Babys Watery Eye

If you're breastfeeding you may want to massage some breastmilk under her eye every time you nurse. Breastmilk is a natural anibiotic and was recommened by my daugters ped. Good luck!

Massage the duct by gently pressing your finger against her cheek (right where it meets the lower portion of her nose) and rubbing in a line upwards until you end at the tear duct. Follow closely to the side of the nose the entire time. When I did it for my daughter, I specifically remember one time when a lot of extra "gunk" came out of the duct and it was perfectly fine from then on.

Hi there,
My son was born with a blocked tear duct as well. Our doctor recommended that I give it a gentle massage a couple times a day starting down by the nose area and pushing upward toward the eye. In just a few weeks this cleared the tear duct and now my son's eye doesn't tear anymore. Our doctor also prescribed some medicated eye drops to make sure there wasn't any infection as there was some cloudy discharge as well. Hope this helps!

Clogged tear ducts are a way of life at my house. All 6 of my children have had various degrees of it and it is easily treated. I have only had 1 of my 6 that have had to have the surgery to open it up. So to clear it up---anytime that you can get to hold her and snuggle her gently massage her eye. It needs to be right below her eye towards the corner closest to her nose. Put firm pressure on it and push upwards and towards her nose. She isn't going to like it much, but the more that you can massage her eye the better. Warm compresses make it easier to massage as well. The reason that her eye is watery, is that the channel that the extra tears (water) usually uses to get out of the eye is blocked and so the eye can't drain itself. Think about this, what happens to you when you cry, your nose starts to run.....her duct that runs to her nose and would normally drain it, can't work. The clogged duct can open itself up, but usually takes time. My oldest child was the one that we never did anything to but let it go and it was gone by the time she was a year old. But with children #2,3,4 and 5 we massaged it at least once a day and it was gone by 6 months. Sometimes it can be really clogged and that is what happened to child #6. She would get infection after infection because the eye couldn't drain all the bacteria out of it. At 11 months we went to the eye doctor and were referred to an eye surgon. The did a 20 minute surgery and opened her duct. She is now 2 1/2 and hasn't had any infections in her eye since. Good luck and know that it isn't really serious yet, but with massaging every day it can get better.
J.-SAHM of 6 soon to be 7 in July.

My first son had this. The midwife suggested pouring breastmilk in the eye. With a little massage. It went away pretty fast. My friend used collidial silver on her baby. To help with her skin, I would use a natural lotion bar preferrably one without any fragrance. raw shea butter would even work. I know that area is probably getting chapped.

Our son had one too. The doc gave us an ointment but he said it really doesn't help it. He told us to take a warm washcloth once or twice a day and massage the duct. It should help work it out eventually. Our son's unclogged on it's own but I know that if it doesn't they will go in and unclog it for her.
Good Luck!

If she'll let you place a warm towel over her eyes for a minute or 2 twice a day. This is what the eye doctor told me to do when I had a clogged tear duct. My daughter is 17 months and has one eye that waters constantly. She has indoor/outdoor allergies and I am told that is a effect of allergies. Not sure if that could be the case for you though. People say babies don't develop allergies as young as your baby but my daughter has been on Zrytec for about a year and when she doesn't take it I can see the difference. If I were you I would do a search and Webmd and get some tips from there. Good luck!

Just to clarify the mama's surgery comment... it's not really surgery. They just take a small probe and open the duct. They do use anesthesia so they don't wiggle or squirm as they're doing the procedure but the prep time takes longer than the actual procedure itself (seriously only like 5 minutes). Both of my kids had blocked ducts. The first's went away on it's own after massaging and the like. My daughter's eye, however, was always red, watery, crusty and just generally irritated looking. After a few months I pretty much knew it wouldn't unclog on it's own, but waited until she was 11 months to do the procedure and it was so nice to see both of her pretty eyes!! Good luck and just know that it is easily fixable.

My daughter has very small tear ducts and has the same problem. What has helped: massaging the duct gently with the tip of your pinky finger (push in on the duct and move up and to the side. her pediatrician showed me how to do this!), clean warm wash cloth on the eye for a few seconds at a time, humidify the air at night (this REALLY can help). I kept a good relationship with her doctor and was usually able to tell if the eye was getting an infection. She would trust my judgment and call in the drops. Usually my daughter had the worst time was middle of winter, but with all of this wind right now, I can imagine eyes easily getting irritated. Talk with your doctor, even if it is over the phone just to keep him/her informed. Good luck and know that your daughter will most likely grow out of this with time.

From MayoClinic.com: "Blocked tear ducts are caused by a partial or complete obstruction in the tear drainage system. The drainage system, which begins at the inside corner of your eye, normally carries tears away from the surface of your eye into your nose where they are reabsorbed or evaporate. When you have a blocked tear duct, your tears can't drain normally, leaving you with a watery, irritated eye."

My first had one blocked tear ducts and my second had both of her tear ducts blocked. As others have mentioned use breast milk or a warm compress to massage your daughters eye. Talk to your Ped, they might prescribe an eye drop. For my little ones I would keep a clean baby washcloth close by to dab, not wipe, the tears. When they'd wake with the crusties I would use a warm wet compress to gently remove it.

My oldest cleared on its own but in the extreme case as in my youngest, her left eye never cleared. Shortly before 1yr she had to have it surgically cleared. They used a TINY bottle brush like instrument to open the duct. Unfortunately, it didn't work so we went to a specialist who recommended a much more invasive procedure where they would have needed to access the duct through the bridge of her nose... We decided not to do it. She's now 4 and only has trouble when she's stuffed up with a cold. She is more susceptible to eye infections but again hasn't had much trouble. I'm not sharing this with you to scare you but just to share my experience. I’m sure your LO will be just fine!

Best wishes!!!

**EDIT**
RE: Jill B. "Clarification" to my response:
The procedure to medically unblock the tear duct IS surgery.

From WedMD.com: "Most babies born with a blocked tear duct will not need surgery. But when surgery is needed, probing is usually done. Probing involves passing a thin wire through the blocked tear duct to open it.

Probing may be done in the doctor's office under a local anesthetic (numbing eyedrops) for babies younger than 1 month of age. General anesthesia, which is usually done in an outpatient hospital setting, can be used for older babies. The doctor is able to evaluate your baby's tear duct more thoroughly if general anesthesia is used. Also, if needed, an additional procedure to resolve the blockage often can be performed at the same time and prevent the need for another surgery."

The "General anesthesia, which is usually done in an outpatient hospital setting, can be used for older babies." is the surgical procedure my daughter had.