Newborn baby has a red eye

When a child is just born, various problems often arise, causing parents to worry. For example, many parents find that their child has a red line in his or her eyes when he or she is just born. In fact, this is a normal phenomenon. It may be caused by the baby being squeezed in the birth canal, or it may be caused by stimulation by amniotic fluid. If this problem occurs, parents don’t need to worry too much. It will disappear in just a few days!

1. What does it mean if a newborn baby has a red spot in his eyes?

The blood vessels of newborns are fragile. At birth, due to the squeezing of the birth canal, the small blood vessels in the sclera rupture and bleed. Therefore, there are small bright red bleeding foci on the sclera (white of the eye) of newborns after birth. In addition, they are stimulated by the amniotic fluid at birth (so avoid eating spicy and irritating foods during pregnancy). This kind of bleeding generally does not require any special treatment and will be absorbed and disappear after a few days.

2. What does it mean when your baby has red eyes?

If your baby has red and swollen eyes, conjunctivitis is the most likely cause, but it may also be caused by allergies. If there is also a lot of purulent secretions, it is considered that conjunctivitis is caused by bacterial infection, and one drop of tobramycin eye drops can be used. If there is not much secretion and the baby keeps rubbing his eyes with his hands, it is likely caused by allergies and active anti-allergic treatment is needed.

3. What should I do if my baby has red eyes?

1. Find out the cause and cut off the allergen. First, take your baby to the hospital. During the diagnosis and treatment process, carefully find out the cause. Once you know the cause of your baby's eye disease, you should immediately avoid contact and stop the stimulation of allergens.

2. Prepare special towels. Towels and handkerchiefs used by babies should be kept separate and boiled in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes after each use.

3. Apply cold compress to eyes. Use a cool towel or cold water bag to apply cold compress to your baby's eyes, and avoid hot compress, because hot compress will increase the local temperature and dilate blood vessels, resulting in increased secretions and worsening symptoms.

4. Use eye drops. When putting eye drops in your baby's eye, you must first comfort the baby and let the baby lie on his back with his face upwards, so that the eye drops can stay in the conjunctiva for a while. In addition, the gaps in the conjunctiva are very small, making it difficult for eye drops to stay. Plus, the eyelids keep blinking, so the eye drops can only stay for a short time. So be sure to apply eye drops frequently as instructed by your doctor, and do not reduce the frequency without authorization, so that the eye drops can work effectively. The same applies to applying ointment. In order to avoid affecting the baby's vision, eye ointment is usually applied before going to bed.