How do I tell if my baby has pink eye?

How do I tell if my baby has pink eye? I'm calling the doctor in the morning, but she is on maternity leave and I want to hold off on taking her into the temp doc if at all possible. She is 12 months old and this morning woke up with her eye completely covered with hardened green gunk. I had to soften it and get remove it with a wet wash cloth. I remember doing this to myself until I was ten years old, and I did the same to my first daughter until she was two. The difference in this case is that her eye is itchy and very red. The white of the eye itself is slightly pink and bloodshot and the eyelid is very red. I've never seen this before. Is this pink eye, or a basic eye infection? Pink eye is pretty contageous and I will take her to the ER if it sounds like pink eye and not just an infection.

How do I tell if my baby has pink eye?
There are three different types of pink eye though: allergic, viral, and bacterial. The link I am including gives a lot more info.





I would not take her to ER because you will be sitting there for a very long time and exposing her to other germs and giving her pink eye to others. Especially with you being on maternity leave you really don't need to be getting sick. I would wait until morning and call the doctor first thing and try to get her seen. Pink eye looks nasty and is uncomfortable but usually it can wait until morning to be checked.





In the morning her eyes will be all goopy and probably stuck together. Just take a warm washcloth and wipe them until they are clean, switching the sides of the cloth so she gets a clean "sweep" every time.





And wash you hands really well. It's pretty contagious.





My daughter just had this last week. Two other kids I know of have it right now. It is going around, if that makes you feel better.





Hope she feels better soon.
Reply:Well, personally I doubt if your medical provider would hold off taking their own child to the doctor with the same symptoms. They would demand and get immediate service.





I would take my child immediately to the doctor because I would not risk my child's eyesite. But that is my personal choice.
Reply:they will be pinkish but I always told when my children had pink eye was their eyes were stuck together in the morning. With out that sign I would think it was some other irritation
Reply:It's definitely some kind of eye infection, and it's most likely pinkeye.





But pinkeye is NOT a reason for a trip to the ER. That's a misuse of emergency services and medical resources, plus it will expose your toddler to all sorts of other bugs.





You can deal with it at home until you can see the pediatrician, at the office, tomorrow. They're going to suggest that you wash all the bedding anyway, which you can do tomorrow, once you've started treatment. And in the meantime, just make sure you wash your baby's hands often, and the rest of the family's, too.
Reply:Conjunctivitis same thing for both isn't it. Too bad they don't keep Borax on the shelf of the grocery store it is the home remedy for eye infections. Definitely not an ER trip. When you clean the eye area make sure you don't cross contaminate the other eye.