Infant ear infections
 

My little one is on his fourth ear infection in less than 2 months. We've got an appointment w/ ENT in 2 weeks. I'm sure he'll have another one before that appointment. We aren't sure if the original ear infection has just never gone away (were on 4th round of antibiotics, trying a 3rd kind of antibiotics) or if there's an issue with his eustachian tubes and he'll need tubes put in. Anyone else ever go through this? Any advice?

lil lookout had problems for his first year-ish. they used different anti biotics and a "wait and see" approach. he grew out of it and really hasn't had any issues in a few years.

Be warned: as a professional audio person, I have a rather strong opinion on this subject.

They wanted to put tubes in my little brother's ears for the same thing. My parents said no fucking way. (Incidentally, tubes don't do anything but let pus drain faster out of your ear. In the meantime, they open you up for even more infections, and they can screw up your hearing for life.)

Frequent infections are usually due to swelling--an "issue" with his eustachian tubes, just like you said. The question is, why are they swollen? The vast majority of the time, the answer is mild allergies.

90% of childhood allergies are to one of five things: eggs, milk, peanuts, soy and wheat.

My parents started with cow's milk. About a week after they'd taken him off of it, his latest infection cleared, and he never got another one. Sometime around age 5 or 6 they reintroduced it into his diet, and he did fine.

Please, please at least try to rule out food allergies before you agree to let them put tubes in his ears. You never know, he might like to be a musician someday.

lil glatt had fluid in his ears for about 2 years straight. He never complained about it, and we would only discover he had an infection when we would take him in for an appointment and they would look in his ear as part of the general checkup only to see the red bulging eardrum. Take antibiotics, and the infection would go away, but the fluid would remain. He eventually got tubes, and seems just fine now. Tubes haven't fallen out yet. Hopefully after they fall out, he will have grown enough that it's no longer a problem.

Getting the tubes in the ears was a little scary, but ended up being a breeze. If I could do it over again, I'd be less cautious about getting the tubes. I'd get them a lot sooner.

When my nephew was young, he took a long time to start talking. They found out that it was because he couldn't hear. I don't know exactly what was wrong, but I do know they put tubes in his ears, and his speech followed soon after. Now, at 18, we can't get him to be quiet! :)

So watch for signs of hearing problems.

That's when we finally decided to go for the tubes. He kept saying "huh?" "what?" His speech is a little hard to understand now, and we can't help but wonder if the fluid in the ears caused that.

Btw, we gave him prescription nasal allergy spray daily for like 6 months before putting the tubes in just to see if that would take care of it. It didn't. His ears just wouldn't drain.

:::reading with great interest:::

My sister had tubes, chronic ear infections. My daughter has had one, which was rather resistant, and I'm wondering if they run in the family.

I know many of my siblings had tubes put in when they were little. And they all have allergies. So the allergy thing... It all started about 2 months ago - not one ear infection before that. Doctor said 'well, its that time of year, kids get more colds, so he'll be more prone to ear infections, he's in daycare...' He's 11 months, so we've been introducing new foods ever few days for the past 4 months. Actually, we've introduced him to most normal foods a while ago but the "don't have until later" list (strawberries, egg whites, cows milk, nuts...). Hmmm... 2 months ago... I started giving him 'advanced' baby formula for 9+ months, and bread products that may contain egg, like table bread and pasta... and milk products, like yogurt and cheese. I can't remember exactly when I started feeding him yogurt, but it was 2-3 months ago. I think we had already introduced him to all the fruits and veggies that he can have by then. Maybe I need to go back to the old formula, and lay off the breads and yogurts and cheeses.

He loves bread. Loves bread. Absolutely loves bread. Did I say he loves bread? If he sees me eating bread he stops playing and crawls to me to get a piece. If he's with dad eating bread and dad finishes the bread, he looks to me to see if he can get bread from me. Its really funny. Luckily he really likes veggies as well. Doesn't stop playing for them, but he'll gobble up whatever veggie I'm feeding him. He doesn't like fruit. He'll eat it, but not liking it. Same with yogurt. I only give him yogurt because the doctor and all the websites say he needs to be eating dairy daily for calcium.

aimeecc, we went through it with our first. We probably waited to long before we did get her the PE tubes because it affected her hearing as she developed and delayed her speech development. Chronic infections can also cause scar tissue to form which can lead to the need for later surgery, which again can affect hearing ability later in life. The procedure is very safe and the risks are low for that type of anesthesia.

