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Your child’s discharge from hospital

This page provides advice that we hope you will find useful at home. Please discuss any concerns you may have with the nursing staff before you leave the children’s ward. 

Inserting your child’s eye drops

It is essential to use your child’s eye drops as regularly as the clinician has instructed, however we are aware that eye drops are not the easiest of medicines to administer, and you may find it difficult to put your child’s eye drops in.

You may therefore find the following instructions helpful:

  1. Wash your hands.
  2. Ask your child to lie down or to tilt their head back (this applies to an older child).
  3. When putting the eye drops in, either:
    • Ask your child to look up when sitting or lying down, then gently pull down the lower lid, and put the drops inside the lower lid.
    • Ask your child to close their eyes, put the drops on their eyelashes, and ask them to blink.

Points to remember when inserting eye drops:

  • Don’t let the dropper touch your child’s eye or skin.
  • Put in your child’s eye drops at a set time each day so you’re less likely to forget – making a note in the pain relief section at the end of this leaflet might help with this.
  • If you notice that your child’s eye lid(s) have become slightly sticky, use some cooled boiled water and tissues to gently clean the eyelids (from inner corner out). Please take care not to poke your child’s eye whilst doing this!
A friendly cartoon-style sitting room with a child that has their head tilted back whilst a parent puts eye drops into the child's eye. The child looks calm and relaxed.

Your next clinic appointment

Please ensure that you attend follow-up appointments so that we can check that everything is okay with your child’s eyes. Please also discuss any concerns you may have with the nursing staff before you leave the hospital.

Some dos and don’ts following your child’s discharge

Do:

  • Wash your hands before touching your child’s eye.
  • Put drops in regularly as prescribed.
  • Keep follow-up appointments in clinic.
  • Wash your child’s hair in a backwards position to prevent soap or water entering their eye (this does not apply if you have been instructed not to wash your child’s hair for the time being).
  • Allow your child to read, watch television and use the computer as normal.
  • Give your child regular pain relief as advised on discharge.

Telephone us if you have any concerns on 020 7566 2595 Monday-Friday, 7.30am to 6pm.

In the case of an emergency outside of these days and times, please call our specialist A&E department on 020 7253 3411 ext 4335.

Don’t allow your child to:

  • Play any sport or swimming until advised by the doctor.
  • Play with sandpits or water.
  • Rub the eye that was operated on.
A friendly cartoon-style sitting room with a child that has their head tilted back whilst a parent puts eye drops in their eye. The child looks calm and relaxed.

Author: Paediatric information group
Review date: January 2022