Toddler Adams has had a bout of conjunctivitis. It’s not been a particularly serious bout, but it has meant administering eye drops.
Wow can that child fight when she wants to. I mean seriously, never again will I underestimate Elizabeth’s strength. It’s like she turns into the Incredible Hulk at the sight of the bottle.
The odd thing is, she’s got worse as the days have passed. When we put drops in her eyes at the beginning of this infection, she would actually laugh about it. Sure, she’d register displeasure afterwards, but while the drops were going in, she would giggle.
Yesterday was probably the worst. She flailed her limbs and kept those eyes kept so tightly shut I had little option but to put the drops on her closed eyelids in the hope she’d open her eyes and the drops would work their way in.
I may also have to consider wearing a cricket box if this goes on much longer. While she was in my lap yesterday she was kicking her legs out and several times I came perilously close to taking a direct hit to the testicles. That would not have been a pleasant way to start the day.
You have, of course, got to see it from her perspective. Having mummy or daddy holding you hostage while trying to administer cold drops to the eyes can’t be much fun. It goes without saying we’ve had similar issues with our oldest daughter in the past when she has required eye drops. For whatever reason ‘though, she never fought quite so hard.
Thankfully Elizabeth’s eyes are on the mend. Even if she only has drops for another day or two, I think I’m still going to invest in that cricket box. In my experience conjunctivitis has a nasty habit of coming back.
What do you do when your kids need eye drops? I’m under the impression us parents all have similar experiences. I’m just wondering if there is some secret trick I’m missing.
Pic credit: EvilQueenAcidBurn. Sourced from Wikipedia. Reproduced under Creative Commons agreement.
4 thoughts on “Administering eye drops to a toddler”
We are going through the same at the moment. Occasional we can get it done easier if we give him a bottle of milk at the same time (amazing how milk can distract from so many things!)~ but he is cottoning on so we may be back to square one soon!
Putting them on closed eyes should work, we were advised so last week when the little lady had them. As long as it sits on the eyelashes
Oh wow I have to do this next month. I’m scared, was hoping to rely on bribery.
Good luck! Sure it’ll all be fine. At least you won’t need a cricket box.