Tear duct

[anjanetteopal]

So Aidan has had a blocked tear duct (left eye) since birth. He's 6 weeks now and the yellow gunk is increasing to the point that his eyelids frequently get gooed together. I'm getting a little concerned b/c his eye looks a little irritated, too. It could just be that we are having to wipe it more frequently though.

Any of your babes dealing with this? I've read that it usually goes away on its own, and I've been massaging when I can. I was thinking about squirting some breastmilk in his eye to help clear up the infection, but the combination of my small breasts and how frequently he nurses means there's never anything when I try to hand express. I've only ever been able to pump one ounce (that was pumping on both breasts). I have one lonely ounce of milk in my freezer. lol

Anyone have any other suggestions? Would trying to pump something be my best bet?

[lincap]

Nak

happened to us. Do the massage and a drop of breastmilk cleared it up in less than a day. You dont have to pump, just while he is nursing after the let-down, unlatch and dribble a few drops onto eye. It works well!

[jaxinsmom]

this happened with ds -- from the time he was a few weeks old until...well, he still gets it every once in a while (and he's three). We massaged it and wiped the gunk away with a warm wet cloth; other than that I think some babies are just prone to it. I could be wrong, but I don't think that a blocked duct is the same as an infection in the eye.
Good luck, hope it clears up soon (looks yucky, hey?) never want anything marring up that beautiful newborn face

[anjanetteopal]

Thanks for the replies, I finally got a drop in his eye and hopefully it will help. I didn't think the yellow meant infection either, especially since the ped seemed unconcerned, but that's what I keep reading so I don't know?

[AlwaysByMySide]

Taylor had a blocked tear duct from birth. We saw various peds because we were moving at the time, and several suggested surgery if it didn't clear up by age one. The one ped we ended up liking told us that she would likely grow out of it. Massage, breastmilk, tried everything, and none of it worked. She ended up growing out of it somewhere between one and two.

My one month old now has the same thing. I've tried everything, and the ped offered to give us some drops that MIGHT clear it up (they didn't), so I'll just be waiting for him to grow out of it too.

Both kids had goo that was yellow to green, and it was never an issue. Taylor has perfect vision at almost three, so it didn't affect her vision. It's just annoying to have to be wiping at eye goo all the time.