gunky eyes

Cian has had a cold (cough, snotty nose, etc) for the last week or two but just in the last few days he's been having this green gunk - honestly it looks just like snot - coming out of his eyes. At first I thought it was just "sleep", but when you clean it away more just comes out within the next hour... he really hates it when i try and clean it, to the point where he absolutely screams and goes blue in the face!! so I can only assume it hurts - i've just been cleaning it out with a damp cotton bud.

has anyone come across this before? know what's causing it? I don't really want to go to the doctor and expose him to more bugs in the waiting room if we don't have to but it's not going away so i'm worried it's serious. he's also had diarrhoea for about 5 days that's just cleared up (in case that's related!)

As it is green I would think that it is some kind of infection. As Muz said you could ring Plunketline or Healthline. Alternatively try calling and speaking to your GP's nurse, if they want you to go in then explain your concerns about extra bugs and they may let you go in the back door or wait in the car until you see the GP.

Sounds like an infection that needs doctor's attention asap.

Liam's eyes have been a bit yuck lately too so I dug out Plunket's Thriving Under 5 book & it says that yellow or green gunk needs to be seen by a doctor.

I cleaned his with saline solution which has cleared them up but it doesn't sound as bad as Cian's eyes.