Infant eye infection?

I think my daughter who is 7 weeks old might have an eye infection.  She has a yellow discharge coming from her eye... is this an infection?  Will she need a trip to the doctor or is there something I can do to relieve it at home?

[niki_beth]

I would take her to the Dr. Its always better to be safe than sorry. My son had an eye infection when he was about that age. He actually had a clogged tear duct that led to an infection. They gave him antibiotic eye drops that cleared it up right away and we just had to massage his tear duct a few times daily for a couple weeks until it unclogged.
Hope she is better soon! Let us know how things go!

[JoyRenee]

Sounds like it could be a clogged tear duct, which is VERY common with newborns as their tear ducts are still immature and unable to produce tears.

Use a clean, damp cloth. Put it on your pointer finger and gently sweep your the cloth from the top, down and away.

And as always, have a medical professional check it out. If the discharge becomes GREEN, then it most definitely is an infection. I know many babies who've had clogged tear ducts and it is yellow.

[JoyRenee]

Ugh typos. In the second paragraph I meant to say, "Put it on your pointer finger and gently sweep the cloth from the top, down and away from her eye as to not get the goop in her eye."

[Riot_Queen]

I would bring him to the doc's.
Any infection in an infant SPECIALLY one that young, can be a real problem.
The ped should give your baby something to help with the problem.

[chantal21]

My son is 2 weeks old and has a clogged tear duct. I thought he had an allergy or cold in his eye, but the doc confirmed a clogged duct. So I have been using a warm washcloth on it and wiping it out whenever I can. I hear it's very common in newborns. But of course, you would want your doc to confirm, so I would recommend bringing her in to be checked out.

[annaleesmom]

you need to see the doc.  I battled eye infections with my little girl when she was a baby.  they are pretty common, but I wouldn't try anything on your own.  Don't risk the eyesight!