Any fail-safe methods for getting eyedrops in?

[silverfrog]

Last week dd2 had conjunctivitis.

cue lots of shouting and screaming over putting eyedrops in, but she is still small, so I managed ok

it cleared up over the weekend, and dh and I were smugly congratulating ourselves on preventing the spread to dd1.

dd1 woke up this morning with crusty/gummy eyes

so, having wrestled with her all morning to get the drops in - how the bloody hell am I supposed ot manage it?

I am sore, and ache all over - dd1 is too big and strong for me to hold her, and the furniture is suffering, as is anything else that gets in the way of flailing limbs.

so, how do you do eye drops?

(have choc ready as a bribe; dd1 listens well to the explanation of medicine etc, but goes ballistic when I try to hold her eye open (understandably))

don't try to hold her eye open, get her to shut her eye and put the drop in the corner of the eye by the nose, when she opens her eye it will go in. The drops can be quite cold so try to warm them a little first too. They also taste disgusting, a few seconds after putting them in you get the taste so have a drink ready for after. You could try wrapping her in a bath sheet to prevent the flailing, don't know how she'd tolerate that though. If you really have no luck with drops, go back and ask for the cream version.

oooh, really? re eye closed/drop by nose?

so i lie her back, get her to close eyes (gently I assume, not scrunched up?), and put drop on - then get her to open eye? that sounds like a plan I can cope with.

drops are cold, but she's not so bothered by that (I don't think)

will prompt her to drink after - she's a non-drinker, so this might well up her intake for a few days (every cloud, and all that!)

she would def wriggle out of a bath sheet. the biggest problem is that she wants her hands up by her ears (fingers in ears is her default "anxious" pose), but if they are there, then she pushes the drops away, so i need to get her hands out of the way - this is her cue to start wriggling...

I used the cream on her when she was little (back when I could contain her, or strap her into her highchair!). thougth drops might be easier as quicker (remember the cream takig ages to squeeze out), plus have them ready form dd2 (can't face the thoguht of dd1 and dd2 in busy shops, but could go later once I have dropped dd2 at school this afternoon)

thaks for the closed eye tip though, well worth a shot.

works with scrunched up eyes too! I use eye drops when I get hayfever and being a total wuss scrunch my eyes up. Not sure if you can buy cream or would need prescription so would suggest you ring and ask first. Hope you find something that works

cream is buyable - I was offered it last week for dd2.

thanks, will give that method a go in a little while when we go for round 3 of drops...

we do seem to be winning the battle at least - her eyes are red but not very gummy at the moment, so hopefully early intervention will stave off the worst

Could you play a game where she is baby Jesus and you swaddle her in a big sheet? She could put her fingers in her ears and you could wrap her up in the sheet nice and tight...

PS wrapping games are a good one for sensory issues, so not as evil as it first appears!

I like your thinking, purple (managed to hold dd2 down for most of last week by tellign her it was a "big hug" )

but if her hands are by her ears, it's all too easy for ehr to get them to her eyes and wipe/rub/push me away.

but maybe I should intro the whole baby jesus nativity thing, only a couple more days until advent after all

I was thinking along the lines of:

She lays down on a sheet with her hands on her ears.

You bring the top corners up between her head and her forearms, then around the back of her head and tie.

Then wrap the bottom corners tightly around her legs.

Maybe play tickling games for a bit, roll her around on the floor/bed, get her giggly and happy before you squidge some drops at her eyes and hope...

Or, dilute the drops with a splash of boiled water in an egg cup, and get her to hold the egg cup over her eye :)

I remember doing the 'straitjacket hug' with DD

IME, once you add the drops to closed eyes, DCs automatically open them so it floods in.

Don't hold her eye open. Let her close them, put a drop in the inner corners of her eyes, when she opens her eyes, it will fall in.