"Sticky" Eye

If you are breastfeeding or a friend is, putting breast milk on usually works wonders :) It has a lot of speical things in it :)

I remember my son having this when he was little. The Dr. had said it was a clogged tear duct and kept watch on it. We massaged the corner of his eye as much as possible and also did the warm water washcloth. Some mornings his eye was so matted, he had a hard time opening it. No worry though, it does clear up and is nothing to worry about. Just keep doing what you are and she'll be ok.
~SR

If you are concerned about it that much you should call and talk to the dr, or if you are breastfeeding you can squirt some in your little ones eye everytime you feed her. I did this with my son when he was about 4 months old and he showed marked improvement within a day and fully better within 4 days. I have heard of quite a few moms trying this and having success. i have heard that if it is clogged duct they wont do surgery until after a year of age so it shouldn't hurt to try the breastmilk for now. But you are always the right judge of your child and if you are really concerned then you should contact your doctor. I never even mentioned my sons eye troubles to the dr because he healed up so quickly.

My son had this when he was little. I was told to massage the lower lid (where we adults get bags under our eyes) from the outside to the inside--cheekbone in to the nose. This will help clear up the area and increase blood flow and circulation.

My daughter had a clogged duct until she was 9 months then it cleared up on its own. Like others said, keep using the warm wet washcloth, massage the side of the nose by the clogged duct, spray breastmilk into the eye. These things all help.

I'd only go into the doctor before the 2 month appointment if her eye is looking infected (red, swollen), not just sticky. The stickiness may go on for another year, unfortunately.

This is not too much to be concerned about. Probably a clogged eye duct - my daughter had this as well. You are correct in using a clean wash cloth with warm water. You could also ask your doctor about massaging it. This will go away, the timing can be different for different kids - my daughter's didn't go away until she was 9 months. Try not to worry and know it will eventually go away.

My neice had an issue similar to this. Her eyes are prone to infection. Everytime she gets a cold of any kind she getts goopy eyes. Her doctor gave her some kind of antibiotic eye drops that my sis just put in once or twice a day as needed. Even at one she still has these issues but not as bad.
You doctor may have just wanted to wait to see if it is a real issue or just a newborn issue, since most babies get gunky eyes since their tear ducks aren't developed completely. If the eye looks really bad i would take her in just so the infection doesn't get too bad. But if it is just sticky and yucky right after she wakes up you should be fine to wait until her next appointment.

if you are nursing then shoot a little breast milk into those eyes. Breast milk is full of antibodies and it should clear up in a day or two.

Hi J., you have gotten a lot of feedback on this but I thought I would throw in my experience with it. My daughter had the clogged duct surgery when she was 1 year old. It cleared it up for the most part, except when she gets a cold. We have a standing prescription for the same eye drops you use when they have pink eye. When it starts getting "goopy" (as we call it) we give her two drops in each eye in the morning and two drops in each eye at night and it clears it up. She hates the drops but we tell her it gets rid of the goop (she is now 2 1/2). Her father had the same thing when he was a baby so it sounds like it can be genetic to have small openings for the tear ducts. His never really cleared up and even at 30 years old he still gets goopy eyes when he gets a cold. He just puts a few drops in and it clears it right up!

J.,

My two boys had clogged tear ducts. Just keep wiping it out with a warm, clean, wet wash cloth (inside of eye to out.) You can also massage their tear duct right after washing your fingers to stimulate unclogging and wait for her to outgrow it. My oldest son had to have a prescription antibiotic, but the doctor let it go for a month before resorting to it.

Good luck,
S.

My daughter had the same thing; very sticky and actually by 7 months we took her to the eye doctor and they did surgery to open the tear ducts. Turns out one was "double blocked" and never would have cleared up on its own. Most doctors want you to wait 6-8 months because sometimes they do clear up on their own. THe stickiness seems to be pretty common with this. Good Luck.

my daughter had the same problem, it was just the clogged duct, so with time everything got better. I'd just wait it out, instead of going towards the prescription. My dr. told me it could last up to 8 months but clear in less then 3 months. She cleared it up within 2 months.

Also, just like another one of the ladies responses, try the breast milk. I did this and it helped out, didn't clear it all out, but most of it. and i've heard of lots of other ppl that have done it and it worked for them. so its always worth a try!

good luck!

