Eye care

Your baby’s eyes need to be gently cleaned with a cloth every day. The best way to do this, is to:

Wash your hands before you begin.
Soak a cotton ball in water. Squeeze gently.
Clean the eye, by gently wiping the cotton ball from the inside corner to the outside corner.
Use a different clean, moist cotton ball for each eye to avoid potential cross-infection.
Some babies don’t like to have their eyes cleaned. Do make sure that the water is comfortably warm but beyond that, it’s usually best to just clean quickly and move on.

If your child has an eye infection, it will clear up quickly with the regular cleaning of the eye.
When cleaning a sore or infected eye, ensure that you use clean cotton balls and that you use each ball only once – wipe from the inside to the outside corner once and then dispose of the ball. If you need to continue cleaning the same eye, use a new cotton ball.
Wipe the eye when it’s closed – don’t try to clean inside the eyelids (even if this is the source of the infection) as you risk damaging the cornea this way.
Use warm – not hot – water, and be firm while you clean to ensure that you dislodge any sticky discharge or pus.

This article was written by Ella Walsh for Kidspot. Sources include SA Government’s Parenting and Child Health.

Last revised: Thursday, 19 June 2008

This article contains general information only and is not intended to replace advice from a qualified health professional.

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