hi
was wondering if any of you could help me with this....

Ollie's eyes is looking a bit red and puffy and is watering a bit, almost like he's crying...
he has a runny nose as well tho...

was just wondering if anyone had experienced conjunctivitis in their child/ren and if this was how it started...? My sister suffers from it a bit but that usually just comes on all at once, and other than the above mentioned things Ollie seems ok.

If it could be, do i have to take him to the docs? Is there anything he can take to help him clear it up? Or do i just keep bathing his eye with cooled boiled water....?


Help? :\?


xxx

hi there, that sounds more like heyfever to me, conjunctivitis is normally coloured sticky substance.

My little boy is 10months and suffers from heyfever. He goes all red around the eyes and puffed up and his eyes stream with water and he goes all snuffly with a runny nose.

There are heyfever medicines that can be taken by babies but after chatting to doc decided not too as a lot of babies build their own immunity to hey fever and get over it with time. So as it doesn't seem to bother him i'm staying clear of medis in the hope that next year he may be immune to it!
xxx

Hello

Could be a number of things causing a red eye in a baby.

Is it one eye or both?

If it is only one then he may have simply rubbed it with something on his hands, nappy cream, his dinner, anything really. He may also have got a bit of dirt, dust or grit in the eye, again from rubbing them which has irritated or even left a little scratch on the surface of the eye. None of this is anything to worry about and will clear up in about 24 hours at the most. You just need to bath the eyes with cooled boiled water wiping from the nose outwards with a fresh piece of cotton wool for each wipe.

A bloked tear duct is also a possibility, but quite unlikely if you have only just noticed the symptoms, from your pic your lo looks to be about 6 months ish, you would normally have noticed the symptoms a lot earlier. It is quite common in babies though and is caused by the tear ducts not being properly formed and usually resolves itself by the time they are 1 ish.

If the redness is in both eyes then hayfever is a possibility especially if the symptoms persist. You would need to see your GP if you think it may be this.

If there is green/yellow discharge present then there could be an infection present, most likely conjunctivitis, but it would be very unusual for this to just be in one eye in a baby as they quickly spread it to the other eye by rubbing etc. The important thing is to bath it to keep it clean as mentioned above and make sure you are very carefull about not using same towels etc on yourself or other children, also hand washing is essential so as not to reinfect baby or yourself. Conjunctivitis desn't necessarily need antibiotics, often it will clear on it's own, but if there is still a problem within 24 - 48 hours I would suggest seeing your GP, especially as it is for a baby.

Sorry if this sounds like a bit of a clinical answer, when I'm not on maternity leave I am an ophthalmic (eye) nurse. To be honest, I didn't know my work brain still existed!!

Hope your lo feels better soon. x

:lol: It wasnt a clinical answer NJH, but I bet its nice to know your work brain still works! I know i was glad mine did.


He's 13 1/2 months now (he is 6 months in the pic tho) but yeah its only in one eye, and although it still looks a bit red and puffy it doesnt seem to be bothering him at all.
I've have just been bathing with CBW and cotton wool to keep it clear.

Will take him to docs if its not cleared up in a day or so.

xxx