Conjunctivitis - how to get breastmilk into the eye?

[Woodlands]

Does anyone have any bright ideas about how to get breastmilk into my 11 month old DS's eyes? I keep trying to pull him off the breast when I feel a let down and squirt it in the right direction, but he won't have it - he protests vigorously and gets himself back on before I have a chance to squirt. Plus at this stage of feeding I don't tend to spray milk much as my supply is very settled. At a pinch I could dig out and clean the breastpump, but I don't know that I'd be able to express any milk now. Does anyone have any bright ideas for how to do this? I know breastmilk is the best thing but haven't had a chance to do it yet, and he's had horrid gunky eyes since yesterday morning.

Are you taking him to the GP? Conjunctivis can be nasty.

How about hand expressing a little and wiping it over his eye with cotton wool, or using a little pipette?

I did this, I just hand expressed a little in to a shot glass (you don't need much) then you can either use a cotton wool ball to wipe the eye or use a dropper/ syringe to drop some in the eye

Yes, i'll call in a bit to get a gp appointment. not sure they can do much.

He came off during his feed this morning and i was trying to catch the spray in a coton wool pad at the same time as tring to get his eye in the line of fire... was quite funny!

Have never been able to hand express. might look it up online at nap time.

Thanks!

Hand express into a container, then i used a cotton bud (the stick kind) to dip in it and apply to the eye. By the way it only works if the conjunctivitus is bacterial rather than viral.

Seriously?! Wiping each eye with cooled boiled water & cotton wool would be less messy, I'd have thought & more likely to work. Antibiotics if it's bacterial, but it's usually viral.

Sorry if TMI but when we were feeding I would break away and dropsome directly into the eye which meant that nothing could become contaminated. I guess it depends on your flow!

I did this. Breastmilk was like wonder drug in sorting it out and it was in my own eye! I expressed into a spoon then dropped it in. It worked within a day. brilliant.

Still haven't had any luck getting any milk into the eyes! I pulled him off while milk was spraying and tried to aim it at his eye but he gave me a look which said "Don't be stupid Mum, milk goes in my mouth, not my eye, what are you playing at?" and latched himself back on. No joy at hand expressing. I will dig out the pump in the morning!

I took him to the HV this morning and she agreed with me it was viral and no need to see the GP, just continue with cooled boiled water and breastmilk if possible.

Another plus one for the wiping (or dropping) eye with BM from Cotton wool. Just hand express some out into a small container (I used a medicine cup) and drop a tiny amount into the inside corner of the eye, only wiping once per piece of cotton wool, from the inside to the outside.

Worked a treat on both my LO's

Another excellent thing to have in the cupboard (not that you can keep BM in a cupboard) but you know what I mean, is a herbal remedy called euphrasia. It is mixed with a bit of cooled, boiled water (a couple of drops in about an egg cup full is what I use but it's dependant of course on how concentrated your euphrasia is!).

Gently wipe the eyes with cotton wool soaked in it. I usually do that, get the eyes nice and clean and then squeeze a few drops of milk onto a cotton bud and gently wipe that over. You don't need to express then, just squeeze out a few drops and soak them up with the cotton bud. I've never had my kids have an eye infection last more than 48 hours with doing this twice a day.

ooh I can help with this . Have you got one of the syringes which come with nurofen for children? If you hand express some into a clean container you can suck it up with the syringe and gently squirt it into the eye. Hope that helps. I came up with this method to put it in my own eye.

Thanks for those. His eyes are definitely getting better but still a bit gunky after sleeps. One of the eyes has gone red at the place where the gunk comes out, think it's a bit inflamed. I never did manage to get more than a quick random spray of milk into his eyes, and he now screams when I come near him with damp cotton wool, poor boy. I really should have dug the pump out as I just can't hand express - I did try.