" Advice About Child's Eyes "

My child also had greenish discharge from his eyes, it was so bad, he couldn't open his eyes, I told the Doctor and he told be it was a bacterial infection. He prescribed antibiotic drops, and it cleared up in about 5 days. The drops had to be applied three times a day. They also have ointment as well, but I think drops are effecient. About 2 years later, he developed the same infection again and Antibiotic was prescribed again, and it cleared up as well. He hasn't had it since.

if the "gunk" is green is sounds like it could be a bcterial infection. make the dr, take a look at it and give you some anitbiotic eye drops. i took my daughter in for green gunk and told dr that i thought it was bacterial and she said good thought that if it is green is usually does mean an infection, clear or even yellow would be somewhat normal, but green is bad. hope this helps.
T. s

In response to something another mom said about an infection not lasting so long, my son had conjunctivitis (a similar infection to pink-eye) and his eyes gooped for his first 4 months before the 3rd round of antibiotics the pediatric opthamoligist gave us finally worked (he just kept reinfecting from one eye to the other). He was entirely healthy in every other way.

Hey D.,
I know how you feel, my best friend's daughter is going thru the same thing...her Pediatrician gave her some eye drops and told them to massage her eyes. They always have a warm washcloth on hand...Ava is only 4 1/2 months but they told her the same - 6 months and if no changes at that point, they would send her to a specialist to discuss surgery.

Best of Luck to you!

Trish

Hi,

Been where you are. She would wake up with her eye crusted shut. The doctor would say use a warm wet cloths and massage the tear duct...yadda, yadda. I guess for some it does clear up but my daughters never did. I kept pressing my doctor for a solution. They kept saying, usually by a year it clears up.

Goopy baby eye was not the life I wanted for her first year of life. She was such a happy healthy baby and everytime everyone saw her that didn't know about her clogged tear ducts, they would say, "Oh sad baby" or "Oh is she sick?" It was sad too because I could tell most were uncomfortable looking at her because of her eye. I even think her grandparents didn't bond with her because of it.

At her 12 month check up, I had had it. I insisted that we do something. They sent me to Long Beach Family Medical Eye Center near Long Beach Memorial Hospital. I saw a doctor who did eye duct probes. He explained the proceedure to me as if our eyes are a sink drain. Just like the water goes down the drain, the tears are supposed to go down the back of the throat and fall onto the back of the tongue. Because the duct is clogged or not formed properly, he goes in like Roto Rooter (his words, not mine) and clears that drain. He also said that if you wait longer than 2 years of age, the chances of it clogging again and needing another surgery jumps up significantly in percentage. Eldery patience have this proceedure often too because as they age, their "plumbing" can get clogged more easily.

At 13 months she went under for surgery and the very next day woke up with perfect clear "goopy free" eyes. I cried. It was such a relief to all of us but for the first time since she was born I could finally just see her pretty face.

It was a hard decision before but such and easy decision in hind sight. It was very a emotional time. She was frightened a bit before but I got to be with her while the put her under with gas. It was sad to watch. She woke up not feeling well and was shaking and crying alot but by the time we got her home, she was eating and feeling great. We even took her to the park later that day. The build up to the decision is worse than the actual event itself.

The surgery only took 15 minutes but we had to prepare her from not eating the night before, and arriving super early with no bottles. Most hospitals let the babies get first dibs on surgery times since they know they can't go long with no bottles.

My daughter is about to be 2 this month and I'm so glad we took care of it when we did. Actually, I wish we had done is sooner but according to the surgeon, that age was the perfect age to the best result and to avoid another surgery later.

Ask your doctor for a referral if at 10 months it doesn't clear up. That way you can set things in motion for when she turns one and maybe even have it done before her first birthday. I had to constantly wipe her eye all day so we could get good birthday pictures minus the goopy eye.

PS. I do notice now that when she cries, her tears seem to leak from her nose more. It's fine with me though because it's easier and safer to wipe a runny nose than her eye over and over.

Good luck. M.

My grandson has the same problem it is an infection we have to put drops in his eyes especially when it is soo windy.

I went through this for years with my daughter - creams and ointments - nothing worked - - - finally got her into a Pediatric Opthomologist (make sure they are an MD and a pediatric specialist) Turns out my daughter has a disease called Bletharus (I spelled it wrong) - - - the skin around her eyes does not flake off like normal skin - it eventually started causing lumps to grow in her lids - - - she has to wash her eyes every day with either baby shampoo or "Eye Scrub" pads.... she is 12 now - still has to wash, but the problem went away - I can always tell if she fibs about washing cause it comes right back.

