Have you recently noticed a goopy substance in your baby's eye?

Often, newborns may experience eye drainage or a “watery eye." Most of the time this can be a blocked tear duct! It can actually be quite common and much less worrisome than you may think. Yay! 

This occurrence has a formal name: Nasolacrimal Duct Stenosis. It happens when your baby’s tiny duct that drains tears from their eye to their nose gets blocked for whatever reason.

When this happens, parents usually notice tears being produced when the baby isn’t crying or you will see clear/white discharge coming from the inside corner of their eye.

Don't panic! This can simply be resolved by gentle massage done 3-5 times a day to the inside corner of their eye.

Things to remember before massaging: You will want to have clean hands, and gently push and massage in small circle motions on the corner of the eye where the tear duct is.

In the large majority of cases this well help clear the clog and no other medical treatment will be needed. Pretty simple! 

As always, talk with your doctor if you are concerned and feel you baby needs further attention and care. 

When my babies experienced this, I always made sure to carefully clean their eyes during bath time. These muslin washcloths are soft and sensitive enough to use on those tiny tear ducts when massaging! Shop them HERE.