My 4 y old fell yesterday and had 2 cuts on his lip. the his lip is swollen and cuts are now infected. can i apply antibiotic ointment on it?

Really???: How can you be so sure it is infected? Probably not. WATER is good. Wash with lots of tap water. Avoid bacitracin, triple antibiotic, neosporin which are useless and common sensitizers. Mupirocin is useful for impetigo and is active vs staph + strep, but not likely to be needed as prophylaxis. Sometimes the wisest medical treatment is to sit on your hands and avoid harming the patient.

Where ?: Cuts within the fleshy part of lips are left alone. If a cut crosses into the normal skin it may need to be aligned with a stitch.They will swell & need to be rinsed with plain water. Bubbling them out with peroxide will kill staph but ointments should be avoided. The saliva has antibacterial properties & is protective. If oozing pus or you are convinced there is infection see your doc.