Preemie and Tons of Eye Boogers Bad?

My first son (49 years old now) had the same problem and they told me his eye ducts were clogged. They said to leave him cry a bit to open the ducts. Don't know if that would still be the answer?!
Sandy

You may want to take him in to his Ped, he could have a blocked tear duct, which is really common. It's not a big deal if that's the cause, they'll just give you some eye drops, problem solved! Good luck and take care :)

I am not a doctor but get him medical treatment, sounds like and eye infection to me. Not to scare you but if not treated rapidly could cause blindness. It happen to my daughter 6 months old and the Dr. yelled at me for not calling sooner. I am a mother of three and a grandmother of 5. E.

Hey C.,
You might want to double check with the doctor to make sure there is not any infection (they usually take a culture sample).
Although my son had the same problem on and off for a little while a little while after he was born.
We were told it was just that the eye ducts were not finished developing completely - so they kept getting clogged up with this goo.
We did the same thing with the wet rag, the doctor gave us a prescription for some eye ointment that helped out as well. (It basically lubed up the ducts and gave them a hand out until the problem cleared up - it was on and off for about a month for us)

Hi, C.. Congrats on your new little bundle! I am a NICU nurse and you should get your baby into the pediatrician. It sounds like an infection that you need to get eye ointment for. Is the eye drainage yellow or green? If so...infection. If it is clear, it is probably a clogged tearduct. Massage the tearduct with your pinkie finger gently, but only if the drainage is clear. Has your baby been exposed to pinkeye? If it is pinkeye, the eye would be very red and matted shut. Remember, when you are cleaning the affected eye, wipe from the inside of the eye outward. Don't reuse the washcloth. Ideally, use moist 2x2's or cotton pads and immediately discard. In going over they eye until clear with the same cloth, you could be reintroducing the infection to the same eye or the other eye, as well. Good luck.

C.,
I had the exact same issue with my son when he was a newborn and it turned out that his tear ducts in both eyes were clogged. This is a pretty normal occurance (I found out) which normally corrects itself within the first year of their life. My son's tear ducts didn't open up until he was nine months old! It's frustrating, because their eyes are constantly collecting green goo and they get a little red and irritated around the perimeters due to constantly having to clean them, but it's relatively harmless and one day out of the blue, they just stopped getting the build up and I realized that they had finally opened and oddly enough, within a week of eachother. If they don't open on their own, they can go in a do a small procedure to open them via medical intervention, but most don't ever require this. Not sure if this is what is happening with your son, but try to use really soft, warm, wet washcloths to clean them and your pediatrician may give you a prescription for Erithromyacin in case either eye ever gets infected. This is an antibacterial gel that you literally squeeze over their eyes and melts which is not painful to them or stinging in any way. Hope this helps and good luck!
R.
Mother of 4 yr old son Jack and another boy on the way. :)

Because he is a preemie, I'd probably mention this to your pediatrician, but if it is just a minor infection (of any kind), if you are breastfeeding, drop a couple drops of breastmilk in his eyes... works great! If you are not breastfeeding, do you know of other mom's that are and if they will give you a bit to use? While your own is best, I have known other moms who were no longer breastfeeding used another moms milk for their toddlers with eye infections. It sounds like his eyes are trying to clear something out naturally (using eye boogers), but breastmilk will have natural antibiotics that can help boost his own response.
Good luck, and congratulations!

Hi C.,

He may have blocked tear ducts...Here's a link you can look at. http://www.drgreene.com/21_1035.html My daughter had one when she was an infant and our pediatrician gave her some eye drops and she was fine! That was 6 years ago, so I'm not sure of what the procedure is these days! Dont' worry though, it's a very common thing in infants, especially preemies! Take Care,

L. R

most likely it is due from a blocke tearduct. just continue with the washcloth and try massage it. if at 9 months it does not go away your ped. can send you to an eye doctor and go from there. My now 5year old had it. It seems to bother other people and mom more than the baby. Good luck

i suspect eye infection or clogged tear ducts, both of which need medical care! hope he feels better soon!
warm water (rather than cold) with a wash cloth will help cleaning/dissolve the drainage. get a tupperwear with warm water so you can keep rinsing it/warming it up, it gets cold so fast, and cold water on his face could turn into sniffles.

