[earthkid]

I have a 7day old that seems to have a goopy eye. It is a clearish, yellowish discharge from her right eye only. Any ideas? Blocked tear duct? Remedies??<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/dizzy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Dizzy">:

 

[SabbathD]

According to my Dr. Sears book, and my BF's baby, it is likely a blocked tear duct. You can massage it, using the tip of your pinky, and it will help move the blockage. If you don't want to use antibiotics (meaning if you don't want to go to the pedi office) you can try doing that (massaging). I would pick an event (like a diaper change) and do it before you change your LO diaper every time you do a change. Here is a Dr. Sears article on it, with a LOT more detail.<br><br><a href="http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t110239.asp" target="_blank">http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t110239.asp</a>

 

[purplepaisleymama]

Not sure if you use homeopthics, but I have always used Euphrasia with wonderful results, four out of my five kids had blocked tear ducts and they all used Euphrasia. There are a few other remedies for blocked tear duct but they are not as common as Euphr. I also massaged the duct and applied warm moist compresses, ususally using a cotton ball, I have used breast milk if it looks really red, from irritation.<br>
HTH<br>
Laura

 

[phathui5]

Mine have all had that in the beginning and it's gone away on its own.

 

[sugarlumpkin]

Put breast milk in the eye!<br><br>
My boy had goopy eyes for quite a while and my pediatrician (who is very crunchy) was not worried about it. It is now almost gone and he's 8 weeks old today.

 

[devster4fun]

We had the same thing for the 1st few weeks, just one eye.<br><br>
We did move on to the antibiotic ointment after trying the home remedies.<br><br>
It worked overnight.

 

[b_light]

My son had this also. We came here and asked for help. I also searched online. My understanding of the remedies we used is this:<br><br>
finger massage of the eye- very important as this actually opens the duct (when we went in for his one month appointmemt, our family doc showed us how to do this even better, he didn't recommend antibiotics)<br><br>
breastmilk- doesn't fix the problem, but keeps it from getting infected (or heals it if it is infected--it sounds like it might be if it is yellowish). I put breastmilk in his eye everytime I fed him during the day. Just squirted it right in there.<br><br>
My doc said that it usually opens on its own within a year, but I think most open way before that. My son's opened before his 2 month appointment. We were so happy!<br><br>
Hope this helps!

 

[Dov'sMom]

My son had that too, from about 7 days till 8 weeks on and off. His first ped (who said she would tolerate our delaying vaxes but she would really insist on the Hib b/c of how terrible meningitis is) gave him antibiotic eye drops and said ot use them all the time. His second ped (first had an accident. This one at the 2 month visit asked if I wanted him to "give your baby a bunch of shots" and when I said no, but i understood that the Hib was particularly important, kind of looked at me funny and said, "Well, if you insist, but you realize there are only like 2 cases of it a year in the entire country.") laughed at me when I told him we needed another prescription b/c the container was done and said something like 20% of babies have it, IF it lasts up to 18 months they'll fix it by inserting a catheter down the tearduct, but up to that time, just massage.

 

[Irma Lisette]

My DS had that the first couple of weeks but it finally went away. It was a blocked tear duct and I used massaging to help open it up. Occasionally it will come back, but I'll massage it and it will go away again.

 

[Mama_Michelle]

Both my DDs had blocked tear ducts (DH had surgery at age 5 yr to open his tear ducts, maybe it is genetic?). DD1 had blocked tear ducts on and off for almost a year. It was not a problem and never got infected. We did massage and both DDs tear ducts opened on their own (DD2 by 2 months). Our ped was not bothered by the yellow crust as long as the white part of the eye was not red. I think one time DD1's eye started to look red and I squirted bm in her eye a few times and it went away. BM cures everything <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/winky.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink">

 

[nighten]

In addition to the great suggestions from PPs, you can also try a warm damp baby washcloth as a compress as often as baby will allow.<br><br>
It's totally normal though, and typically clears up while they're still young.