J. -

My son had the same issue - it showed up around 2 months and I was terrified that he had pink eye! Turned out it was just a clogged tear duct - somewhat common. What the dr. told me to do was to put a warm compress (washcloth) on his eye a few times a day for as long as he would allow (less than a minute) and then to massage the corner of his genetly to help open up the duct. You can also massage a drop of breastmilk into the corner of the eye. The problem has pretty much gone away (he's 8 mths now) but will pop up sometimes when he has a cold.

Both my dr. and a good friend of ours who is an eye dr. said that these tend to clear up on their own. Should it not clear up later on there is a surgery that can be done.

Best of luck to you!
K.

My daughter also had a clogged tear duct when she was a young baby. Got some RX for it, cleared it right up.

Starting when she was two and a half, she started complaining about her eyes hurting, and at night, when the lamps were on, she'd cry and say they were hurting her eyes. Her pediatrician didn't think there was anything to worry about, that her eyes were just sensitive because she's blond and blue eyed. However, mother's instinct told me to have her eyes checked.

By the time I could get an appt with a Ped Opthamologist (there are hardly any in our big city of over 250,000 people!), my daughter turned three. She needed glasses--severe far sighted. She also developed Strabismus in one eye. Her eye doctor asked me which eye had had the tear duct problem--it was the same eye that she now had the Strabismus in. Her doctor told me he's been seeing many, many babies coming in that need glasses for far sightedness--and he's seen a correlation between them having clogged tear ducts as babies and now needing glasses.

Not to alarm you, but I'd get her eye(s) taken care of as soon as you can.

Hi J.,

It definitely sounds like a clogged duct issue, I had the same problem with both of my kids. With my first, they had me to the same, "watch" it and eventually they gave me some cream that cleared it IMMEDIATELY. With my son, the doctor gave me the prescription right away for some reason and again it cleared it right up.

Apparently the doctors hope it will resolve on it's own, but for me that happened with neither. If it is bad enough that you have to clean it several times a day and she can't keep her eye open as she should, I would get pushier and tell them you really want this to resolve and ask for a prescription.

Every doctor is different and obviously they are always cautious about medicine with newborns, but in my experience this one was an easy fix and well worth getting the cream in their eyes a few times to clear it up.

Good luck,
Beth

I've also heard that breastmilk is great for eye irritations. We used chamomile tea (cooled down, of course) on a cotton ball and wiped my son's eyes. His eye goop didn't last long. I forget what it is about chamomile, but it's good for goopy eyes.

you can rub the inside corner of her eye to work on that clogged duct.
this is very common. it will go away on its own, though it seems like it takes forever.
just rub there by her nose, and that should help.

my son had clogged tear ducts to and his eyes were matted shut often in the mornings. it did get better as he got older and he finally grew out of it right before his 1st bday. if you are concerned you should call the doc but they may just tell you to keep gently applying a warm wash cloth a few times a day. hope it gets better soon.

My oldest had a clogged tear duct as a baby and it resolved itself after a few weeks. We did massage the area of her forehead/nose between her eyes and that helped. In fact, I have massaged all my kids there when tired or fussy because they all like it.

IT SOUNDS LIKE A CLOGGED TEARDUCT. mY SON HAD ONE FROM BIRTH TILL 10 MONTHS. tHE DOC WAS GONNA DO SURGERY AT 12 MONTHS BUT IT CLEARED UP ON ITS ON. dONT WORRY ABOUT IT, THEY NORMALLY CLEAR UP.

Hi J.,
My son had a blocked tear duct until he was 13 months or so. He had to get the surgery and had a really stubborn duct becuase it closed again and then they had to place a tube (like in the ears) in to keep it open for several weeks. When I was at the doctor (Dr. Andrew Harrison) at the UofM hospital he said that peds think that you should wait until a year to see if it goes away itself, but going to a ped eye doctor when they are younger than that they can open it up in the office without having to put them under and do surgery.
I think that you should try the things that people have said and talk to your doctor at 2 months if it hasn't cleared up at all. Or maybe call ###-###-#### and just talk to Dr Harrison's office and see what they say. Hope that helps! I would trust this doctor with any of my children!!!!! He is very good