Yellow eye goop in newborn

[Family4Christ]

What is this?  Can it be treated with just breastmilk?  It just came on this morning.

Thanks!

[journeymom]

Can you provide a little more information? Is there a lot of goo? Is it in both eyes? Since it just showed up this morning I might just dab it away and take a wait and see approach.  I'd use a separate cloth/wipe/tissue for each eye so to avoid cross-contamination.

[Family4Christ]

Yes, there's a lot and only in one eye.  I wiped it away several times and squirted some BM in there.  She's also holding it closed partially, so I know it's bugging her.

[JulieInChicago]

We had a similar problem too.  When we went to our first well visit, the MD said it was because we refused erithromycin - that it's not an infection but it's just "goop" and she prescribed erithromycin.  It wasn't bad- just a little annoying- but it was keeping our son from totally opening his eye so we just sucked it up and used the ointment. I t worked in a day or so.   But yours may be something totally different, of course!

[OvenSeeksBun]

Originally Posted by JulieInChicago 

We had a similar problem too.  When we went to our first well visit, the MD said it was because we refused erithromycin - that it's not an infection but it's just "goop" and she prescribed erithromycin.  It wasn't bad- just a little annoying- but it was keeping our son from totally opening his eye so we just sucked it up and used the ointment. I t worked in a day or so.   But yours may be something totally different, of course!

Interesting... my 12 week-old has had a goopy eye since she was about 2 weeks old and I accidentally dripped BM in her eye (LOL) My midwife told me it was a plugged tearduct, and that it will open on its own in time. I never thought of it before, but we didn't treat her with erithromycin at birth either, I wonder if that has something to do with it...
 

[journeymom]

Yup.  I just couldn't think of the name of the medicine. Same thing happened with our first born. We didn't use the erythromycin with her, and in a couple of weeks she got goo in her eyes. Doc prescribed erythromycin for her and it went away.  I don't know if that meant she had an infection per se, but it means there was bacteria in her eye that her body was fighting off.

[asraidevin]

Could be an infection, more likely a  blocked tear duct. It usually clears by a year, if not it may require a thin wire to passed in to remove the block. My daughter saw a specialist when she was about 14 months and he pushed hard on her nose and that worked. My son is seeing a specialist next week to see what is the deal. He's a year in a few weeks.

Originally Posted by OvenSeeksBun 

Interesting... my 12 week-old has had a goopy eye since she was about 2 weeks old and I accidentally dripped BM in her eye (LOL) My midwife told me it was a plugged tearduct, and that it will open on its own in time. I never thought of it before, but we didn't treat her with erithromycin at birth either, I wonder if that has something to do with it...
 

[journeymom]

My daughter saw a specialist when she was about 14 months and he pushed hard on her nose and that worked.

OP I was going to suggest, with very clean hands, gently swipe a finger across her bottom eye lid , right under the eye lashes: from the outside corner to the inside corner at the tear duct next to the nose.  Then gently press a finger where the bridge of her nose meets the eye socket, where the other tear gland is.  Basically you're rubbing her eye for her.  Very, very gentle pressure.

[thedenverduo]

My son had the goopiest eyes for the first 9 or so months of his life.  Then one eye cleared up, then the other.  My pediatrician took a very wait and see approach and encouraged us to massage it with a warm wipe or cloth whenever we did diaper changes.  My ds's was definitely a plugged tear duct.  It went away on it's own.  If it is plugged ducts I think no one really gets concerned until 12 months or so, and then they just go in with a tiny wire to clear it out.

[Magali]

Originally Posted by Family4Christ 

What is this?  Can it be treated with just breastmilk?  It just came on this morning.

Thanks!

Sounds to me like a blocked tear duct.  My dd had it for about 3 months.  It would start as yellow goop then dry to a green crust.  See a Dr. if you are worried, but after spending way too much time on google when my dd had it, I am pretty certain that unless you LO's eyeball is actually red then it isn't an infection.  Breastmilk in the eye will help, but it may take a while. 

The antibiotics they give newborns are only to prevent infection from STD's. My first baby had the antibiotics and he had a blocked tear duct as well.

[OvenSeeksBun]

Originally Posted by Magali 

The antibiotics they give newborns are only to prevent infection from STD's. My first baby had the antibiotics and he had a blocked tear duct as well.

That's what I thought, which is why she didn't get it.

[greengirl_]

Originally Posted by Magali 

Sounds to me like a blocked tear duct.  My dd had it for about 3 months.  It would start as yellow goop then dry to a green crust.  See a Dr. if you are worried, but after spending way too much time on google when my dd had it, I am pretty certain that unless you LO's eyeball is actually red then it isn't an infection.  Breastmilk in the eye will help, but it may take a while. 

This is what I thought too, plugged tear duct.  DD2 had it sice birth and her eye would get goopy all the time.  We did warm compresses and squirted bm in her eye sometimes.  My mw said it would probably resolve on its own, and it did just clear up on it's own @ 3 months.  Of course as pp said, see your pedi if you're worried. 
 

[gradstudentmommy]

Sounds like a clogged tear duct to me too. I just wiped away the goo with clean, wet tissues and also gently massaged the side of his nose and under his eye. My ped's office suggested this and then I read about it on Dr. Sears sight (or in his book, I forget). It went away in a few days, then came back a few times, though never as severe as the first. Then it stayed away for good (though the ped said it could keep coming back for a year.

[Stitches]

My oldest had a blocked tear duct for nearly a year (they usually clear on their own by about 6 months).  We got used to the goopy eye look.  I would clean her eye with a clean cloth each morning or use breast milk to get the really bad goop off.  I attempted to massage the corner of her eye as suggested by my midwife and doctor, but it never helped.  If it had gone past a year we were looking at intervention to open it up, but it finally went away on it's own (their faces grow and the duct opens as it has more room).  Incidentally neither of my girls got the eye drops at birth but only one got a plugged duct, it's just random.

Now, all that being said if baby's eye is red or puffy and gooping out green stuff, that would warrent a doctor's visit, IMO.

[Magali]

Originally Posted by OvenSeeksBun 

That's what I thought, which is why she didn't get it.

Yes, and the infection they get from STD's is a medical emergency, and not what we are talking about here at all...just to be clear.  (Not that you thought that ).