Help! Supposed to fly to WDW in 6 days, son has a lot of fluid in ear!!

[oceanmarina]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of cancelling our trip to WDW in 6 days, my 4 year old son was diagnosed with a middle ear infection in his left ear last thursday. We were given an antibiotic that unfortunately he kept throwing up the first 2 days, so we switched to a new one & he has been tolerating that better. I went to a pediatric ENT yesterday & he says the infection seems to have cleared up in the left ear but there is a lot of fluid in that ear & it usually takes 7 - 10 days to clear up. I am scheduled to fly in 6 days, on Monday. The doctor said flying with a lot of fluid in the ear can lead to a rupture which is PAINFUL. I don't want to risk my on being in that type of pain.

He gave me a steroid (syrup) to take that should help get rid of his ear fluid. The problem is my son wont drink it (even though its flavored) I had to force it today with a syringe in his mouth but he probablt spit half of it out.

At this point i dont think we'll be able to go. We cant reschedule since that is the only week DH has off for months. If DS is not taking the steroid, I doubt this fluid will go away quickly.

Has this happened to anyone else here?
I see the ENT again on Friday for a recheck, but i'm doubtful there will be an imnprovement. I would die if I made my son fly & caused his ears to rupture....sigh...Can't believe this had to happen now.

Thanks for any advice,
Marina

[natashag76]

hi,
I had a similar problem when we flew to Scotland to visit some family. My son was diagnosed with an ear infection on Friday and we were leaving on Sunday! So, the pediatrician prescribed some drops for the ear that would numb them! We used them about 20 minutes before we boarded. We all had to use them just to get my son to try them, but he ended up loving his "tickle drops." They tickled his ear as they dripped inside...whatever made him happy! Tell your doc about the trip and ask about them. They were a life saver for us! Have a great trip!

[Hannathy]

How old is your son? If he is over 2 have you tried the either take this or we don't go to Disney?

See if you can refrigerate the med sometimes cold makes it go down easier. also try getting him to eat some ice before hand if his tongue is super cold sometimes they don't taste it as quickly.

My DS hates to take med but we found if he has control of it he takes it better, in other words when he could but it into his own mouth he would take it,
I would measure it and then hand him the syringe or spoon thingy and he would take it at his own speed and control.

Of course this is the child who post operatively told the nurse he "would rather have the pain" than take the pain med! this was at 3!

[cuppycake]

Our ped suggested a bit of chocolate after meds that tasted bad. It coated their mouth/tongue and took the icky taste away (and they loved getting a couple of m&ms as a treat!).

Also, like a PP suggested....ice (we used popsicles) numbs the taste buds and helps a lot, too!

What about suggesting he hold his nose? When my 6 year old had strep this year, I would hold her nose for her and she would drink her meds, swallow, then drink some juice as a chaser, then I would let go of her nose. worked like a charm!

GOOD LUCK, momma!!!

ps...is driving an option????

[brandydandy]

Try and have him drink some milk before and after. It will coat his mouth, and it won't be as horrible to drink.

Good luck!

[cuppycake]

What about asking the doctor if an antihistamine would help dry up the fluid? Could find some chewables that might not be so awful like liquid????

[3boymthr]

I myself had a ruptured ear drum about one month before we left for WDW. We had to drive as I was not allowed to fly in case it re-ruptured. Definitely not something you want to deal with. It was extremely painful. But I would double check with your ENT as the odds of the drum rupturing are probably small, despite the fluid, if he's not feeling a lot of pain or pressure. As a pp mentioned, I was also given a medication that went in the ear to help relieve the pain.

I was not given any steroids to alleviate the fluid, but I was given a remedy by the ENT that may help. Squirt nasal saline up his nose twice a day (two squirts in each nostril) to help the fluid in the ears clear. As you probably know the whole system is connected and this helps keep the sinus part in the nose clean so the fluid can drain. The nasal saline is not very expensive (about $6). Also, make sure he blows his nose frequently, no sniffing - you want to clear that fluid out.

To help keep the steriods down by syringe, put him across your lap or a partner's lap, and get him relaxed with his head tipped back so his chin points up. When his mouth is up squirt a small amount into the back of his mouth near the throat. Don't squirt directly on the tongue. Massage his throat to help him swallow. Repeat until entire dose is down. Don't forget to check with your pharmacy you may be able to mix the steroids with a favorite food or drink or if he is old enough they may have it available in another form. They pharmacist may also be able to recommend another OTC remedy to help clear the fluid.

[kwitcherkicken99]

Did they give you anything to help dry it up? I have fluid on my right ear all the time and I use allergy meds to dry it out. Would doctor be willing to go that route??

[dougsmom98]

Is it possible to drive? I know your DH only has the week off, but could you and DS leave a few days early and drive down? I am not sure I would risk it unless they doctors said they were all clear. Good luck.

[nytimez]

We had something very similar happen last year, before a scheduled trip overseas. We ended up canceling our trip. The problem is even if it starts to clear up, the remaining fluid itself can become reinfected -- and in our case, it did, making us really glad we didn't go.

But really, everyone else's situation here -- including mine -- is entirely anecdotal. You need to do what you and your doctor believe is in the best interest of your child, not based on what we folks here have gone through, if you forgive me for saying so. What happens to one person in a case like this is not necessarily what will happen to another.

[missmun52]

If you can get him to take the meds he will probably be ok in 6 days. You have to take the meds for a certain amount of time but they usually start working quickly.

I may get flamed but with my son I would hold him down, get a medicine dropper and hold his mouth open, put the dropper at the back of the throat which activates the gag reflex and squirt it in one go. He will swallow because of the gag reflax and most, if not all, will go down.

