possible eye infection in newborn...what to do?

my newborn is 1wk and 2d old. tonight he woke up w/gooey discharge in his eye. is this an eye infection? what should i do for it? i will call his dr first thing in the morning, but i am concerned tonight.
any responses are appreciated.

[peekawho]

There is little you can do tonight.  Call your ped in the morning, unless the eye seems red, swollen, hot, or painful to him.

[Jules_za]

Breast Milk, beast milk, breast milk, it's the best think for a baby's eye infection. I promise!

[anxiousmomtobe?]

It is probably a blocked tear duct, very common in young babies.  Place a warm, wet face cloth on it for a few seconds every hour or so and wipe gently.  Make sure to use a clean cloth each time.  As well, take your pinky and massage the inside corner of the eye in a circular motion.

[peekawho]

YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IIN THE HOSPITAL.  What happened?

[anxiousmomtobe?]

Still waiting my turn.....

Have an apt with the doc who did the emergancy delivery of our son, I am hoping he will bump me up on the list.....

I intend to let loose the tears and tantrums.  He's the big dog ob guy here in the city and I know he doesn't want me to have the same problems this time.  So hopefully he will get me in there sooner rather than later.  

[kellym]

I'm going to have to agree with the blocked tear duct. My dd always had a little stuff floating in her eye and maybe your babies is just making its way out.

[mum2beagain]

My little one was the same, had a gooey eye for about a week and I kept bathing it and wiping it and it wasn't going away then my midwife told me to squirt breast milk in his eye every time I fed him. I did this and massaged the tear duct and wiped with cooled boiled water a few times a day and it was completely gone after 2 days.

[Crritter]

Mine had it too.  You can call the nurse, they can prescribe an eye ointment if needed.  I wanted to work it out on my own first, since the ointment can sting a little and the blocked duct doesn't hurt them. You can take a warm closth, also you can gently massage the duct several times a day, I did it when I changed my son.  His cleared up in a couple days.  I would call the Dr. though just to be sure.  Anxious, don't feel bad.  I got bumped on my induction.  A freak snowstorm came and everyone else had their water break.  They literally ran out of rooms and had women laboring in the pediatric dept and inthe triage.  They kept calling me and telling me it would be a few more hours.  I did get in the next morning, but only because my Dr. pulled strings with the charge nurse and told them about the issue of baby's size.  First one was over 1o lbs., so they squeezed me in at 5 am, but I was told that I was the only induction let in that morning.  It'll come, so hard to wait though.