Administering Eye Ointment

Swaddle her in a sheet. If she is really squirmy, swaddle her to a board. That is what they would do in the ER. Then at least all you have to fight is her head shaking from side to side and her eyes being shut.

S. M

I always found the drops work better and even if their eyes are closed, just put near the tear duct and the drops go in their eyes when they open them. Good Luck!

I have had to do this. I suggest washing your hands very well and putting a little of the ointment on your pinky and using that to administer the ointment rather than using the metal end of the tube. If she happens to move while you have her physically restrained, you could damage her eye even more with the ointment tube. At least with you using your finger it is soft (presuming you have short fingernails). But wash wash wash your hands very well before doing this.

Hope this helps.

If you are breast feeding, have you tried your breast milk in her eye first. It has natural anti-biotics and is soothing to the eyes, it also helps flush out the gunk. Then try the ointment, good luck.

My son just went through the same thing and our doc said that if we could at least get it around the eye and on the eye lid the meds would get into his eye.

My 9 year-old had eye surgery a week before his 1st birthday. Post-op he had an eye ointment also. We found it easiest to apply when he was sleeping. We would pull open the eye with one finger and gently line the lower lid. If your daughter isn't a heavy sleeper like my child you may consider giving your doctor a call. I am a nurse and know that there are many drops out there that treat conjunctivitis. The most common one, likely being Vigamox and it usually requires 2 drops per affected eye twice a day. Although eye drops will not solve her squirming, it makes things somewhat simpler. When she squeezes her eyes shut you drop the 2 drops in the corner of eyes. Hold her head steady until she opens her eyes. The drops will run into her eyes where as ointment stays put. I find the drops to also be better because young children will rub their eyes and the oninment will transfer to their hands and then their mouths. This is prevented with the use of drops.

Hi M.-

I've never had to use an eye ointment on my kids but I was wondering if you could do it when she's asleep? This is how I always cut the kids nails when they were babies, maybe this would work as well.

Good Luck!
K.

My second child had the same issue. For me, administering the ointment while he was asleep worked the best. I was taught to pull the lower lid down and up the strip there. When the eye closes, the ointment goes where it is supposed to. I had a few battles with him but doing it while he slept worked out. I hope this information helps. Good luck!

My little girl when she was in daycare, always had pink eye and she constantly struggled with me. I say, she has to get the medicine so you do what you have to do. My husband would hold her hands and I would hold her eye open and just do it. We don't play around with medicine of any kind here. If a dr says you need it than you take it, no questions asked. she would be spitting mad for a min, then get over it like nothing happened. You gotta do what you gotta do to get the medicine in them.

Good luck and God bless!

D. Mattern-Muck
The MOM Team
Raise your income and your rugrats at the same time!
www.formyrugrats.com

Oh I have been there! My son is only 4 months old and he got bacterial conjunctivitus at 1 month because of his clogged tearducts. The nurses told us to use a Q-tip softly on his eye once he fell asleep. Other times when he was awake we just had to grin and bear it...tag team style. One of us would try to hold his head still only once the other had everything in place to give the cream. Best of luck to you :) Isn't is scary how much yellow crust develops on their eye in. I was so frightened the first time I saw it.

Hope it helps,
D. Mandry
San Antonio, TX

Call or go back to the doctor and ask for Vigamox eye drops. They are so much easier to administer than the ointment.

Try your best to put it in her eye while she is sleeping well. Just pull a little with your finger and run the ointment just inside the eyelid. Be quick so that she doesn't wake up while you are doing it. A tip if she sleeps well while someone is holding her, have the other parent put it in her eye while being held.

Our little boy had surgeries on his eye at 8 and 11 months. We were given the tube of antibiotic ointment as well. The doctor told us that we could put a ribbon of it on our finger, and swipe it across his eye, at the lash line, even if he closed it. The blinking will still distribute it into the eye. (of course in your situation, don't forget to wash well, after trying this)

My daughter was always difficult to administer meds to....and, so many of us have been where you are at with this eye ointment too...... My daughter is a fighter and always has been.....I would "sit" on her--not with all my weight, but I would put her hands by her side and hold her head with my knees and the rest of my legs would go alongside her body which would prevent her from being able to thrash around.....it looks cruel, but as long as you aren't full blown sitting on her, it gets the job done..... believe me--she is soon to be 12 and I took her to the doctor when she was sick and the doctor said, "I will have a nurse come in to give her a shot" and my response was, "You better send two because it's going to take all three of us!" And, it did....I am hoping she grows out of that!

My 15 month old had that not to long ago. We had to do the eye drops, and I found the a "treat" worked well... I gave him half an m&m as reward for letting me put the drops in. 8 months may be too young for an m&m, but there are many other "sweet treats" that would not be bad and really help you get the ointment in. Goodluck :) Would you know my son was rather disappointed when he was all better! :)

Do the blanket wrap up, like you did when they were littler. Hope this helps.
G.

I had the same problem with my youngest son when he was about 6 months old. (He's 14 months now) My suggestion, is it takes two, you can't do it by yourself. My husband had to hold our son's arms above his head and brace his head so that he couldn't move. I know that sounds mean, but it was the only way we could get him to stay still long enough to put the cream in his eye. Next talk to the pediatrician about eye drops instead of cream, they are a lot easier & quicker to administer. Hope this helped, I hope your daughter gets to feeling better.

First, wash hands, place a strip on your clean finger. Have her look up at the ceiling or have someone dangle a toy in front of her, then lower the lower lid and swab the ointment quickly. Don't try putting ointment directly from tube, as tip of tube is metal and you may accidentaly hurt baby, and contaminate tube.
She probably doesn't like the blur affects that comes from the ointment. Be sure to wash your hands afterwards, as conjuctivitis is highgly transmitted. Wash her hands often to avoid infecting other eye. Also wash her pillow case, and if possible avoid her touching many things. Everyone in household must act as if they had it and were transmitting the germ themselves. so wash, wash.
I have worked for eye doctors many years.
Hope it helps.

Here is the best trick I learned for administering meds, using the nose sucker, and all other baby needs. You sit on the floor in a straddle. You put your baby on the floor head toward you. Place your legs gently over her arms, use your thighs to apply enough pressure to hold her head still. If her feet get to kicking, use your lower legs to pin them down too. She won't like it, but in this position, she can not fight you and you will be able to get the drops in her eyes without a battle. Good luck.

Do you have breast milk. Try a drop or two of that instead. It can work wonders.

I would suggest having 2 people involved in the ointment application. Lay the child down and one person should straddle the child, pinning the child's arms to their sides using your legs. One person should pull the eyelids apart as gently as possible (which is hard with the child squeezing their lids). Sometimes it actually only takes pulling down the lower lid to get the ointment in because as you pull the lid down it forms kind of a little pocket in which you can put the ointment. The second person can put the ointment in. Avoid touching the tip of the ointment tube to the eye as you don't want to contaminate the tube.

This sounds cruel, but if you wrap her in a sheet to keep her hands away, you might be able to apply the medicine.

I remember when my daughter had pink eye...once she figured out what we were doing, it was a fight just to get the drops in her eye! I finally had to resort to....force and speed. I would hold her down with her Dad's help if he was around and pry her eye open (as gently as I could) and quickly put a drop of medicine in her eye. When I had to do it myself, I would suggest that you place her head between your knees with her hair facing you (legs away from you) and put her arms under your knees...this frees both of your hands up so that you can administer the ointment. Unfortunately, there is no other way to do it sometimes. Good luck and I do hope it heals quickly.