Administering Eye Drops to a Toddler

K.,
have her close her eyes. put the drops in the inside corner and then have her open her eyes and blink a few times. the medication will go in and she doesn't have to freak out about having something put in her eyes.
S.

I had the same problem until I tried this: hold the dropper up about a foot high abve her head. Then count "one", and drop it immediately before you get to two. My daughter actually ended up laughing when I did this when previously she was screaming and freaking out. Hope it works for you!

Have your little girl lie down on her back and give her a huggy toy of her choice. Ask her to breath in and out slowly several times to relax. You could describe a scene that she likes (we are walking to the park and you can see the trees and hear the birds, etc.) You can have her do this without the drops first. Then when she is doing this calmly and after the deep breaths lead to breathing more slowly, with her eyes closed, put the drops in the corner of her eyes and it should seep into her eye. You can be repeating the calming scene or imagining anything. It is not necessary to offer any incentive (like a treat) because she will soon learn to only comply when bribed.

These techniques, relaxation with imagery, can be used for all kinds of things. You might even let her practice on you (but not actually putting the drops in, but maybe acting like she is). If she is old enough to grasp this, she might think it is fun. You also get to model calmly getting medicine. You can also substitute singing a little song, having her hum along, etc. It is also very important for the person giving the medicine to do the deep breathing, too, to be very relaxed as he or she approaches the child (even with eyes closed, the tension can probably be felt).

I hope this helps and best wishes.

L.

try doing it as part of her bath routine. by that I mean, when washing her face, kinda hide the drops behind the washcloth and when she least expects it and when her head is tilted back, drop them in quickly. may sound sneaky for which it is, but bathing will keep her distracted. another way is when she first goes to sleep and is sleeping soundly, you could try to do it then, if it doesn't startle her too much. now that sounds kinda iffy, but on the other hand, you need to get those drops in right? it's worth at least one try.

After our kitten scratched my daughter's eye, the Ped. told us to have her lay flat on the ground with her eyes closed. Put a drop in the inner corner of her closed eye, right at the tear duct, and have her open her eyes. The drops roll right in. I'm not sure what medication you're using but a lot of the antibiotics really sting. If you suspect this is the case, you might call a Pharmacy and see if there is an alternative. Good luck to you.

The best solution? An oral antibiotic. I was having the worst time getting drops into our daughter's eyes when she had pink eye and called the pediatrician for advice. He said not to bother trying anymore and gave me a prescription for an oral antibiotic. Cleared it right up the same as drops would have and it was a painless process. If you're dealing with antibiotic drops, I would talk to the doctor about trying an oral version.

Just a little note to add. I have them close eyes and then put drops in the corners like others have mentioned. Just wanted to add that if you are really fast, you can do 2 at once to get it over more quickly. My kids preferred that, but they were older than 2. My 3 year old had to have drops recently and the nurse pulled down the bottom of the eyelid and put the drop in quickly. I haven't tried it that way. The good thing about the other method is that as long as they are lying down and you keep them from moving their head to the side - they have to open their eyes sometime and the medicine will get in.

I've found it's easier if I could do at least some of the doses while my son was asleep. Of course, I had to make sure he was really asleep. Hope it helps.

Have her squeeze her eyes very tightly and place the drop in the corner of her eye closest to her nose. When she opens her eye and blinks, the solution will flow right in. I have worn contacts for 30 years and this is the best way to do it. I'm surprised the dr didn't tell you how to do this. They should have. S.

I know this is a tough one. We have our kids lay down flat. I actually have them close their eyes. Then I put a drop of the medicine in the inside corner of their eye and then I have them blink or I assist them with opening & closing their eyes. It's tough no matter what but this has made it somewhat easier for us. Good luck!

I would double check with your doctor, but I just finished giving my little one eye drops and my doctor said that it is okay if they shut their eyes. You just put the drop on the inside corner of the eye while it is closed and when they open their eye the medicine goes in.

I hope this helps.

There are a couple things you could try. You can try putting the eye drop in the corner of the closed eye, and it should fall in when the eye is opened. Another thing is to pry the eye open and drop them in. For us, this worked best when holding the child down with your legs...hard to explain, but lay the child on the floor and sit with your bottom between her legs...lay your legs over her body to pin her arms to the floor, while holding her head between your legs so she can't turn it...this gives you two free hands to work with, so you can pry the eye open with one and do the drops with the other. It may sound cruel, but you shouldn't be hurting the child at all.

As "mean" as it sounds, here's what I did when my son had pink-eye at age 2 1/2. I would lay him down on his back and straddle him ~ essentially "sit" on him (no weight was actually applied to his body.) I used my knees to hold his elbows down. I would give him an unwrapped Starburst candy to hold in each hand. One hand I used to hold open his eye, the other I used to put the drop in. Once the drop was administered, I would release that arm to let him pop the Starburst into his mouth. He would sit up and eat it completely and then we would continue to the other eye. He got another infections around age 4 1/2 and asked if we could "do it like before" with the reward system of Starburst. Like I said, it sounds mean, but it worked!

He's almost 15 now and still hates any sort of procedure or medication near his eyes. He claims he remembers the eye drops. You could use any sort of small reward treat.

I've also heard that you can have the child close their eye and apply the drop in the inner corner of the eye and it will get in but I still think my way worked. He understood that the medicine was needed and he did "work" with me. There was no fighting me other than natural instinct.

I work for an Opthamologist, and have to give children eye drops quite often. We have kids close their eyes gently and put a drop in the nasal corner of the eye (most kids do hold their eyes tightly shut, but there is not alot you can do about that). Gently pull her eyelids apart and let the drop roll in. That is the best method we have found. Good Luck!

How helpful that the other responder actually has experience! I was going to respond just to say this reminds me of putting eye cream in a cat's eye years ago...that was tough, and I don't think you can hold your toddler by the scruff of the neck! Ha.
I wish you luck with your little girl. My grade schooler wears a contact lense by necessity, and I know it's really hard when kids have eye troubles.

Someone told me once to put the drops in the corner of your eye closest to the nose and it works so much better. It works for me... and that's all I've got.

First, make sure she is lying on the ground or on a bed. Have her shut her eyes before you do it (so she doesn't see the drop coming) and then put the appropriate amount on the inside corner of each eye. Then have her open her eyes and roll them around. You might have to hold her down the first couple of times but she will start to understand that it isn't as scary as seeing the drop coming.