do you the challenge to put eye drops in your toddler's eyes
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hey howdy everybody this is dr neal guymon dr eyeguy with the show that keeps your eyes healthy
and your vision clear today is another how-to video make sure you're subscribed for all my
future videos coming out also check below for any additional helpful links now let's learn
how to put eye drops in your toddler's eyes step number one make sure that you wash your hands you
will be touching around your kids eyes you do not want to give them an eye infection step number two
check for an expiration date on the bottle or the box eye drops do expire step number three you can
remove the cap and make sure that you place the cap on something clean i usually put it on a clean
tissue step number four check for any goobers or weird brown or yellow crusties around the
eye bottle tip that usually means that it's contaminated if it is you definitely want
to get a new bottle step number five is getting in the correct position to put the eye drops in
what you're gonna do here is you're gonna actually place the child right between your legs and lay
them down between your legs now take your kids arms and actually place them underneath your legs
so your legs actually pin their arms down so they won't be able to reach up and whack the bottle out
of your hand or rub their eyes or anything like that now i actually want you to place
your toddler's head between your legs your legs will be able to stabilize their head so they
won't be able to move it or thrash it around left or right and it'll make it that much more easier
to put the eye drops in now step number six is actually to put the eye drop in there's two ways
that we can do this the first way you can actually open the eyelids with your fingers now tip here
is try and get as close to the eyelashes with your fingers to open up that eyelid if you get close to
the eyelashes you'll have more power and be able to open up the eyelid and the eyeball that much
more wider to give you more room to put the eye drop in now some kids have a super super strong
clenched down eyelid power that opening the eyelids will be very very difficult then you'll
want to do the second way and the second way is actually to keep their eyes closed or let them
close their eyes and you're going to put the eye drop in the corner of their eyelids on top
of the eyelids between the nose and the eyelid if you're actually able to pry the eyes open
with your fingers then you want to put one drop in right into the eye now tip here is you don't
want to hold the bottle really really high because that will make that drop feel like a cannonball
hitting the eye and be super jarring to the child if you can try and hold the bottle as close as you
can without touching the eyelashes or eyelid or eyeball if you touch it that might contaminate the
bottle or it might actually give them abrasion or scratch their eye but the closer you can
put that drop in the easier and less jarring more comfortable it is for the child now if you're
putting the eye drops in when they're closing their eyes you're going to do this at the same
time so you'll start with one eye you'll put two drops in on the corner one two and then move to
the next eye do one two all at the same time now step number seven now that you have their head
stabilized you can actually put the eye drop down and actually use your fingers or your thumbs to
slowly open or blink the eyelids for them unless the child already does it automatically then
you're great the eye drops will fall right into the eye if they don't if they're screaming which
they probably are then you'll probably want to just open their eyelids for them just one or two
blinks one or two blinks and that'll get that eye drop in there step number eight once you have the
eye drops in there then you can take your tissue and dab the extra eye drop or the tears away
make sure you don't rub the eyes too hard you just want to dab the extra moisture the extra drops
that are on the surface there step number nine now you can recap the bottle and store it properly now
make sure you know how to store it some eye drops need to be stored in the refrigerator and that's
it now you're a pro at putting eye drops in your toddler's eyes just a few eye guy golden nuggets
of wisdom here though golden nugget number one make sure that you double check what eye drop that
you're putting into your child's eyes sometimes it can be pretty frantic when you're trying to get
the eye drops in there you just want to make sure that you're putting in the correct eye drop golden
nugget number two i mentioned this before when you're actually opening the eyelids of the child
sometimes parents can be a little squeamish or worried that they're going to bruise their
eyes because it might take a lot of power and you might have to press down a lot if you're able to
get closer to the eyelashes and pull from there it shouldn't take a lot of power or pressure to
hold that eyelid open or to blink their eyelids to get that drop in there if you're holding from the
eyebrow or the cheek you might feel like you're stretching their skin just to get the eyelid open
so if you can come closer to the eyelid margin where the eyelashes are and be kind of gentle
and be able to open from there you'll be able to open even if it's just a little bit to get
the drop in there golden nugget number three now once you actually get the eye drop in your kids
eyes they will instinctively want to go towards their eyes and rub their eyes to get the drop
out so just try and keep their arms pinned down just long enough for you to dab and blink and
make sure that the drops in there so you can dab and blink and then pick them up and hold them
just so they don't go instinctively right to the eyes now if your kid is a little bit older i did
do a tutorial on how to put eye drops in their eyes i'll put the link right up here also if
you're having to put eye drops or ointment in your own eyes i have tutorials on that as well i'll put
the link up there or else down below remember to hit that like button and subscribe remember
i'm dr eye guy looking out for you in your eyes stay focused and i'll see you in the next video