Eye discharge in Newborn

S

Shenzhennifer

Registered User
Since yesterday my newborn son has had some eye discharge, and today it is worse. I read on the net that it might be a blocked tear duct, but I am wondering about that, since it`s getting pretty gooey and yellowish and it`s hard for him to open his eyes once it dries. At each diaper change when he wakes up I take a cotton ball with some warm water and wipe away the goo, but it always comes back.
I`m just worried because we live in Shenzhen, and we don`t have a passport for him yet to go to HK, therefore the only doctors available are here and no one speaks English.
What should I do?
 
Mine had this as well. I used sterile saline (Mustela brand, though I'm sure there are plenty of others) on a cotton ball to wipe away the gunk. In the absence of saline, use cooled boiled water. Wipe from the inside (ie, nose side) to the outside of the eye. I've been told that a squirt of breastmilk can also help, but never actually tried this myself .
 
You should take him to a dr, but my little one had a small amount of discharge from her eye when she was newborn and I was recommended to use breastmilk on it - it's a natural antispetic and can help with minor problems like that for you and baby.
 
When we left hosipital with our (then) newborn we were told to watch out for eye infections as they are pretty common. Personally, with a baby as young as yours I wolud err on the side of caution and take him to a doctor. I know you said there are no English speaking doctors where you live but do you have Chinese speaking friend (or one of your husband's colleagues or his secretary if he has one) who could go with you? Failing that, could you ask someone (maybe even someone on this website, as there are a few Chinese speakers) to write out the symptoms in Chinese so you can show the letter to the doctor?
 
Thanks for your responses. I tried the breastmilk thing a few times but his eye kept getting worse yesterday and then I followed my gut and went to the hospital and saw an eye doctor (no pediatrician there) who examined him and said he had an infection, gave me drops and tips on how to clean and that was it. Since then it has been rapidly getting better. And luckily there was an English speaking doctor there who helped us. I can`t wait to move to HK...
 
my son has had some eye discharge as well. as long as it's white around his eye, he should be fine. we also wipe his eye with a cotton ball and saline solution.

my doctor told me that if my son should not grow out of it by age 2, he might just have a blocked tear duct that can be taken care of with quick surgery to unblock it.
 
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