Gunk coming out of baby's eyes - does anyone know what it could be?

[Elizabeth19]

Hi everyone.

For the past two days, my 8 month old baby has had a snotty nose and loads of yellowy/green "sleep" coming out of both eyes. Her eyelids look puffy but the eyeball itself isn't red or bloodshot. She also looks quite pale and her face might be a bit puffy as well. She has been quite grizzly and not her "usual self".

Does anyone know whether this is a type of cold virus or could it be conjunctivitis? Doesn't the eye usually look red with that?

We have just been cleaning the eyes with warm water and cotton wool.

Many thanks

sounds like conjunctivitis to me - worth a GP visit

it could be either and my gp has given me eye drops when my children have either

ds2 gets this whenever he has a cold - we usually do the cooled boiled water for a couple of days then if it doesnt clear up go to the drs. He's had to have eyedrops a couple of times but a couple of times its just cleared up on its own. If you're worried though maybe take her to the drs anyway?

conjunctivitis
you can get drops from the docs and it clears up pretty fast
can sometimes accompany a virus - hence your DD being a bit grizzly

My DD aged 10 months has just had this - she got sticky eyes first, then a cough and cold.

It's usually not conjunctivitis if the lining of the eye (the conjunctiva) isn't red or inflamed. In babies the tear ducts are easily blocked by mucus (as they are so small) so the eyes become gungy.

I would see the GP if her eyes become sore looking, red or watery. Or if she is generally really poorly. TInfective conjunctivitis can be bacterial or viral as well, and antibiotic drops or creams don't work on viral infections.

I would bathe it regularly - remember one sweep with cotton wool then bin, then a fresh piece etc - and breastmilk is fab for clearing it up if you have any!

my son got this, i freaked out! it looked horrible, but it went in a couple of days

Took my DD to the doc this morning with exactly the same thing. She asked if DD had had a cold recently (yes) then told me what Sidge said that if it's viral, which because of the cold it most likely is, then drops won't help. She said to use cooled boiled water and cotton wool, different piece for each eye, to clear out surface gunk but not to go digging about! She said to bring DD back if it's not gone in a few days or if it gets worse and then she'd try her on drops.