4 month old eye glued shut every morning..

[Bol87]

My 4 month old has had really runny & gunky eyes since birth. One eye is worse than the other. The gunk is usually a clear/whitish colour. About a month ago, it turned green and her eye went a peculiar, almost grey colour the doc prescribed eye drops & it ‘cleared up’ .. still watery & clear gunk. For the last week, my DD has been waking up with her eyes glued together and green gunk again (see photo). I wash it away, it doesn’t seem to bother her at all & her eye is a normal colour.

Is it just a baby thing? Worth a call to the doc tomorrow?

Could all this be an allergy symptom? My DD is constantly congested, she sounds like she has a cold 24/7 (again, since birth really). I don’t think it’s a food allergy as no rashes and normal poo, she appears to tolerate milk fine. But we have 2 very fluffy cats.. I’ve always pondered if she might have an allergy to them.. 🤔

Both my children had this, DD for months and months. All you can do really is wait for it to clear up. One morning they woke up and it just want there. I wiped it gently with cooled boiled water and cotton wool to clean it.

I obviously can't say anything for sure but I know when my now 5 year old was this age he had this for probs a couple months and after a couple trips to doctors they said to just keep cleaning with salt water and some babies are prone to it and it will clear up eventually, it suddenly did just clear up and he's never had anything like this return. We were told children tend to either be prone to issues with their eyes, ears or throat, don't know how true that is!

My daughter had this - I wish I'd pushed harder for a solution - it turned out she had totally blocked tear ducts and had to have an operation at about 2 to have them unblocked. The consultant said that daily massage when she was tiny could have helped unblock them but no use once she passed 1. The gp just prescribed drops and then eventually referral to the hospital when it kept happening.

Could be tear ducts as pp said, could be an infection that's particularly stubborn. We had it once or twice- remember to use cooled boiled water (no salt as it irritates the eye), wipe from the inner corner outwards with a cotton pad and then bin the pad. Never use the same pad for more than one wipe. Some people say squirting breast milk into it can help, but I was never brave enough to try to because I couldn't find any research that backed it up.

My son had this. If you're breastfeeding, a few drops on cotton wool and wipe every morning - it cleared it up in days after months of cooled boiled water had done nothing!

Change and wash bedding as regularly as possible. I put a soft muslin cloth down where dc face went to save me washing the sheet every day.

Oh my word, that does look nasty.
I don't know if this is conjunctivitis, but with ds's, none of the squirting breast milk or washing it with warm water and cotton Wool did anything.

In the end GP gave me ointment, which you put into the eye like a squirt of cream, apparently much better/stronger than the drops.

For years after that, I used it at the first sign of any conjunctivitis and it never got bad.

DS had conjunctivitis repeatedly until 18 months old. After the first few times the Dr gave us medication to keep in the fridge unopened so we had it to hand as soon as it was needed. If we used it in the evening and morning he could go to nursery the following day because we caught it at the very first sign of slightly red, glassy eye. The Dr put it down to an underdeveloped tear duct which is quite common and usually sorts out by 2 or intervention is required. At 18 months he had conjunctivitis for the last time and was never a problem after that.

Had the same issue and found this helpful www.moorfields.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/Blocked%20tear%20ducts%20in%20babies-for%20parents.pdf
And see GP if worried about infection

Thanks all so much! I actually had a blocked tear duct as a baby, I had an operation when I was 1! I’ll try giving the area a massage and keep it clean. Will see how we get on!

My daughter has had this every time she is fighting some kind of cold or infection.
The doctor advised against cotton wool and water and instead prescribed some medical eye wipes, they were coconut oil based. When we ran out we just ordered more on amazon, as it worked out cheaper.
The gunk did stay away longer after we started using the wipes for cleaning the eyes rather than just water. But it comes back whenever she has a cold, she's now 2

Pretty sure this is a year duct issue op. Do the massage and hopefully it will clear up.

I had it when I was younger. It was caused by hay-fever and scared my cornea when I was 3,making me mostly blind in my left eye.

I know this is a really old post but I wondered if Bol87 could advise what helped. My boy has the same thing; gunky eye and blocked nose, and really want it gone