Newborn red swollen eyelid (picture)

[HuwJanus]

Hi I am wondering if I’m being neurotic here.

My son is four weeks old and was diagnosed with a skin infection around his eye last Monday after the gunk he was producing from the inner eye was swabbed. We were given eyedrops to administer four times a day which I have been doing.

Today he has woken with new swelling and redness around the left eye which was not there before. Both eyes are also more gunky than before so I would appear to be getting worse rather than better. He has just been checked by an out of hours GP and the GP told me it’s the ‘tail end of the infection’ and the redness is part and parcel of it. I asked why the redness would appear 5 days in to a 7 day course of eyedrops and whether the gunk should be decreasing by now? He said if he doesn’t have a fever and he’s feeding well then there’s no problem. He then told me to use up the rest of the bottle and just give him the drops every two hours rather than four times a day and the reason it’s got worse is because I haven’t been giving the drip frequently enough, even though the prescription says clearly to give four times a day.

(picture attached has no gunk showing as his eye had just been wiped).

I feel a bit fobbed off. AIBU to maybe get a second opinion?

Sorry for spelling mistakes!

Ahh bless him, gorgeous. I'd get a second opinion with him being so small and it getting worse - I can see the gunk starting to form even though you just wiped.

Side note, breast milk is great for this sort of thing too if you're able to dab a bit on.

Maybe take him to a chemists and speak to a pharmacist? Ones near me are really good for advice and also advising when to see a GP/ ring 111 etc.

Thank you. I think I’ll try the pharmacist first and see what they think.

I’m just confused that he told me the frequency was all wrong and gave me such different advice. It’s quite frustrating.

He’s gorgeous and already cooler than me! He looks like he wouldn’t be out of place in band

I echo @likey, breast milk is great for things like this. Just a bit on a bit of cotton or muslin after you’ve cleared the eye but do keep up with any medication you have too.

Also - hadn’t thought about the breast milk idea, I will give that a go now!

Thank you for the compliments - I think he’s pretty cool too of course 😄

He is gorgeous! but yes, the infection should be improving by now-definitely get a second opinion. Also I echo the breast milk idea-it really does work!

Oh, and please don’t worry about being neurotic, even doctors tend to errr on the side of caution with babies because it’s so difficult to pinpoint symptoms with them. If you’re not confident with what one has said to you you’re perfectly within your rights to seek further reassurance. It sounds to me that the dr you’ve spoken to is reassured by your ds’s general wellness but hasn’t managed to convey that to you.

Yeah the doctor sounds like he's making it up.

I don't think it looks too bad so don't worry, but I don't think you should be giving the drops MORE often either.

My DD1 had constant sticky eye from birth for about 18 months, she was put on 4 courses of eyedrops of two different types. Always I was told to wipe gently with cool boiled water.....then I saw an old school GP who had kids of her own and had been round the block....she said she has a blocked tear duct and you may have to get in there with the cotton wool and give it a good wiggle when you clean it to try and unblock it....which we did ...never had an eye infection again!

I am not saying its the same thing, just that doctors don't always know and are just trying their best, see someone else you may get a different answer because they have different experience.

When DD was tiny she had an eye infection, my mum told me to squeeze some breast milk into it, which I did for a couple of days. It cleared it up.

Definitely breast milk. Worked for my baby (years ago!) and others have concurred.