Breastfeeding Moms - Washington,MO

Breast milk does not cause eye infections. It is actually the opposite effect because of the antibodies in the breast milk:). I would suggest shielding his eyes with your hand when he latches off.

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Breastmilk may actually help the situation. It will do no harm.

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I agree with the other PP's but no one addressed how to help you stop it.
It's a pain but maybe you need to pump about 5 minutes before feeding your baby so there is less of a gush of milk coming out. Atleast a few minutes of pumping should help the flow slow down a bit so your son isn't having to gulp.

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My daughters who are both breastfeeding their sons have actually used breastmilk to help with nasal congestion in their sons...there are antibodies in breastmilk ...and so I seriously doubt that it is the breastmilk causing your sons eye irritations. It could be something as simple as the clogged tear ducts that someone else has already mentioned. I would think a warm wash cloth would be a great way to clear out his little eyes....just let it soak on there as long as he is willing to put up with it.
Is the "gunk" clear or greenish/brownish? If it is clear then it is not an infection...just normal fluids produced by the eye.

I agree with everyone that breastmilk helps the eyes. My son had a clogged duct and I was able to massage breastmilk in the area and it cleared it up where he didn't need any antibiotics. I massaged it in so maybe just "shooting" it in didn't unclog it, but it really works!

I have a feeling it is a clogged tear duct. Some of my babies had this. Warm compresses help a lot. I really don't think it is the breastmilk. I accidentally squirted all of my babies....lol! They do grow out of the clogged tear duct at about a year old. I really think that is it, you will have to let me know.

The eye infections aren't from breastmilk, in fact they may have been worse if you weren't accidentally squirting the milk into his eyes. Sounds like he may have a clogged tear duct - which is quite common in infants.

Breastmilk can be used to treat MANY things, including eye infections, abrasions on the skin, congestion (in the nose), etc.

Great job so far and if you need some more information, check out www.kellymom.com

I agree with the other posters. I've actually heard that you should massage breast milk into a clogged tear duct to help clear the infection.