Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group

Feeding your infant and ensuring they are getting enough nutrition is one of the most important aspects of parenting during that first year. This community is dedicated to those who are nurturing a baby, whether breastfed or formula-fed.

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BahamaSun 09/09/2012

The doctor said that most babies will outgrow this by six months, but her time is up. She wants us to watch it for another month and then see a specialist - opthomologist (sp?) The only way to unblock it is with surgery. I really don't want my baby under anesthesia so young.

Anyone else has this with a little one. What did you do?

deleted_user 09/10/2012

My daughter had a blocked tear duct really bad for a short period of time. Unlike your daughter, she did outgrow it very quickly. I remember hearing that surgery may be necessary in a small fraction of babies. You have nothing to lose by seeing the specialist and discussing your concerns. I do believe though that some babies may take longer to outgrow-maybe a year (even though your doc said 6 months?) i can totally understand your apprehension with putting her under. Have you been massaging the area around the eye and has the doctor prescribed drops? Best of luck

BahamaSun 09/10/2012

I did massage the area at first, but there seems to be no time. She had antibiotic drops when she first came home from the hospital, but there really is no infection now.

Thanks for you response. Guess we will be checking with a specialist soon.

deleted_user 09/12/2012

My son had blocked tear ducts in both eyes and had infections at least once a month because they were completely blocked. They told us the same about most children outgrowing it early, but it just never happened.

At 14 months old, after seeing a regular eye doctor and an opthomologist, they decided surgery was the only option. Of course this is terrifying to any mother, so I was so scared. My mom came with me on the day of the surgery, I got to stay with my son until he was sleeping, then they wheeled him away. The procedure took about 10 minutes, then he went to recovery. We had to wait about 20 more minutes for him to wake up, then we went in to see him. He cried for a while when he first woke up but then was perfectly fine, never had any kind of reaction or pain with the procedure or anything.

Now at almost 18 months, he's never been healthier. He's not had a single eye infection of any kind or any drainage since the surgery. It even helped with the upper respiratory infections that he had as a baby because he hasn't had one of those since either!

As scary as it is, don't put it off forever. I am so happy that we decided to go through with it because my son is so much happier.

If you have any questions or want to talk about it or anything feel free to message me! I'd be glad to talk to you about it since I know exactly how you're feeling right now!

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