person was infection others so if you come in contact with them it comes right home again. The son I talked about, pink eye went around his class for over a month. They just kept sending their kids to school while they were still contagious.

I'll be honest - my youngest had the same diagnosis last week and we saw some symptoms starting in my oldest after that - so both have had antibiotics. I have not cleaned anyones sheets, but I did wash their towels. I was never told to do anything special and this was our first experience with pinkeye (of course I also didn't ask if I needed to do anything). They are almost done with eye drops, so I guess we'll see if I should have cleaned the sheets........

ETA - just read Jo's comment, we def did handwashing cause I know that is the biggest way to get pink eye!

Yes, rewash the sheets she uses tonight.

It's the cost of a load of laundry versus the risk of reinfection.

Just re-wash the pillow case. Handwashing is the key. Is she on oral antibiotics or drops? My son had such a bad case in May that the doctor prescribed both, and he missed three days of school. I only changed his pillowcase and facecloth, and nobody else in the house got it, even his brother who was trying to get it so he could also miss school.

I nver heard of cleaning soft srufaces. We had pinkeye last year and nobody told us to do that. I would just make sure to clean all doorknobs and anything else that is a hard surface.
Watch getting it yourself though-mine was the worst and took a week to clear up and was SO painful!

Well, I remember one of the times my son got pink eye....

the doctor said most of the times it is viral, so the antibiotic does no good... but the schools won't let them in until they've been on antibiotics for 24 hours.....

You are NOT overthinking this, in my opinion. We are dealing with the same thing right now. My daughter had severe pink eye for 11 days and was on 3 different meds. I cleaned like a maniac and we washed hands feverishly. My son got infected ON THE ELEVENTH DAY -sorry for shouting, I'm just can't believe that he got it after all those days!!!!!! Ack!

Your daughter will still be contagious after 24 hours if she still has matter coming from her eyes. Wait until she is no longer gooping at the eyes and wash everything.

My son is missing out on swimming lessons and one of his favorite uncles won't be able to attend his birthday party this weekend because uncle is a transplant recipient and pink eye could be really hard on his body.

Pink eye stinks!!!! Sorry that your daughter got it and I hope her meds clear things up soon! :)