how to treat a sticky / infected 3 week babies eye

[forevermore]

just been told by health visitor that green gunk in 3 week old babies eye is probably and infection that chloramphenicol drops will treat. however she cannot write prescription for this and doctor cannot see her till the morning. I have been using breat milk to clean and sterile water. any further tips? does chloramphenicol work?

It may be different in the UK. In the US I believe we would probably use gentamycin first, although I don't see children under 3. I would recommend using baby shampoo and a warm washcloth to keep it really clean. Lots of babies have an unopened tear duct at birth which can cause this. It will usually open on its own but massaging the area can help. I would wait on that until dr. sees her, though.

agree with jabberwocky - probably a blocked tear duct. DS had one, and his eye got very green if I didn't religously massage it every time I fed him. I obviously haven't seen your baby but I would be very tempted to try massage and bathing with breast milk.

Baby shampoo diluted 1:10 with water is good for eye hygiene (DH has to do this every day as he is prone to inflammed eyelids).

breast milk, more breast milk more breast milk....we had weeks of this before it totally cleared.....as long as isn't causing major discomfort i'd continue with breastmilk, for another couple of weeks? when i say breastmilk, i mean a really good squirt in each eye, not just on a pad, but actuallly so that it gets into the eye itself (of course you can use a cotton pad for it, but make sure it is really saturated with bm).

i was told not to treat it, but agree with the keeping it clean and breastmilk advice