Should I get an out of hours appointment conjunctivitis

[Haz1516]

Hi there,

I'm sure I'm being a typical first time mum and worrying unnecessarily, but my 9.5 month old has woken up today with both eyes covered in gunk. I've been using cotton wool and cooled boiled water to wipe it away, but it keeps coming. Both eyes are quite swollen too. Baby also has a cough and a streaming nose and is generally pretty miserable with it.

Should I try to get an out of hours gp appointment or is it unnecessary? Should I just wait til Monday? Will it just clear up by itself? I've never had conjunctivitis myself so don't know the best course of action!

Thanks for any advice!

I said it all to the 111 doctor but like I said they didn't seem too concerned, sigh. I've put him to bed now, just hope that he's ok overnight and a bit better maybe in the morning.

My 16 month old was sent home sick from nursery yesterday with conjunctivitis. I panicked as I desperately need her to be okay for childcare on Monday and rushed her to our doctor. (Knowing you cant buy drips over the counter for under 2s) He was utterly scathing about nurseries demanding that it be treated as he said the drops are pretty redundant for most cases of it. Just bath the eyes as often as needed for a few days and it'll go away. It'll just be a side effect of the cold.

If your local pharmacy is part of the minor ailments scheme then you can take an under two and get conjunctivitis treated - I know as I’ve taken DS before now.
Definitely worth a google to find your nearest

dd got horrendous conjunctivitis and pharmacist gave antibiotic eye drops, weaker because under 2. that night was terrifying, eyes swelled up so much looked like she'd been in a fight. but by morning so so much better.

I've heard this too flowers. GPs getting very annoyed when parents rush to the surgery for drops to make sure they are still allowed to take their child to nursery when all it's doing is contributing to antibiotic resistance. Understandable on the parents part, and I guess on the nursery's part too. Perhaps a note from the GP saying no drops required should be good enough.

How is your little one this morning?

Hello there,

Thanks for asking. His eyes were totally covered when he first woke up, but since wiping it hasn't come back as much. Both eyes are swollen though and he's just very unhappy in himself, and more tired than normal. No temperature though, so I suppose his body must be dealing with it.