Newborns frequently are born with partially blocked tear ducts. This condition usually corrects itself when the tear ducts open spontaneously over the first few weeks. Some infants have more narrow ducts that require a longer time to grow and open up. These infants will have problems with eye congestion characterized by lots of “sleep” in the eyes and the matting of eyes on worse after awakening from a sleep. This harmless condition will heal itself in most infants by several months and almost 100% by one year. Only less than 1% ever need intervention by an eye doctor for “probing.”