i think ds has an eye infection.......advice for new mum

[moschops]

ds is 19 weeks old and today i have noticed one of his eyes is very watery and there is very pale gunk starting to form round the bottom lashes.
should i just clean it with water and cotton wool?
and at what stage do you think i should see a doctor with him ( we have a consultant appt for him on Weds)

i feel a bit silly posting this but he is my first child and i don't want to have to take him to A&E for this (i will have to as GP's won't do home visit and they are very busy atm)
any advice would be much appreciated....

dd used to get gunky eyes all the time - it's not necessarily an infection. sometimes she couldn't open her eyes until I cleaned it.

yes - just clean with cotton wool and water. I would only start to worry if it goes on for more than a week.

are you breastfeeding? If so try some bm in it.

are you breastfeeding? if so, you can put a bit of your milk in his eye - or do as you are doing and clean with boiled water (cooled down) and cotton wool. Eye gunge is v common in new babies - and it can last quite some time.

You don't need to see the GP yet (but you can show consultant on Wednesday). If you are worried before then, you can show the health visitor.

It's not an emergency so no need to even think about hosp.

Wipe it once from corner of eye nearest nose across with cooled boiled water, when it is gunky. Also lie him on the affected side if he is used to lying on his side so it will not run into other eye. Can't remember how you are feeding - if it is breast then squirt some breastmilk into his eye - it has antibiotic properties. Should be fine to wait until you see consultant. Defo no need for A&E.

Wipe with cooled boiled water towards outer edge of eye to clear gunk , and you could use breastmilk if bfeeding. Has he had a cold ? Is it related to the issue for which you have the appointment ?

thankyou everyone!

will just carry on with water and cotton wool, and show the consultant on Weds. if it gets any worse before then i'll give my HV a ring..

liz......consultant appt is a follow up as ds was 4 weeks prem.....they want to check his growth. at 18 weeks he weighed in at 16lb and is on 99.6th centile for height so i think he's growing fine.

he has been a bit sniffly last night/today so maybe that is part of the problem.

new mums eh? when do we stop flapping about every tiny problem?

we've all been there

it gets better once you do it all again a few more times!

btw another v good thing is to take 2 or 3 camomile teabags, put in a mug, pour boiling water on, and leave until cool. Then chuck out the bags and use the very strong cool camomile tea as an eye wash a good few times a day (use a clean cotton wool pad each time, keep the mug covered with clingfilm in the fridge and replace after 24 hours). It is very soothing and has antibacterial properties and I've done this to get rid of early/minor infections many times. Better to try this than go straight onto antibiotic eye drops which IME make babies chuck up their feeds (they swallow some of it and it upsets their stomachs)

hope it improves!

we were advised to use Indian tea but we now mix Indian tea and camomile (1 bag of each, allow to cool etc). Smells horrid but seem to've averted eye infections a couple of times. Was also advised to use gauze instead of cotton wool, I think 'cos some cw can leave debris. A new piece for each eye and work from the inside outwards to prevent cross infection. Good luck .