2yo dd gungy eyes. Worth taking to GP?

[FelixFelix]

My dd had a slightly red left eye this morning and now this afternoon she's been getting green gunge develop in both eyes. I've been wiping with cotton wool and cooled boiled salt water (a new bit of cotton wool for each eye) but is it worth taking her to the GP tomorrow? My friends DS recently had an eye infection and she was told they no longer give eye drops/antibiotics for it and you just have to ride it out so not sure if it would be a waste of time. My GP is hard for me to get to so I'd like to avoid going if I can but obviously I will go if dd needs seeing to as that's what is most important!

Am I right in what I'm wiping with at the moment or should it just be the cooked boiled water without salt? It's what my DM told me to use.

DD (6 months) had this last week. Rang gp surgery, advised to wipe with cotton wool dipped in cooled boiled water. I did this for 4 days, then took her to GP as she had made her eyes all bloodshot by itching them. GP seemed concerned and prescribed chloramphenicol eye drops. Take her to the pharmacy. They will sell you chloramphenicol eyedrops if the child is 2. You will have to pay but it saves the hassle of trying to get a gp appointment.

I would take her to the pharmacy and see what they suggest, probably the drops.

I'd go to the pharmacist, DD has conjunctivitis and we tried the pharmacy but they wouldn't give anything because she's only one. At least if you try there first you can go to gp if they won't give anything

Pharmacy! 2 was the magic age at which they would sell me eye drops for DS, he was at nursery and caught this a lot!!

Oh fabulous thank you! I have a boots pharmacy down the road so I'll try there tomorrow. Thanks everyone

When dd (16 months) had gungy eyes on a Saturday I rang 111 to check and they gave me an appointment at the ooh doctor who told me that it was a waste of time. I hadn't asked 111 for an appointment specifically, I asked for advice so was a bit annoyed at my telling off from the gp, especially given dd rarely goes.

Top tip: apply twice during the night when they're asleep - applying eye drops in the daytime is...stressful.

Thanks Yoko that's useful.

DP went to Boots on the way home from work but they wouldn't sell him any drops because they weren't specifically for him

Conjunctivitis rarely needs antibiotic drops. Keep them clean and it should resolve within 2 weeks. Antibiotics should be reserved for severe cases which don't self limit.

I'd give her calpol too as I had conjunctivitis last week and was suprised at how uncomfortable and kind of painful it was.

Also keep their hands clean - as this is how it spreads and reinfects even if clearing etc

Thanks everyone. Should I hold off on the drops for now then? Just worrying that it's Easter weekend and we are going away from Friday to Monday (good timing dd!)

My DS was very prone to conjunctivitis, and it usually cleared with gentle constant cleaning with, as PP said, cooled boiled water.

On a couple of occasions it didn't, so for what it's worth - if you end up using chloramphenicol drops, I found best method was (a) have chocolate button to hand, and (b) get him to lie flat on the floor. Turn face a tiny bit so that one eye is more towards the ceiling, the other slightly more towards the floor. Drop a little solution into the inner corner of his closed eye (the nose side, IYSWIM). And get him to open his eye. Gravity takes care of the rest. Chocolate button to forestall indignation, and repeat on other side.

Of course, it may not work for all kids particularly once they realise what you're up to with the buttons

My dd who was three yesterday has had gunky eyes since Friday, wasn't going to bother with doctors until I rung nursery today to say she wouldn't be in and they said she can return 24 hours after treatment started, so rang doctors and asked if she needed to be seen, was completely expecting to be told no, but they said yes she'll need eye drops. Now have eye drops but getting them into her eyes is another matter completely!

Nurseries make it so difficult with their insistence on treatment. We're having very serious problems with antibiotic resistance and overuse of chloramphenicol is one of the most common ones.

It really does rarely need treating with antibiotics. I don't think all pharmacists or GPs have got the message.

In my case [show] I was very surprised our gps dished out the drops because they are very good at not handing them for every little thing which I completely understand.

I might just leave off the drops for now then and see how we get on with water for a few days. I'm dreading morning time as I know her eyes will be all stuck together. Poor baby

DD (now 3.5) has had conjunctivitis several times and I found the chloramphenicol ointment much more effective and easy to use than the drops, you just squeeze a thin layer on the inner eyelid. I bought it over the counter at the pharmacy.

Yes I've had that stuff before. There's not a chance in hell I'd be able to apply that to dd's eyelid though