My 3 yr. old has pink eye. I think I have warned her enough not to touch her eyes but I can't sit & watch her every second. If she plays with crayons, playdough, etc. should I just through them away at the end of the day? I'm trying really really hard not for my 5 yr. old to get sick too.
Thank you for any advice on how to deal with children having pink eye!!!
Thank you for all your responses!
Me being paranoid I threw away the playdough & the two crayons that my daughter used this weekend. But since using eye drops starting Friday night her eye is already not goopy today.
There is a natural remedy for this that is sold over the counter ask your cvs pharmacy about it, it is in a pink bottle and starts with an s I believe, it really is not that contagious unless you don't wash you pillow cases and your hands. Just keep washing everything, no need to throw things away.. except eye make up for adults
When my daughter got pink eye she slept in the same bed as my husband and I. Amazingly we did not get it. We washed the sheets and pillow cases every day, made sure everyone's hands were washed and used hand sanitizer (after washing with soap and water). I also sprayed every hard surface down with Lysol every evening. My son did not get it either. Good luck to you. It can be hard not to spread pink eye, but it is possible.
Call the doctor and have them call in a prescription! It's very contagious....and uncomfortable. Vigamox is usually what we get and they feel better in a day or so and it gets rid of it.
I don't know how you and your pedi feel about the use of antibiotics. Obviously it is a bad idea to use them when not necessary, but you may want to consider checking to see if you should put your 5 y.o. on a dose to ward it off if the girls are together all day. Just a thought. I know some other families that have done that when one child has something highly contagious. Good luck.
My sister and I use to get pink-eye almost once every two years or so, when we were between 4-12 years old...so, not that many times, but still more than we would have liked and still an unpleasant experience. As you already know, it is highly contagious. There are prescriptions now to help it go away and relieve the symptoms. However, IF you're looking for a more natural treatment that is available over the counter, my Mom use to take Boric Acid (sounds horrible, but really it is just salt-like crystals) and mix with warm water, put into an eye dropper and dropped in the eye, like a regular eye drop. You can find Boric Acid crystals at most local pharmacies. Basically, the Boric Acid solution you create, drys up the running/oozing eye stuff (which makes you feel sooooo much better in and of itself), as well as relieves the itching and hurting very quickly. I always remember my pink-eye going away within 2-3 days at most...so I truly believe that the homemade Boric Acid solution was as effective as any eye oinment or drops prescribed today. Course, it is always best to talk to your doctor first, especially when you kids are involved. I hope this helps. Many Blessings - L.
P.S. By the way, I'm sure my Mom didn't just mix up the Boric Acid Solution on her own, I'm sure she probably did at the direction of a Pediatrician...but regardless it worked and was very soothing and fast acting in drying up the ooze and itch. She would apply a couple times a day until gone.
The best thing you can do is keep everyone's hands washed. Make sure they don't use the same wash clothe or pillow until the pinkeye clears. Pink eye spreads very easily. As far as throwing away crayons,etc I don't know about. I never have and managed to keep the kids from passing it around. Good luck.
I really like the Boric Acid solution idea! Think I'll try that next time my daughter gets pink eye. Her old sitter used to tell me to use "salt-water" which sound like the exact same thing. When you think about it, isn't that what saline solution is anyway? And to think we pay all of that money for saline when a little Boric Acid can do the same thing.