My 8 month old gets that green gunk all the time. Not as bad as your daughter, but stll a lot. Its her tear ducts they are clogged up. Did you try massaging them. Just massage the inner corner of her eyes. It should help. It does with my daughter. Also try using warm washclothes on her eyes. Good luck

It seems to me that it's about time for a new pediatrician...I have no information that tells me what he says about the tear ducts are true or false, but I do know that green gunk could be an infection like Pink eye...I do not think that it would last that long untreated, even in a small infant with a less than strong immune system. I would take the baby in and demand to be referred and if Dr. won't do it, find a new one and make him or her refer you. There is no reason why a person can't go to a specialist for the "just in case." My son has had to go to a GI specialist (stomach, intestines, etc) for the "just in case" for going on a year now. There's nothing wrong with him, but he was small and his Ped. decided to send him just in case. The GI did everything and is now just seeing him every 6 mos. or so to check up that everything is still fine. Make your DR send the baby! Do not leave until the paper work is done! Just because you don't have a medical degree doesn't mean that you are not incharge of the baby and the medical decisions for her!

Take care, and be strong,
M. M.

My now 3 year old daughter Morgan has had allergies since birth. I am not big on med's at all. I do everything I can to reduce the discomfort with natural remadies. ut in Morgans case I did not have a choice but to have the doctor write her a Rx. You may want to talk to your doc about some eye drops called "Polymyxin B-Trimeth. These really cleared up her allergies, which effect her eyes and nose. Before the drops she would look like she wa crying she had so much drainage, and when she got the littlest of colds it would turn into green eye bugers (as my girls call them). These drops are great and within 2 days her eyes were cleared up. She has to take a Rx (Zertec) for her allergies but the eyes are only tear-filled now. So you may want to ask about these drops.

C. J.

The same thing happened with my daughter. She had a blocked tear duct. She had to have a very minor surgery when she was 4 months old to open it. It took about 20 minutes to do and I took her home the same day. She was a little bruised around her eyes, but other than that she was fine. She's 7 now and we never had a problem again.
For now, use warm washclothes in the morning to soften the gunk and gently remove it. Also there is an eye cream I would use when I was younger called "Terimicina". I would put it on my eyelashes at night before I went to bed. It would prevent the gunk.
Hope that helps.

First off, I love, Love, LOVE the name Caitlyn. I keep suggesting it to my husband for if we ever have a girl. He wants Chloe (actually Cloette and call her Cloe) and Kathryn (Katie).

Second, it's probably nothing but I would definitely get the referral. No Dr. can know ALL the aliments that affect everyone. In fact, one of my doctors once said that “Di-ag-nosis” means “two don’t know” or “at least two doctors have figured out what it MIGHT be.” I think he was joking, but it still made me think, and laugh.

I was also wondering if you happen to have Kaiser Insurance. They are NOTORIOUS for putting patients concerns on the back burner. No matter what your health coverage is, a Dr. is REQUIRED to give you any reasonable referral you ask for. I’ve also heard that insurance companies are required to reimburse you for any out of pocket expenses for receiving a second opinion, even if it’s from a different hospital. (Although I don’t know this for fact.) I would suggest going to county health department for another opinion if he still puts you off. Be demanding and an advocate in the health and well being of your child. If your doctor isn’t aiding you as a member of YOUR team, replace him with someone who will. Your daughter is worth it, and so are you! Good luck! –Janell-

I would go and get a second opinion or try and get your doctor to send you to a pediatric opthamologist/eye doctor (probably not spelling that right), even if to just set your mind at ease. My daughter was an extreme preemie and caught an infection whilst in the NICU....with bright green gunk in her eyes. I hate to scare you, but the color of the gunk made me want to write to you as my daughter's infection had to be treated with antibiotics. If the gunk were white or cream it probably would be ok, but green is usually a sign of infection. I'm not a doctor, but that's what I've been told. Keep nagging your doctor or go to another one who will refer you to a specialist. I have noticed that if you are firm and/or insistent with most doctor's, they will cave in and have you go see a specialist.

D. it sounds like your child has overactive tear ducts one of my friends had the same problem with her baby and they went down and had surgery done all they did was slice a little portion by the tear duct for they would drain you should go back and talk to the doctor again and ask him if there is anythin you can do since he did say it would clear up within 6 months and it hasn't

My son had the same kind of thing when he was an infant. His pediatrician told us the same thing your doctor said excepting that it could go on for 5 years. What I did is use a washcloth with just warm water - no soap - to wash away the green icky.