Hi C.,

I recommend calling your pediatrician. He may have conjunctivitis. Are you breastfeeding?

This is definitely a medical question. Let your neonatalogist or pediatrician decide this one. I don't think you need to run to urgent care over it, but I'd call your pediatrician and ask. With a preemie, I'd imagine you have many appointments anyway, so it's possible that your practitioner will just have you discuss it during the next well baby check... but it's possible that they will want you to bring baby in right away to make certain that this isn't the sign of a bigger problem.

My son had this as a baby it was a clogged tear duct the gave me some drops & it cleared right up in days

As others noted, it sounds like it could be conjunctivitis. If you're breastfeeding, you can squirt breastmilk in the eye a few times a day. Breastmilk has antibacterial and other healing properties.

http://www.kellymom.com/health/illness/healing-breastmilk...

It's nothing to worry about, all he has is a blocked tear duct. So far both of my boys have had it and I just had one 6 weeks ago and he also was 5 weeks early. Just take a warm wash cloth and massage the corner of his every time you feed him. It should go away in a few weeks. Have fun with your newborn and congrats!

If it's not pink eye then it could be that he has clogged tear ducts. This happened to my nephew and to a friend's daughter. You'll have to take him to the doctor to have it checked to make sure. Basically all they do is take a needle and unclog the duct so that it can drain properly.

yes it is a problem....most likely. My daughter is 5 weeks old and she started with just eye boggers for a couple weeks and then turned into gooey boogers that sealed her eye shut. Then it was orange in color. I took her to the doctor and it is a common infection.It is nothing serious but need some antibiotic oitment. It is caused by the tear ducts not being opened up yet . That is why they don't produce tears for the first month or so. I would go to the doctor to see if that is what she has just to rule it out. It doesn't hurt them or seem to bother them but it is something that needs to be addressed.

Hey C.. It could be pink eye if his eyes are also pink or puffy. Are his eyes gooped shut when he wakes up? My 10 week old has pick eye right now thanks to his 2 yr old sister who has it & can't keep her hands off him. :) It's easily treatable. Just some ointment the doc prescribes 3 times a day. No worries. If his eyes are not pink & puffy or stuck together when he wakes up, then it's probably just clogged tear ducts. All three of my girls had it. It's one of those things that will usually go away on it's own. When you go in for his 2 month well visit ask your pediatrician. If you've already been for that appointment, just call them anyways. That's what we pay them for. :) Just make sure your hands are clean, use a warm damp washcloth to gently wipe away the eye boogers. Use a clean area on each eye. & don't reuse that cloth til you wash it. Wash your hands again after. You don't want to give any bacteria a chance to start growing & give either of you pick eye or other infections. Trust me! It isn't fun. :) Either way, it's nothing to freak out about. Just call your doc & they will take a look & calm your worries. :)

Hope this helps you. :)

P.
Gilbert, AZ
SAHM to 3 beautiful girls & one handsome little boy
married to the love of my life for 11 years

Hi C.,

My Daughter was not a preemie but she did have goopy eye for several months after she was born. The Dr. said it was a plugged tear duct and totally normal. They suggest massaging the duct very gently a couple times a day and of course the warm moist cotton ball or cloth. If it does not correct its self they can do surgery but I have read conflicting info on how long to wait. Of course I would wait as long as possible before surgery. I was fortunate and her eye cleared on its own. It did take several months.

Hope this helps. Also, you can check out babycenter.com for info as well.

Pink eye is running rampid right now! I would take him to the doctor just to be sure.
A.
www.romance2nite.com

My son had the same thing, if it is green it could be an eye infection. Urgent care or pediatrician can prescribe eye drops.

Absolutely sounds like your little one has a cold in his eyes or possibly pink eye. A visit to his pediatrician would be a great idea...and as soon as possible! While not an emergency, I would go ASAP.

Good luck!

Hi C.,

My son had a condition when he was an infant called blocked tear ducts. His eyes were not pink or puffy but, he had goopy eyes everyday - all day. We did a lot of washcloth wiping! Babies generally outgrow this condition by 9 months (my son did at 9.5 months) once there tear ducts are fully formed. Amazily one day it was just gone and has been every since (he's 17 months now).

