Eye Infection in Toddlers Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

Signs Of Infected Eye In Toddlers & Remedies

Toddler eye infections are common occurrences that cause distress and panic amongst many parents. Knowing that eye infections in toddlers are spread as easily as they are in adults, puts most first time parents on a defensive stance, where they avoid their toddler mixing with other children. A toddler eye infection, like any other, will put a child through discomfort, but can be dealt with easily.

The first thing a parent will notice when their toddler has an eye infection is redness in the eyes and a crust that forms around the eyelids. Toddlers, being unable to speak for themselves and express the way they feel will naturally cry a lot more because of the irritation of an eye infection.

Toddler Eye Infection Signs, Symptoms, Discharge and Pain

Eye infections are very common throughout the world. An eye infection can occur to a person of any age, but like any other infections, younger children and infants are more prone to eye infections because of their underdeveloped and suppressed immune system. Although, an infant eye infection does not pose any serious health issues, parents do panic seeing their child in severe distress. If you are a first time parent, then it is most likely that you will be more seriously concerned about your baby's eyes. However, you need not be worried as it goes on its own after a few days if it is a viral infection. In order to relieve toddler eye pain and irritation, certain medication may be required. In the case of an infant eye infection, however, a little bit more care is needed to be taken. Eye infections usually occur because of bacterial or viral attack. Conjunctivitis is one of the most commonly occurring viral infections and is highly contagious.

Signs of eye infection in toddlers are more or less similar to those in children and adults. The common symptoms of toddler or infant eye infection are redness and pain in the eyes, irritation and discomfort, yellow or green discharge from the eyes, formation of crust around the eyes, and the eyelids get glued during sleep. If someone in your neighborhood has an eye infection, you should not let your child come in contact with the infected person or child in order to prevent your child from the eye infection. If at home someone is affected, even more care is required. As an eye infection is very irritating, your baby will tend to rub and scratch his/her eyes, which may further aggravate the condition. Therefore, you need to sooth his/her eyes at regular intervals. The best thing to do is to wash the eyes with fresh cold water from time to time. This greatly helps in relieving eye pain and irritation. Washing is also very beneficial in cleaning the crust formed caused by the toddler eye discharge.

After you have noticed the toddler eye infection symptoms, your next step is to find out what has caused the infection. In most cases, it is some irritant that has got into the eye, while in others, it could be a solid object that is lodged under the eyelid and is causing discomfort. In either case, washing the eye with clean, fresh water should provide some amount of relief. If you cannot locate the solid object that is causing the irritation, pull the eyelids slightly away from the eyes and check there. If this proves to be of no help, you should consult a doctor, who can pin point the cause of the infection.

Toddler Eye Infection Treatment

If your toddler is diagnosed as having conjunctivitis, there is no need to panic. Placing a warm compress over his eyes will help to soothe the irritation as well as kill the bacteria causing the infection. Bacterial ointments that are prescribed by the doctor are also very helpful in treating conjunctivitis, and should clear up the infection within a week's time. Since conjunctivitis is highly contagious, you must ensure that your hands are washed every time you put anti bacterial ointments into your child's eyes. At times, an allergic conjunctivitis may also cause irritation and redness of the eyes.

In such a case, you need to decipher what your child is allergic to and keep your child away from the allergen. At times, a cold water eye wash is also recommended to soothe the eyes and clear out the bacteria that causes the conjunctivitis. Dust and other minute particles are other irritants that can cause a lot of discomfort. While traveling, placing protective eyewear over your toddler's eyes should prove beneficial in reducing the chances of an eye infection.

Eye Discharge in Toddlers

The color and intensity of eye discharge depends on the cause of eye infection. Like in case of adults, it may vary from child to child as well. Some children are not much bothered by the infection whereas some may feel severe discomfort and try to rub their eyes over and again. The reasons for eye discharge in children could be any of the following. If it is a bacterial or viral infection, you will notice a yellow or green eye discharge in toddlers. Falling of dust particles or some other foreign material in the eyes also causes eye discharge. However, this is not an infection, and simply washing the eyes will help in removing the foreign matter. Blockage of the tear duct caused by some external or internal injury could also result in eye discharge. However, tear duct blockage may also occur due to some other ailment as well. In some cases, allergies towards certain foods or bathing products may also result in eye discharge in toddlers. If you observe that your child is frequently facing the problem of eye discharge, you must take steps in order to know why it is repeatedly occurring.

The first and foremost step is to protect the child from environmental hazards such as smoke, dust, and pollen. Thereafter, for proper treatment, you need to first find out the exact cause of the eye discharge in your child. For correct diagnosis, you need consult an eye specialist. Once the reason of the eye infection is correctly diagnosed, the treatment becomes very easy. If it is due to viral or bacterial infection, the treatment involves administering mild doses of some antibiotics, specifically suitable for your baby. Although there is no treatment for viral infections, the antibiotic drugs are administered so as to protect your child against any other bacterial infections as the immune system becomes weaker as a result of the viral ailment. In addition to this, you simply need to keep soothing the eyes so that the child does not try to rub the eyes and can find relief from the pain and irritation. For soothing and relieving your child's eyes, you can use a good eye wash. For this, you can find a good eye wash for toddlers at your nearby medical store. An eyewash essentially contains mild disinfectants and soothing agents such as boric acid, sodium chloride, and sodium borate. You can also browse the internet for several homemade eyewash recipes.

Apart from eyewashes, you can also use cold saline water compress for cleaning and soothing the eyes of your child. This is very beneficial for crusted eyes in toddlers and helps in reducing green or yellow eye discharge in toddlers as well as the grownups.