Anyone fly with a toddler that has tubes in their ears?

[Tisha_PA]

My DS2 is on his second set of tubes in his ears. He had tons of ear infections as a baby so they put tubes in when he was 1. He had his second set put in last year in June. His right ear starting draining pus this weekend so we figured the tube must have fallen out and he must have an infection. I'm hoping to get him in to see his ENT doctor this week but I'm concerned about his ears since we leave for WDW in 11 days. This will be his first time flying and I'm not sure whether the flight will bother his ears more than it should because of the tubes (or lack of tubes in his right ear). Has anyone ever flown with a toddler that had tubes/ear infections and how difficult was it? I did buy a set of earplanes for him so I'm hoping that will help but I'm still worried that the flight will damage his ear.

 

[ChelleinNC]

I can tell you that when DS was little and had tubes it was much easier for him to fly. The pressure equalized without problem Now that he's older and the tubes are long gone, he has pain when he flies I always have pain when flying except for the time that I had a double ear infection with a ruptured ear drum, no problem equalizing when it was open like that

 

[Manda]

If there's pus draining, either the tube is still there or at least the hole where the tube was is still open. With an intact ear drum, fluid won't drain out the ear like that - which is why it gets infected. The stuff gets stuck in there and turns into an infection. The whole point of the tube is to let the fluid drain out the ear. With that hole there, however, he shouldn't feel any pain from air pressure changes when flying.

 

[Tisha_PA]

Thanks - I was worried that flying was going to be a disaster with this new ear problem, but sounds as if he should be ok.

 

[Jennygt]

I don't know about the tubes in the ears but I have personaly had some bad issues with my ears and I started using Earplanes, they are ear plugs that help to equaize the pressure. You can but them at Target, they also have childrens size. I would check with the ENT about them for the little one but in general they are wonderful.

 

[Jennygt]

My DS2 is on his second set of tubes in his ears. He had tons of ear infections as a baby so they put tubes in when he was 1. He had his second set put in last year in June. His right ear starting draining pus this weekend so we figured the tube must have fallen out and he must have an infection. I'm hoping to get him in to see his ENT doctor this week but I'm concerned about his ears since we leave for WDW in 11 days. This will be his first time flying and I'm not sure whether the flight will bother his ears more than it should because of the tubes (or lack of tubes in his right ear). Has anyone ever flown with a toddler that had tubes/ear infections and how difficult was it? I did buy a set of earplanes for him so I'm hoping that will help but I'm still worried that the flight will damage his ear.

OOps, I should have read the whole post! Earplanes worked great for me.

 

[labst60]

My DD got ear tubes at 7 months after 5-6 ear infections. Luckily, our ENT was kind enough to "rush" her in a few weeks before our vacation so we didn't have any ear problems on the plane.

Ear tubes will *reduce* the ear pressure problems of the airplane, so your DS, will actually be better off than if he didn't have them.

The draining pus, etc sounds like an ear infection where the tube is WORKING and still in place (we've had this a couple of times). Obviously, check with your doctor (ped is fine, I dont' think you'd need the ent) and they'l likely give you antibiotic drops for the infected ear, which should clear it right up. In most instances, a few days of those and he should be good to go - but you definately want to get it taken care of BEFORE the trip, because SOME times the drops don't do the trick and oral antibiotics are needed also. Like I said, our regular doctor always sees us for these since we can get in quicker and it has nothing to do with the placement of the tubes - it is just "normal" behavior of an infection with the tubes. (We were told the tubes don't prevent the infections, they just allow the pus/fluid to drain better when an infection occurs.)

Hope this helps!! DD will have had her tubes for 13 months when we leave for this trip and I *PRAY* they remain in place until we get back home! I just had them checked last week and they were still good - but they told me the lifespan was 6-18 months - and they just slip out without any warning!!

 

[Tam1067]

My oldest got tubes when he was about 9 months old. We flew twice while he still had them. There was no problem at all. You'll be fine.

 

[Megkel]

I had tubes in my ears when I was a child. I had horrible ear infections which ended up in getting a tonsillectomy. Whenever I go to the drs and they check my ears they always say they can see I have had tubes in my ears. I have never had issues with planes and I flew back and forth from England a few times after the procedure. I never had any other problems with my ears as a child however in the last maybe 5 or so years I have broken my ear drum twice which was pretty gross.