Thanks. The ENT appointment is on the 12th. I'm not too worried about scarring (yet) since for the last two months he's been on antibiotics more than not, and I think that would at least minimize the infection and damage. Were on day 6 of the latest round... and he's still grabbing at his ear a little, so it must still hurt. Last dose will be Sunday, and I bet were back in the doctors office by Tuesday for another round of antibiotics.

Two days off of antibiotics now... and another cold. I am expecting an ear infection by tomorrow. One week until ENT.
I cut out yogurt and cheese (except my hubby forgot and feed him cheese this weekend) and went back to his old formula. I am thinking of going to a soy formula just to clear his system of dairy. Still feeding the little guy bread... he loves it.

On a related note, I am annoyed at Gerber and other baby food manufacturers. Most infants are on stage 2 between 7-8 months. Infants are supposed to be over 1 year, before eating strawberries and other berries (with the exception of blueberries). Yet there are a ton of stage 2 foods with strawberries. Those are at least obvious and easy to avoid. Infants under 1 year are also not supposed to have egg whites. Many infants are on stage 3 foods by 8-9 months. I noticed the other day the Gerber stage 3 baby spaghetti I was feeding my son had egg whites in the ingredients. Same with the herbed chicken pasta. I don't read the baby food labels because I assumed they would be safe for babies. Guess I was wrong.

My wife is allergic to pineapple. Like trip-to-the-ER allergic. Almost all baby food is sweetened with pineapple juice (or it was 30 years ago).

Not as true today. Pineapple and citrus are another 'no' until after 1, but like strawberries, are in several baby foods.

I made most of his baby food for a while, so there was no other ingredients than what I wanted. But I stopped when I realized I'd be switching him to more solids. I didn't realize I'd be doing a mix of 2d and 3rd foods for a few months.

Not at all, you're just using a different set of guidelines to their nutritionists. There isn't something miraculous that happens on their first birthday that suddenly allows them to deal with these foods better, and all babies are different -it's a pretty arbitrary dividing line and not everyone agrees that all these foods should be held back so long. babies are pretty hardy, don't stress too much.

Regarding the ear infections, my advice is to keep your house filthy. The natural immunity approach to ear infections :lol:

(seriously, my three have had one between them in their entire lives :D)

Good luck at the ENT.

Its not that I think if he has strawberries before 1 year old he'll have a massive allergic reaction, but many studies have shown early introduction of foods such as egg whites and berries are linked to food allergies and eczema. I know my mom fed us most foods fairly early (before all this was known) and most of my family have food allergies and eczema. So its best for me to wait.

I am moderate on the 'clean' house approach. It gets dirty and out of order over the week, clean on the weekend...

Thanks!

Little one's getting tubes put in next week. The risk of more ear infections (scarring, hearing loss, speech delay) out weigh the risks of ear tubes. I know he may still get ear infections even with the tubes, but I need to do all that I can to minimize the possibility. Wish us luck!

Good luck!

What?

;)

Foot!! Good to see you, man!

Good luck, if you have any questions let me know. The only thing you need to do is be sure they have ear plugs for submersive swimming from surgery date to removal or when they fall out.

No swimming for him for another year or so anyway... The doc said the tubes would most likely fall out in a year or so.

I did cut dairy out, and he has been sleeping much better. It's been almost 2 weeks without an ear infection, although his ears were still filled with fluid.

Why not? Because of the surgery or something else? (just being nosy, feel free to ignore -not that you need my permission for that.. :lol:)

He's only 11 months... we may take him wading to be comfortable in the water this summer, but no swimming. I always thought I would introduce him to swimming early, but honestly, with both of us working in the beltway, there is little time for "extra curricular" activites. But by the time he is 5, I'll be in another job or not working and be able to focus in on other activities for him.

When he gets old enough to swim you use plugs. My kids had to use them till the tubes fell out. Longer than 1 year I assure you. Some kids actually have to come back to the OR and have them removed, some can do it in the office.

Thanks. How were your kids post op? The doctor told me he'd be out of it/disoriented/cranky because of the anesthesia.

Don't buy that, only slightly irritable. Up running around like nothing happened the next day. Start him on tylenol drops or elixir or liquid motrin the night before and give him another dose 4 hours before surgery even if you wake up in the middle of the night to do it (unless it is motrin then you need to follow the directions as I recall it is every 8 hours). Keep him on tylenol or motrin around the clock for the first 24 hours and you should be good to go. You will be surprised how much he improves in the first month.

One last ear infection before surgery... I'll be so happy when we no longer have to go through this. He was so upset yesterday because his little ears hurt so much. The tylenol wasn't helping at all. 2 more days until tubes...

My kids will be getting their braces while your is getting tubes :(

Good luck with the braces! How are the kiddos adjusting?