Some times nothing you do works and as a parent if my child has a 104 fever, or in your case a bad ear infection I am going to do what I have to to make him better. After, you can give him his fav. treat so he is not too upset and throws up.

My son had an ear infection right before our last trip(about one week), I was worried too, but went to the doctor was put on meds and she saw us again about 2 days before the trip to make sure he was good to go, and all was well. His ear was good after about 4 days, of couse we had to finish the meds in Disney to make sure all the bugs were dead and we were not creating superbugs - which happens when you dont finish antibiotics.

edited to say: make sure you go back to the MD right before the trip, just in case. Dont feel too down if you have to cancel, things happen sometimes, but hopefully things will work out for you.

[NotUrsula]

I have Meniere's disease, which means I have fluid trapped in my inner ear MOST of the time. (Your child probably has it in the middle ear, however.)

What I find works best for getting the fluid down and relieving the pressure is an OTC combination of sudafed (the real thing - pseudoephedrine) and guiaifenesin. You can get both of them in liquid form for children; plain Robitussin is guiaifenesin. The Sudafed liquid is only available from the pharmacy counter; you have to sign for it. With a child who is younger than 2 you would have to use this with a physician's approval and get a weight-based dosage from the doctor. I take this combo (in pill form, as Mucinex-D) 30 minutes before I board flights whether or not I notice congestion; I've had a rupture on a plane, and it is incredibly painful. It can also make you effectively deaf for several days afterward, even though it is treated.

While on the plane, you should have him drink from a sippy cup during takeoff and landing, the combination of sucking and swallowing helps to relieve the pressure from the inside. Also, using a bit of sweet oil to keep the eardrum moisturized helps, too -- if it is elastic it is better able to just swell and not rupture. Dry "skin" in the eardrum makes ruptures happen more easily. You can do that now.

The steroid does not remove the fluid, exactly. It takes down the swelling in the tissue so that the eustachian tube is more likely to open up and allow drainage. You can get the same effect from an inhaled version or sometimes from an eardrop version; I use both at various times.

Lastly, analgesic eardrops. The brand name for these is Auralgan, and generics are available. I find that it is danged near impossible to get US doctors to prescribe these to treat a young child, even though they are OTC in Canada. The reason is the fear of litigation. Using the drops liberally may mask the pain of a rupture. It's not good if a rupture isn't promptly treated by a physician, so doctors worry that if they give these to parents that a rupture might not be noticed right away and the child's hearing might be permanently damaged. I have these drops in my possession at all times, because they are prescribed for me. My ped knows that he is helpless to prevent my using them to relieve my children's pain, so we have a gentleman's agreement about using them for flights. I have assured him that while I will use them if the kids are in pain, I will not give them more than twice, once on the plane, and one time after -- if the pain hasn't subsided by about 4 hours after the flight, then I will take the child to the ER wherever we happen to be.

[kwitcherkicken99]

Originally Posted by missmun52

I may get flamed but with my son I would hold him down, get a medicine dropper and hold his mouth open, put the dropper at the back of the throat which activates the gag reflex and squirt it in one go. He will swallow because of the gag reflax and most, if not all, will go down.

I've been there with meds... I hold DSs nose shut until he swallows. Not always, but on bad dsays he's got nothing to do with taking his allergy meds. He usually swallows it right away.

Originally Posted by NotUrsula

What I find works best for getting the fluid down and relieving the pressure is an OTC combination of sudafed (the real thing - pseudoephedrine) and guiaifenesin. You can get both of them in liquid form for children; plain Robitussin is guiaifenesin. The Sudafed liquid is only available from the pharmacy counter; you have to sign for it. With a child who is younger than 2 you would have to use this with a physician's approval and get a weight-based dosage from the doctor. I take this combo (in pill form, as Mucinex-D) 30 minutes before I board flights whether or not I notice congestion; I've had a rupture on a plane, and it is incredibly painful. It can also make you effectively deaf for several days afterward, even though it is treated.

I would have never thought about that combination. I'll probably try it next time I have a bad flare up.

[Manda]

That fluid can stick around for up to 3 months, actually. And in many kids, it's almost perpetual - which is why they sometimes get ear infections that they can't shake. My kid almost always has fluid in his ears. Fortunately, as he's gotten older, it doesn't seem to lead to infections very often anymore. He flies all the time like that though and it hasn't been a problem. He's never seemed to have the least bit of pain due to it.

One doctor (that we saw in Florida, actually, when he developed in ear infection while we were there) actually told us that fluid in the ear actually reduces the pain during flying (unless it's actively infected - which your kid's won't be since he's on antibiotics) because it's the air expanding/contracting that makes it hurt... and the fluid prevents that. Obviously, there are disagreeing opinions on that.

Personally, I wouldn't have considered canceling a trip over an ear infection. But you gotta do what feels best to you.

[onelilspark]

I have similar problems with my ears. When I was younger I used to get infections all the time, had to get tubes put in, the whole bit. Now that I'm older, my ears have problems eqalizing on planes and it's painful.

This past February when I landed in WDW I couldn't hear out of my left ear for about 5 days. It didn't have to do with any liquid in my ear, but what happened is that I had ear wax that had hardened when my ears tried to equalize (I clean them out, but it still happened.) I went to the doctor when I got home since I was flying 2 weeks later and was petrified of what would happen to my ears! She took care of my current problem so I could hear again and then recommended these:



They help to equalize your ears and they do come in children's sizes. Now, I wouldn't go flying if I had liquid in my ears, but if it clears up, he still might have some problems. These will help him. I've used them on a few flights now, on some flights they work better than others (I think it has to do with how you insert them...I'm getting better!) but even on the flights where my ears still hurt, I'm not in nearly as much pain as I used to be. I would sit there with tears streaming down my face it hurt so bad. So I'd recommend these to anyone, in a heartbeat.