I have a 4 month old baby girl and she also has the yucky gunk in her right eye. she's had it on both eyes but it went away on the left one. her doctor gave me some medicine to put in her eye for 5 days but it didn't work. the only thing that keeps her eye clean for a while is chamomile tea (of course not hot), i just put a few drops on her eye to clean it and it stays clean for a while but of course it comes back. i'll be taking her to the doctor's tomorrow so we'll see what she says about her eye not getting better.

My 4 month old son also has an undeveloped tear duct on his left eye. My doctor told me that it usually clears itself up by the age of 1 year (not 6 months) and that if it doesn't clear up on it's own they would do a simple surgery to fix it. But most babies will not have to have surgery, and this is pretty common so don't worry! My doctor also showed me how to massage my son's eye to help get the gunk out. Ask your daughter's doctor to show you how, it's really easy and helps to clear everything out of her eye. I really hope this helps!

My son had under developed tear ducts until he was 10 months old. He constantly had runny eyes, and goo coming out, sometimes to the point of not being able to open them. Our doctor told us that it usually clears up by a year old, and if not, there is a simple procedure they can do to clear it up. He also gave us a few things that could help. He told us to put a warm compress on the eye, and to massage the tear duct with your pinkie to help loosen up all of the gunk.We went to the eye doctor, and scheduled the procedure and then his eyes all of a sudden cleared up, we haven't had any problems since and he is 18 months old now.

Hello, this is mother who also had a baby with the green eye gunk. To find out that my Jordan was lactose intolerant and took about 2months on soy and poooooff GONE!!!!
Ask your ped to do an alergie test or just switch diet and find out, it wouldn't hurt to try everything. Doctors can't keep up with everything, but it is a allergic reaction from the body. Good Luck and God Bless. Becca
Have a sparkling Day! www.athome.com/rebeccadavis

The same thing happened to my daughter, but the dr. gave me medicine to put in her eyes, and it cleared up pretty quick. He said it was her tear ducts. I think you need to find another dr. or at least get a second opinion because she shouldn't have to wait that long for her eyes to clear up. I hope everything goes well.

My son had that too. My pediatrician said it was clogged tear ducts also. She had me massage his tear ducts (just put your finger in a warm, damp, clean wash cloth and gently massage the skin below the inner corner of the eye, next to the nose) several times a day and it cleared right up. My best friend's daughter had the same thing but her pediatrician didn't tell her about massaging them. Her daughter ended up needing minor surgery to "probe" her tear ducts - basically they inserted a metal probe through them to open them up. I don't know if her daughter's tear ducts were more clogged than my son's but the massage definitely worked for him.

:-)T.

Hi D.,
My youngest also had blocked tear ducts as an infant. I'm sure your pediatrician told you abou this but just in case they did not here is a massage she had me do to my daughters eyes. You put your index finger in the corner of her eye and with firm pressure *but not too firm of course* roll your finger towards the nose and repeat a few times, a few times a day. You could definetley talk to your pediatricain about that excercise if you havent already, it did actually help us. I think it was about your childs age that our daughters started clearing up. But you know if you think theres something wrong you should probably go with your instincts and get it checked out. there has been some times that Ive gone to the doctor unneccessarily but at least it gives you peace of mind right?! Good luck!

My daughter is 5 now and she had that same exact thing as an infant. The doctor told me the same thing that her tear ducts weren't open. Well at about 10 months old my ex-mother-in-law (who is a little overzealous about germs and coughs) said that this was "just not right" and took her to a peds eye doc and he told us the same thing. So at 11 months old she had them opened. They did it with laser surgery. It really wasn't anything to worry about it took less than 15 minutes and she came home half any hour later. The whole thing was less than 1 hour. The longest thing was waiting for the docs to setup the room for the surgery. She was fine after that and her eyes are just fine now. So if I were you I wouldn't worry about it. There is nothing that the docs can do til she's older anyways. But really it's not a big deal. Don't worry- everything will be just fine. I hope this helps.

My daughter had the same problem with goopy eyes, and my doctor also told me that it would clear up, but it didn't go away on it's own. She prescribed me eye drops called Vigamox, and once I started using them, Emily's eyes cleared up very well. She also told me to massage her tear ducts in order to help them develop, and that seemed to help too. She is now almost 14 months old and has no more problem with the eye goop. If I even start to see a bit of goop I simply give her a few of the drops that I keep "just in case", and it goes away overnight. Hope this helps!