Tubes went in well. But crabnky for about 4 days. Not good. But 2 1/2 weeks now with no ear infections! Yeah!

Glad the tubes went well, and they seem to be working!

They can't say their K's very well, and slobber a lot. but they're OK. They were tender for a few days, but can already see the extra space in their mouths (they have expanders) and one of Hector's teeth that we thought might have to be "fetched" surgically is coming down by itself. so all good so far...

glad the tubes are working

yea, use wax in their ears if they go swimming, you can buy it in the drug store. You are on the road to recovery.

I had tubes, so did my two younger siblings. We had fluid build up (or something like that) and only the youngest suffered infections, but at the time doctors thought it was a carry over from croup.
It all came to a head when I started school. I could read properly because we were taught to read very early in life. But I couldnt' make the phonic sounds properly. And then a woman came to the door of our house with my brother because he'd been sitting in the road with a dog he found and didn't hear her horn behind him. Kids cover up hearing loss very very well.
I'm glad you've taken this situation seriously so early aimeec. Personally I believe it will help . I had to start at basic speech when I was seven. Today if I'm tired or intoxicated I make the "v" and "f" sounds for "th". and when saying the alphabet I am inclined not to sound "H" as "A-che" but as "Ha-che". Oh and I was taught to sing becuase it apparently makes you say the phonic sounds correctly. Go figure?
My parents were warned that we would eventually have hearing loss around forty to fifty years of age again. So far they have been right on the ball. I'm losing my hearing very rapidly. (or ignoring people more LOL )
But interestingly enough, you know that mosquito sound that no one over the age of 25 is supposed to be able to hear? Comes in loud and strong for me and I'm nearly 40.
anyway good luck with your child amiee. From personal experience I think you're doing the right thing.

Thanks a lot. His audio test before the tubes was horrible - definite hearing loss from the fluid. And he just had his 1 yr well baby appointment, and he's behind on speech development. He began saying "dadadada" to anything a few months ago, and occasional "babababa" and rarely "mamama". But he doesn't associate mama with me or dada with dad, even though we've been saying mama and dada (and pointing to the appropriate one) several times every day for months. He doesn't respond to his name most of the time, so I'm not even sure when he does respond if its because he heard his name or something else got his attention. We have another audio test in a month to see if his hearing is normal (should be) and his pediatrician said if he's not catching up by his 15 month well baby, we'll be referred to a speech therapist. At least he's young and can easily recover.
He's a smart boy - we can tell he 'connects' the dots on things, stacks blocks on window sills, put lids on and off pots and knows where things are kept. He's done a few things that I have made me go 'Wow! He knows that!' I just hope the speech thing comes along.
He was born prematurely, but healthy, so my husband and I haven't measured him by the normal standards - we figure he's a month or two behind since he was born early.
My brother had real bad speech problems, and I know that a lot of my siblings got ear tubes. I wonder if thats why he had speech problems? I never thought about it that way.

I had ear tubes and chronic ear infections as a kid through around age 13. Had the tubes taken out around then and haven't had any infections in 8 or 9 years. The best thing was to get the drops in, and then sleep on the infected ear with a heating pad between my head and the pillow. Worked wonders for me. I was still able to do swim team and all that, just had to have ear plugs in while i was swimming. They make all kinds from wax balls, to special custom fitted ones that I think were made out of molded latex or some such.
Good luck though!

I realize that most people have one pediatrician for their child, but sometimes a second opinion is a good idea, if you're uncertain about what you're being advised to do. The first doctor my son had (in 1987) had him on strong antibiotics for months (seems like 2-3 months, a LONG time) and then said he had to have tubes put in his ears. I had been uneasy for a while, and then changed doctors when she said that. The second doctor (who I kept from then on) said that not only did my sone NOT have an ear infection, but she didn't think he had ever had ear infections.
This all started when he started shaking his head from side to side while repeating "no no", after being told no, or that something was a "no no". She insisted the head shaking was ear-related.
I should have listened to my gut feeling all along.....

Thanks for the advice. We have one 'core' pediatrician, but when she's not available we see others in the office, and all agreed he had ear infections. And of course there was the ENT who agreed to ear tubes, and the audiologist who confirmed he had fluid build up and lose of hearing.

Little one has been happy and healthy since the tubes. A couple very minor colds. Longest stretch we've gone in a while without him being sick. And he's much happier, and finally gaining more weight (he's between 5 and 10 percent for his age). Not that all of it is related... I'm just happy he's doing great.

I think, like Ritalin, etc., tubes in ears are used WAY too often, but it seems like it was the right thing for your little one for sure! Glad he's so much better!