The dr called it conjunctivitis (pink eye) and gave me drops and ointment to put in his eyes. Even though it wasn't technically pink eye as in the spreadable kind (because this is not something you can catch) my dr still recommended the standard pink eye treatments to ensure that his eyes did not get infected from the goop. I would see your dr to get the correct diagnosis and medicines.

No worries. He probably has blocked tear ducts. They usually open up within Baby's first 12months. If not, doctor's can do a simple procedure to open them up. I went through the same thing with my daughter. Poor baby always looked so pitiful. She ended up having the surgery at 13months. Just have to wait it out. In the mean time, keeping his eyes clean with a wet cloth is great. Congratulations on your new baby!! :)

Oh, It is probably blugged tear duct(s). It is very common for any infant. I think they usually outgrow it, while it is kind of gross as you are waiting for that. What you can do is massage the inner corner of the eye with a warm wet cloth and gently clean the eyes as often as necessary.

The first step is to know what you are dealing with, Pink eye is going around and is very contagious. Breast milk is a very effective and easy way to work with eyes. A few drops in each eye like eye drops everytime you clean them. Be sure and clean your little ones hands also.

Congrats! You might want to call your pediatrician. It might not be anything, but my nephew and one of my friend's kids had problems with their tear ducts. They had to massage them and use warm cloths to clean them constantly. Fortunately both children outgrew it, but one was told they might need surgery for it. With a baby that little I would want to get it checked out right away. I don't want to scare you, but it's better to be safe than sorry and I wouldn't put anything off when the baby is so young.

A little about me: I'm a SAHM of a very bright 2 1/2 yr. old boy who is the light of my life. I have been married to my wonderful husband for almost 6yrs. and we are expecting our second son in 3 mos. I used to teach kinder. but decided to stay home until both kids are in school. I tutor to help our income.

Congratulations on your new baby! I agree with the other moms that it sounds like pink eye. When my little one was 4 months old he got lots of junk in his eyes and we took him into the pediatrician and he told us he had pink eye he prescribed drops for them. Good luck and Congratulations again!

My son had a clogged eye duct which caused a lot of the eye goop when he was born. The doctor told us to rub just below the duct to open it up. Also to get rid of the goop to squirt breast milk in his eye ( weird, but works). It really loosened it up. I would ask the doctor if it persists because they told me if it didn't go away on it's own we would have to do a surgical procedure. It did go away though after a few months.

I did not have a preemie, but when my son would have a lot of eye boogers, it was my sign that he had an ear infection. May be worth a call to the doctor.

S.

I would mention this to the pediatrician. Some babies have tear ducts that haven't opened up to produce the tears that would naturally wash that away. The fix is very simple and they numb the eye with drops. My niece had it done when she had the issue. My understanding is that some babies grow out of it. But either way, I would mention it to the ped. and see what they suggest.

Most likely an infection of some kind. With all our kids we put breast milk in their eyes. It has all the "stuff" our kids needed to fight those infections.

Hope it helps,

Hi C.!

Congrats on your new one. I can't believe you were having contractions that long. But I am so happy that you and your boy are doing well.

I had a premature baby also and I remember when she was around the same age she had the same situation. I was overly concerned about everything, so I called my pediatrician and he just gave us some drops to put in her eyes every few hours. Sure enough it cleared up. I can't remember the cause of it, but it was normal for kids to get it. Call your pediatrician if you are concerned :-)

Good luck to you. I feel like I have been through a lot with my "32 weeker" (daughter) who is almost a yr.now ( I can't believe it!!) So, if you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to ask :-)

Sincerely, B.

It proabbly means that he has a clogged tearduct my son has the same thing just massage between his eye and nose with a semi warm washcloth that will relieve some of the pressure but i suggest talking to your doctor just to be safe he might out grow it my son had both eyes and one has cleared up but one hasnt

Pink Eye is going around! I have had it 3 times this month! Lots of kids have had it as well. You might want to check with your doctor and always make sure you wash your hands and use Oust ot Lysol to spray on all door knobs and handles daily!

Are his eyes pink? I would definately take him to the doctor. My daughter used to get pinkeye when she was an infant and toddler. The symptoms included lots of eye goo. Don't worry pinkeye is not serious, just contagious and needs to be treated with special eye drops. Good luck.