Ever heard the expression “a face only a mother could love?” That’s because newborns’ faces often aren’t at their peak level of attractiveness. Nine months of being squished in a womb, several hours of being squeezed down a tight birth canal, and a whole bunch of surging hormones can make for a face that, well, wouldn’t exactly win a beauty contest.
Pressure during delivery can cause your baby’s eyes to look puffy and swollen. They may also be irritated from the silver nitrate drops or erythromycin ointment commonly administered after delivery (as a precaution against eye infections from bacteria picked up on the trip through the birth canal). As the fluids settle in the baby’s body, the irritation and swelling will go down.
A subconjunctival hemorrhage is the breaking of small blood vessels in a baby’s eye, leaving a flame-shaped red mark in the white of the eye (the sclera) or a band of red around one or both irises. This is also a result of pressure, and will go away in two to three weeks. It’s relatively common and won’t do permanent damage.
If your baby’s eye is consistently watery, crusty, and matted with gunk, he may have a blocked tear duct. The channel that is responsible for carrying tears from the eye to the nose is clogged. You can remedy this with gentle massage and a warm cloth, but even if you do nothing for the condition, the plugged duct will up by the time your baby is a year old; you’ll just have to contend with a bunch of “eye boogers” until then.
Your baby’s nose may be misshapen – flattened or pushed to one side. Don’t worry; it’s not the result of a bad gene passed down from your not-so-attractive Uncle Harry. It’s from being smushed up against the placenta and the ensuing squeeze down the birth canal, and it will resolve itself within your baby’s first week.