Conjunctivitis in toddler

[Speedygonzales78]

Posting for traffic here.
Toddler 20m has woken up with conjunctivitis, gunky eyes, no redness, he had this in December too.
No GP appointments left as by the time he woke up it was too late ( you need to phone bang on 8.30am)
Receptionist said I could take to walk in centre located in the a&e department at the local hospital.
I'm just wondering if I'd be deemed a timewaster for using the walk in centre or should I wait until tomorrow morning and get him in at the GP?

Last time my toddler had conjunctivitis and I did manage to speak to GP he just said to bath it with cooled boiled water and it would almost certainly clear up on its own, no need for an appointment or any drugs.
I followed his advice and just bathed away the gunk with cooled boiled water and sure enough in a couple days it was fine. Personally I wouldn't bother with walk in or GP unless it is really red and oozing

Yeah, I had it recently too and tbh the drops didn't really do much.
It was awful putting drops in last time in his eyes 😭
He also cant go back to nursery until its cleared up.

How is he in himself, if he has had a cold recently then it's likely to be viral and I don't think there's much they can do for that. Just a case of swiping it with cooled boiled water and cotton pads.

If it's bacterial then they can give drops but this is what Walk-in is for so you wouldn't be time wasting. I am shocked they didn't fit you in though our surgery keeps open slots for under 5s.

Tbf to them they normally do squeeze him in.
It's like snot in his,eyelashes which I've cleaned off.
He also has a cold, a really snotty nose. Nursery sent him home for having a temperature which came down straightaway after calpol.

I'd go to a pharmacy first and see what they recommend.

I'd do this too. Last time my DD had conjunctivitis the GPs wouldn't even see her, they said it was something a pharmacist could deal with and to just go there and get eye drops.

Unfortunately as he's under 2 they'll just advise GP 😕

(ex-pharmacy)
The drops don't really do much other than make it slightly more comfortable. As you know, the pharmacy can't supply them for under 2 year old anyway.
You're best to just gentle wipe them with cooled boiled water on a cotton pad, making sure to use a fresh pad for each eye, and don't dip the pad back into the water. Also wash hands well before and after :)

My pharmacy gave my 10 month old prescription eye drops for conjunctivitis. If you find a pharmacy doing 'pharmacy first' then they should be able to prescribe

Another vote for cooled boiled water. Assume you still have a nursery ban for him being poorly with a temperature?

I was really concerned when my toddler had it the first time. Assumed it would be a nursery ban, but after a quick GP visit where they advised wiping (but did prescribe cream if it didn't clear up with water alone).

Called the nursery. They said it wasn't a ban. When I dropped him off, feeling guilty, half the nursery had it, including his key worker! Nurseries are just breeding grounds for anything doing the rounds sadly.

Hopefully it will clear up soon as he starts to feel better.

Yes nursery ban, I had today off anyway as holiday to get some things around the house done.
He's not back at nursery anyway until Tuesday.
It's a ban for conjunctivitis there. Temperatures, calpol, vaccine all 24 hour ban, I've had to collect him soooo many times in 8 months, it seems relentless.
He threw up after breakfast one morning, took him home and proceeded to eat his weight in various foods, was absolutely fine.

Oh that sucks that it's a nursery ban for conjunctivitis - we never had that.

I've always just treated conjunctivitis at home with cooled boiled water and it generally goes fairly quickly. Our GP won't see them unless the eyes themselves go red and like you say, pharmacy won't do anything for under 2s.

DC1 caught conjunctivitis on his very first settling in session at nursery age 1. He was only there 2 hours ffs! The whole relentless illness thing does get better though, I promise.

Aww bloody conjunctivitis, my DD gets it a lot! It usually does eventually go with boiled water, she's had to have drops several times though.

Oh, and my kids always get ill when I book a day of holiday to try and get things done round the house by myself!

A dr told me chamomile tea. No particular dose. I just wiped often with a drenched cotton bud and it works! Quickly! And I used it for the rest of the week on a regular basis.

I always travel with a couple of teabags now.

If you happen to have access to any, a drop of breastmilk in his eye will clear it up a treat.

He also caught hand foot and mouth on his first week there, one week back at work and I was off straightaway 😅