Hi there,

The same thing happened with my little boy, now three. When he was an infant, the poor baby would wake up and couldn't open his eyes because of all the goop he had in them. I was told the same thing...that the tear ducts weren't fully developed and that after six months or so that he would be ok. His doctor prescribed eye drops for him called "Ciprofloxacin" which is generic for "Ciloxan". You apply two drops per eye, 3 times a day and this really helped clear this problem up. This condition continued up until after his first birthday, but with the drops, it didn't occure quiet as often. Sometimes even now at age 3, his eyes get a bit goopy...I'm told now that its caused by mild allergies that he has so I continue to use the drops whenever needed. I hope this helps!

Hey D.! My daughter Kaitlyn had really yucky goo in her eyes as well when she was an infant. I was worried too, but eventualy it cleared up. I believe she was about 6 months when it got better, but by 8 months it was all gone. It is just a clogged tear duct. Did your ped show you how to massage the eye to help clear the duct? It's really easy! Warm wash cloths will loosen up the goo. Use the wash cloths in the morning when she wakes up. Then just gently rub between the inner eye and nose. Rub upwards towards the forehead. Do this a few times a day. Eventually it will look normal! :o) Don't worry! My son had the same problem too, but not as long. I'm sooooo happy to hear that your hubby is home!! YAY!!! My hubby is a marine too (based at Pendleton). I know how those deployments can be when you have little ones! Keep us posted on how Caitlyn is doing!!

Have you tried putting breastmilk on the goopy area of her eye? Sometimes that will clear all eye infections right up.

Correct their tear ducts are not opened yet. My son had a terrible time wtih them. My doctor told me to buy Johnson & Johnson first aide cotton balls. It is a big box. Just use warm water each time you use one and do it often. Never use a wash cloth because those can be stratchy and their eyes are very sensitive. Hope this helps!

I really don't know what it could be for sure. My son had a clogged tear duct when he was born and I was told to massage it a few times a day to open it. It went away by the time he was about 2 months old. He did have a little watering and crust on it, but for a short time. My son also had allergies and sometimes got irritated eyes from that. I would maybe try a different pediatrician. 7 months seems like a long time to have the problem. Good luck!

L.

Aww I know how you feel. My son who is three now had the same thing from birth till about 5 months or so, and the doctors always told me the same thing...keep waiting...till one day as I was bathing him, and ever so lightly pressed on the area underneath the corner of his eye (to wash away the gunk probably!!) and that tiny, slight pressure sent a big stream of the green discharge flooding out of his tear duct! I was so freaked out, I ran to the doctor as soon as I could get him dried and dressed, and I was so frantic, they finally gave us anti-biotic drops to clear up the gunk! I don't know WHY they didn't do that in the first place! No one likes to see their poor little babies eyes stuck shut first thing in the morning! Oh how I remember how sad I felt when he would wake up, all smiles, with that big no tooth grin, and one of his eyes stuck completely shut! It didn't seem to bother him much as long as we kept it cleaned up, but i'm sure they feel much better not having to deal with stuck eyes!

I just got up and looked, I still have the box of eye drops haha time to clean the cupboard! They were called Quixin. You should ask your doc about them. They don't seem to like to prescribe *anything* till you get a little pushy! And yes, for the sake of my child, I can be a downright nuisance! ;o)

Hope your little one feels better soon! In the meantime, those warm, wet compresses will keep her eye clean and comfortable.Good luck!

this may sound really strange and thats how my chiropractor statred her answer to me when I had the same question a few yrs. back but she told me to squirt a small amount of breast milk on to the eyes while they are shut ie. when they start to fall asleep while feeding and the breast milk has natural antibodies that will help clear up the green gunk I would let it just pool up and after a while dry with a clean cloth and the next day it was clear a few times it would come back and I would do it again and it went away. Like I said it sounds strange but at least for us it worked good luck always....elle

my son who is now 8, had the same exact thing when he was a baby. it was soo bad that when he would wake up in the morning his eyes would be completely sealed shut because of all the gunk. (this was before i was married to the navy) so i would take him to the doctor who is really good but tricare won't pay for it (sucks) anyways he told me it was due to clogged tear ducts and that if he didn't grow out of it that he could refer me for a procedure to unclogg it. the procedure consisted of a doctor putting a needle like instrument into the tear duct, kind of like popping a pimple.
in the mean time i just had to constantly wipe his eyes with warm rags. like i said my son is now 8 and he still has a problem with gunky stuff coming out, but the doctors on base say it's conjuctiveitis (basically pink eye). i think they are full of it because pink eye is contagious and kids don't wash their hands like they are suppose to lol, but no one else in my family gets it not even my 5 yr old.
i can say though that the drops and ointment that they prescribe do work.
mayb you can ask the doctors about clogged tear ducts and see what they say.
i hope this helps
good luck