Questions About Sties in 2 Year Old

Hi Carla, They are such a pain aren't they!!!! My daughter and myself get them. A peditrican told me it was a bacterial infection and to cut ALL sugar products (like, bread, juice, sweets, etc.) out of her diet for at least 7 days because the bacteria feeds on the sugar. She should eat only high fat foods for the 7 days so the bacteria is smoothered (lack of a better word). I also had to wash her eye with a gentle soap and washcloth 2 times a day (am/pm). We both did this and it worked for her but not me so I use a medicated eye ointment at the first sign of one and it most of the time keeps it under control.

Hope you find what works because I know how you feel.

We had the same problem at my house and it was a staph infection. See if they can culture one of them when you take her in. Good luck!

Hi, I hope this helps you out. My Daughter 20 has had at least 15 alone this summer. Her boyfriend is premed and she is studying to be a nurse. After some investigating they found out stise are caused from bacteria that is in you nostrils and the only way to get rid of them is antibiotics. This makes since last year my youngest kept getting them, we were treating the sties as directed by her Dr. nothing worked until she ended up with an sinus infection and was put on a RX. once she started taking the meds. no more sties. If your regular ped. won't take care of it take her to a Ped. Eye Dr.
Good luck

I don't know why the doctor would have said no to your question. My daughter has had just one stye and the doctor told me that it is usually caused by accidentally rubbing feces in the eye.

I think you are on the right track with washing her hands. But I also think you should have her wear overalls with high bibs so she can't get her hands in there and make her play with a toy and keep her hands out during diaper changes.

Also, it's really important to keep very clean habits with diaper changes. I have cringed so many times when some mom plopped their child down on my couch when I was busy with another child and then I turn around horrified to find their bare but on my couch! That is so gross. Even thinks you might not think about like using the hand sanitizers but forgetting to wash the container itself. Think about this. You grab it while changing the diaper and put it on your hands. But then you grab it again later between changes. You touched it with germs on your hands with the last diaper change. I am pretty anal about washing down door knobs, soap dishes, faucet handles, hand sanitizer containers etc. You just don't even know how often you contaminate thing. It could even be as simple as getting germs on her pants when you are pulling them up and then she touches her pants and then rubs her eyes. I wipe my hands very well with a wet one before I put the daycare kids close back on. I'm very strict about what they do with their hands while I am changing them too.

Suzi

I would suggests taking her to see a pedriatic optomitrist. THey have alot of experience with this. And they prescribe different meds than doctors do.

Hi Carla,

I used to get sties on my eyes when I was a little girl and I also got pink eye quite a bit. Our doctor would give me a tube of ointment to put in my eyes and it normally cleared up quickly.

I later learned that neosporin (BNP) ointment is good for most common eye infections. Any brand that contains Bacitracin Zinc, Neomycin Sulfate and Polymyxin B Sulfate will work (I do not use the kind that contains any painkillers). The most difficult part is getting the ointment into the eye. I often use a Q-tip to get it in there. With a little one, you will probably need daddy's help and will want to put it in at night before she goes to bed since the ointment coats the eye and makes vision blurry for a bit. You doctor can prescribe the BNP ointment in a tube that is easier for applying to eyes too.

Some people are allergic to BNP so if you haven't used neosporin on your daughter's cuts and scrapes before or if she has had a reaction to BNP before, you'd better talk to your doctor first. There are other antibiotic ointments that your doctor can prescribe that can clear up the infection too.

BNP is just very inexpensive and usually readily available in most households and can clear up most of those awful eye infections in a hurry.

Hope this helps,
A.

Someone told me to rub a gold ring (like my wedding ring) on my daughter's sty. It went away. I've passed that on for years and every time, people come back to me and say that it worked. Our pediatrician said that it was caused by feces getting into the eye too. So, keep her hands busy during diaper changes. :o)

I had stys as a young child, up until I was about 10... maybe. They are not painful, only strange when they pop and you see blood on your face. Kinda freaky for a child. I "outgrew" them somewhere along the way. They are perfectly normal. The doctor prescribed some type of cream to help them go away or keep from getting infected. Even if they sty is gone by the time your appointment comes, you still need to go. They can prescribe you something for the next time.

Good Morning Carla, I had sties as a child, was told was caused from eye strain. Nada clue if that was true or not, but one tiny hair folicle gets infected and that causes the sties. My nana used to take a copper penny and rub it across the sty and it would actually go away quickly.
I also used warm salt water wash on them. Your little girl is probably to young to understand or use the eye wash cup, but maybe you could use a cotton ball to rinse it off.
I did end up with glasses in the 3rd grade.
If sties are caused from dirt my cousins should of had their eye's completely shut from them. LOL Lived on a farm with my nana and pappy, seemed like those two boys never washed their hands.

God Bless you Carla, will pray you find the cause and they stop developing on your little angel.
K. Nana of 5

Hi Carla,
Apparently there may be many causes for styes since you have gotten several different responses citing a doctor's explanation. When I was a child around 6 yr old I had several sties and after medicating for a while with no improvement I actually had to have them surgically removed. I had one large one on my right eye and 7 small ones on my left eye! The doctor told my mom that there was a condition in my eyes that caused the styes when that crusty sleep stuff got in my eyes. He told her to wash my eyes every morning with a wet hot cloth to keep me from rubbing it into my eyes. I had another very large stye when I was around 10 yr old, was scheduled for surgery, but the Lord took it away the day of surgery. Literally...I woke up that morning and it was gone! I had convinced my mom to cancel the surgery a couple days before! LOL Oh to have the faith of a child again! :) Since that time, I have had them occasionally and the stye ointment you can buy OTC at Wal-mart has taken them away. It's actually been several years now since I've had them.
So maybe you could try just holding a hot wet cloth on your child's eyes every morning to see if it helps. The cream that we bought at Walmart also was followed by a hot wet cloth and did make the vision blurry for a little while.
I hope they go away soon for your little girl. They can be very painful. Not always, but sometimes mine would hurt and they'd get so big my eye would not even open all the way.
God bless,
S.