The Dreaded Eye Drops
In addition to the awful cold, this winter has been remarkable for how often we’ve gotten sick. It seems we can barely go a month without someone catching something or another. All of my friends have had the same problem too. One friend threatened to put their house on lockdown until the spring because she was so tired of it.
So last week, Emily, Nathan, and I all had a bit of a cold. It was nothing remarkable, just an ordinary cold. Emily, though, had an additional affliction – some good green gunk in her eyes. It was fairly nasty, but it subsided within a few days and didn’t seem to bother her. Given how much I hate going to the sick clinic at our pediatrician’s office, it didn’t seem to warrant a trip.
A day or two after Emily got better, however, Joshua developed the cold and eye gunk. His cold was also mild, but the eye gunk was impressive. At times, it got so crusty that he couldn’t even open his eyes.
After three days, I finally got brave and took him in. Two hours later (never, ever go there on a Monday), we walked out with a diagnosis and a prescription. Joshua had an eye infection, which was to be treated with eye drops.
The label on the medication made me laugh out loud. You are to place one to two drops of the medication in the infected eye, and keep the eye open for thirty seconds afterward to allow the medicine to work in. Seriously? Have they ever given this to a baby? I have to pin both of Joshua’s arms down while prying open his eye to administer the medicine. There’s no way in heck that I can keep his eye open for any period longer than the 0.2 seconds necessary to get the drops in. This has turned into quite the epic battle.
Thankfully, the medicine has worked quickly, and the eye gunk is almost gone. I will be sooo glad to be done with it. And I will be so happy when we’re all healthy again. At least until the next bug comes through…
Has your child had an eye infection? How did you manage the eye drops?
A suggestion to help with getting them in and holding him down for more than 0.2 seconds (granted this may be difficult) is to put his arms behind his back and ‘hold’ them in with a pillow case… kinda makes them like superman!! Not the best thing or easiest thing in t world, but just an idea…. good luck with this! Hope your whole family gets better soon!!
Thanks for the suggestion! Anything that can help make giving a not-so-fun medicine easier is great. We’re finally feeling better, thanks for asking!