Goopy eyes

aprilmay92 · November 2015

Anyone else's LO have constant eye goo? My led said its just a clogged tear duct and to do massage and warm compress but it's making ZERO difference. Any other tips?

thinkpink101 · November 2015

Try some breadtmilk if you have any handy. It worked like a charm for my LO. I even put some in my own eye when I woke up with a painful stye yesterday, and it's already gone!

BrandiLaw87 · November 2015

I second the breast milk.
However, if you are not breastfeeding or are not comfortable with that, I have an alternative. I know it sounds crazy but half strength black tea works too. My MIL is Chinese and always has these home made remedies that actually work. You brew a cup of tea, and then a second cup of warm water with the same teabag. Dip a wash cloth in it and gently massage the duct. We did this with DS when he was an infant (he was not BF) and it worked wonders!

sunnyd619 · November 2015

My baby had a clogged duct till about a week ago. I massaged the inner part of the eye not sure if that actually unclogged it or if it just worked its way out.

caityrose · November 2015

Mine had it early on. It just went away one day!

FinalyFound · November 2015

DD had this. I massaged during every feeding (fed with a bottle mostly) it took a few weeks to resolve.

hettz00 · November 2015

My little guy as well but his went from clogged ducts to having a cold and the goop coming out the eyes..breast milk didn't help

slp213psu · November 2015

I got on here to write this post!! When LO was hospitalized with a fever at 5 weeks the nurse told me she could get clogged tear ducts if she was congested. But she's had the goopy eyes since last Friday and has no cold symptoms. She had her 2-month well-visit Wednesday and the doc said as long as they're not red there's nothing to worry about and do the warm compresses. That doesn't seem to be working and when she wakes up in the morning sometimes they're crusted shut!
For the breastmilk, what do you do? Just rub some on the eye? Drip it in the eye?

aprilmay92 · November 2015

I second the "what do you do with the breastmilk" question. And my poor little girls eyes have gotten raw in the corners from all the goo. I just don't know what to do!

jwebbbber45678 · November 2015

My doctor said to mix some breast milk and saline solution. Not sure how to get it in. The problem just went away on its own for us.

PlainJane8350 · November 2015

Same with it almost being crusted shut in the mornings!

jbettles · November 2015

If it doesn't go away, insist your dr take a culture and have it tested. With my first, she had discharge that looked very much like a clogged tear duct, and doc even said he was 99% sure that's all it was, but wanted to test it to be sure. Turned out to be an HIB infection, which could have gotten much worse had we not treated it!

jillene77 · November 2015

At 4 weeks my LO had a goopy eye. I would do the warm compress right in the corner of the eye that was clogged. It took a while but it cleared up.

LabPupLuv · November 2015

DS1 had this so badly, and in just one eye! It took almost a YEAR for it to go away but it did finally get better. There's really nothing that can help it. We tried warm, wet compresses to wipe out the goo so it wouldn't harden and scratch his cornea. It really does just take time.

DS2 has this in one eye too but it comes and goes with sickness. DS1 brings tons of fun viruses home from day care and poor DS2 gets everything. His pedi gave us an antibiotic eye ointment that completely cleared it up twice. He caught another cold from DS1 and I think I need the ointment again. Have you tried an antibiotic yet to rule out an infection? If it clears up, then you know. If it doesn't, then it's just a closed duct. If the duct doesn't clear on its own by a year, my pedi said an eye doctor would use a needle to clean it out and drain it! Yikes... I'm glad it cleared up on its own in time.

apiland · November 2015

I just dab a little breastmilk in the inside corner the eye. It works as long as you do it multiple times a day.

LJM0521 · November 2015

Some babies just have clogged ducts. Doesn't matter how much massaging or squirting of breastmilk you do, it doesn't go away. I think it bothers us more than them. My second child had one for a year with constant pink eye infections (not the normal, contagious type, though. It was weird). It was bad enough that we could pick up prescriptions whenever we ran out. It would clear up, then three days later be back. Anyway, it usually goes away on it's own, so try not to worry ;-) My son doesn't make anything easy so of course his didn't. Even then, it should have been a fairly easy procedure to open them...traumatizing for mom and dad, but it's over quickly. Like I said, my son doesn't make things easy and had complications that his doctor had never seen, but that's just the way he does things. What we learned is that sometimes the nasal bones are too close to the ducts. In that case, as the child grows, the bones spread apart some and take the pressure off the ducts. My son is 5 and still gets yucky eyes when he's congested, but the constant pink eye and problems are gone.

louiser210591 · November 2015

My daughters has been like it since birth. It's worse when she cries but the doctor said its not infected or anything to worry about and to just bathe her eye every day

capricelili · November 2015

Just had a blow out with my husband on this issue with our LO. Has had a goopy eye since week 2, he is now 6 weeks. Doctor did a culture and came back negative for bacteria so we didn't do antibiotics, they said to keep them updated if it got worse. Well it hasn't gotten worse and even though it's still goopy in the AM I feel like it's looking better. Well, hubby basically was calling me a bad mom because it's been 4 weeks and I haven't called the doctor or gotten him antibiotics. I hadn't done anything because doc basically said there was nothing to do. Eye doctor won't drain until they are older because ducts are too small right now. Reading your posts make me feel better because seems like it's a common problem that can take a while to resolve. I still feel bad about what hubby said and called the doctor to check in, but I don't want to give LO unnecessary meds just to make DH feel better. But it also stings having him question my parenting on our first medical issue. Thanks for listening just had to vent a little, this has me depressed this morning.

Want a personalized experience?

Goopy eyes

Re: Goopy eyes

Choose Another Board

Search Boards