Newborn has yellow sticky eyes

[dreamerkr]

My 3 week old has some yellow sticky stuff coming out of his eyes, especially when he wakes up. Sometimes when he wakes up, his eye is closed shut because of the yellow stuff and I’m concerned. Is this normal in a newborn? How can it be treated quickly?

Yes, it's because the tear ducts are not open yet to clear away anything that may get in the babies eye. Keep wiping occasionally throughout the day with warm water and a cotton pad, it should soon clear up

Completely normal.

If you’re breastfeeding, bathe the eyes with cotton wool and breastmilk.

This is one of those things that apparently a drop of breast milk is helpful with, no idea why. Perfectly normal, boil and cool some water and use a new cotton bud on each eye to clear it away. I would only be worried if it reappeared quite soon after being cleaned.

I think Drs can prescribe sterile saline solution to put on them to rinse off the stickiness but apparently this is to mainly make the mums feel better about it rather than having any benefit (or so the Dr told my friend who’s baby had this).

If the eyelid becomes swollen or sore and/or the eye itself looks red/pink or sore then treatment made be needed and you will need to see the gp

It does reappear fairly soon after being cleaned, although there’s no swelling and the eye isn’t sore

We had this. Went to GP when she was above a week old. They took a swab to be safe but came back normal.

We were advised to clean the eyes 3x daily.

1. boil water and cool it
2. take a clean cotton pad, wet with the water, and sweep from the corner of the eye closest to the nose outwards.
3. repeat for the other eye with a new pad. Do not double dip the of in the water.

However, despite us doing this (which did help keep it clean) she touched her own face and probably was the one spreading it from one eye to the other and back again! Once she developed real tears at 3 weeks or so it cleared up on its own.

My Dd had this this for about 3 months. Advice @Borgonzola gave is spot on. It'll go eventually

Some babies have blocked tear ducts for months. My youngest did, I kept a glass of boiled water and a bag of cotton wool on a table near where I fed him, and just cleaned his eyes every feed. Eventually I realised I was only cleaning them a couple of times a day and it cleared up before he turned 1. Sometimes would recur as a toddler if he had a cold and I had to reassure nursery staff it wasn't conjunctivitis.

Definitely seek advice if the eyes look red or get swollen. I half expected DS to need treatment at some point but actually there was never any problem and his eyes stayed clear throughout.

Thanks guys

Yes, very normal - both of mine had it. Do as pp suggested - boil and cool water, wipe with cotton wool pad from inner eye to outer, fresh pad on each eye and on each go if you need more than one.
Mine was once so bad that his eye was completely stuck closed and it took several goes to loosen the eyelashes.

The breastmilk thing is because it contains antigens for lots of things mum is exposed to all the time - like the bacteria that live on skin and sometimes cause eye infections.

My eldest had blocked tear ducts and ended up having surgery twice. I think something like 90% resolve themselves before the child turns 1, so just keep gently wiping them and chances are one day you'll realise it isn't a problem any more.

Hers were always worse if she had a cold and she frequently woke up unable to open her eyes because they were glued shut.

Cooled boiled water and cotton wool ball. Completely normal.

My daughter had this from birth and it was constantly dismissed until 4 weeks when they tested it and found it was an infection. She did also have a blocked tear duct which oozed gunk until it cleared when she was 7 months.