Conjunctivitis in babies

The conjunctivitis is no easy matter in a baby's life. Indeed, one has to acknowledge that one could wish better upon you. It is an infection that can result from several causes. Of several types, it can be viral, bacterial, or allergic. However, when it comes to babies, a bacterium is most often the cause. And sometimes, unfortunately, it is the mother who is the source of the contagion.

When the mother is responsible for baby's conjunctivitis

Most often, baby — particularly a newborn — catches conjunctivitis following an infection in the mother. It is a bacterial conjunctivitis that she would pass on to them during childbirth. This is unfortunately the case when the mother has a Sexually Transmitted Infection such as Chlamydia. Once the mother has been tested and the infection detected, an antibiotic eye drop will be administered to the newborn. But rest assured, you are sometimes not responsible for this.

In the case where another cause of infection is found

Sometimes our little one's tear ducts can be blocked. As a result, tears cannot flow normally. This is when conjunctivitis appears, which is once again bacterial. This is something that will gradually resolve itself and disappears spontaneously before the age of three months. That said, in order to prevent transmission, certain precautions must be taken.

Hygiene precautions and treatments for conjunctivitis in babies

It is important to recall the basic rules of hygiene. Washing your hands before and after every care session for baby is not optional if you want to optimise their recovery. It is preferable to use disposable tissues and to change towels and flannels daily.

As far as treatments are concerned, it is often a local matter. Indeed, a local antibiotic will be administered to baby as a matter of course.

Daily care to avoid discomfort for your little one

Furthermore, to prevent the onset of such an infection, making it a habit to clean their eyes every day is a reflex worth adopting. To do this, arm yourself with sterile gauze swabs and saline solution.

Begin by thoroughly disinfecting your hands. Then take a packet (or more depending on the state of their eyes) of sterile gauze swabs. You need to open the swab packets while being careful not to touch them. Using the saline solution, dampen the swabs in the centre. Finally, pick up the swabs by their four corners, taking care not to touch the centre.

Then, wipe once across one eye. No more than once with the same swab in order to clean properly. Using several swabs on each eye is absolutely fine! What matters in this case is that their eyes are properly disinfected!

Finally, it is also important to guard against other infections such as laryngitis or nasopharyngitis. These are unfortunately also frequently encountered in the first months of our little ones' lives. Thankfully, we have already discussed these minor concerns in our other articles...