Ugh - Another Ear Infection for DS!

[ClarabelleCowFan]

My poor baby - at 11 months old this child is on his 4th or 5th ear infection. He spiked a high fever today and we knew what that meant so we took him directly to the Walk-In Doctor's Office and sure enough he is back on antibiotics for an ear infection.

Has anyone else's child had this problem this young? My 2 DDs never had this problem - I don't remember DD14 getting more than a couple her entire life and I know DD9 didn't have her first ear infection until she was 6!

Any home remedies to help ease his pain or is there anything to do to prevent these from happening?

What is considered chronic ear infections where they put tubes in?

I hope this is all cleared up before we fly next Sunday to WDW.

 

[GreatDaneMom]

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[slduck]

We had the same problem with DS when he was younger. I remember the night that he had a febrile seizure due to the high fever. We had tubes put in at 9 months after the 5th infection. His tubes would drain, but he did not get the fevers. We used ear drops rather than oral antibiotics. He just got his 2nd set of tubes and his adenoids removed. This time he has had a cold and his tubes didn't drain, so I think that we are doing better.

I really feel for you and your baby. I hate infections!!!!! Hope that things get better for you soon!!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I feel your pain. Two out of my six kids went through this. The only preventive advice I've heard was to keep them from laying down with bottles. I don't know if that's still relevant because my kids are older now. But it may not be a coincidence that the two I had with this problem were the only two of my kids who would drink from a bottle. Pediatricians change the rules every 10 years so who knows??

At least he got this BEFORE your trip. I had one of mine come down with an ear infection in the middle of a Disney World trip. I felt soooo bad for that little guy.

Hugs to your baby! I hope he feels better very soon. Hugs to mom, too. I know how hard it is to see your little ones in pain.

We had the same problem with DS when he was younger. I remember the night that he had a febrile seizure due to the high fever. We had tubes put in at 9 months after the 5th infection. His tubes would drain, but he did not get the fevers. We used ear drops rather than oral antibiotics. He just got his 2nd set of tubes and his adenoids removed. This time he has had a cold and his tubes didn't drain, so I think that we are doing better.

I really feel for you and your baby. I hate infections!!!!! Hope that things get better for you soon!!

Thanks. Hope your kids stay free of ear infections too - this is miserable.

DS is breastfed (and on table foods) and only takes a supplemental bottle once in awhile these days but I had heard that about not giving them a bottle laying down. My nephew and his son have had horrible ear issues too so maybe it is something genetic that causes some kids to be more susceptible to infections.

I hope he feels better soon. He is so pitiful and sounds like Darth Vader when he breathes.

 

[JackJack08]

Both of my kids were bottle fed. Ds has had maybe 1 ear infection is whole life, DD had about 10 per year. UNTIL...finally after trying everything under the sun (I did not want her to have tubes), the chiropractor suggested she could possibly have a milk allergy, as his son did. So I started her on soy milk (she was 2 by this time) and she NEVER has another ear infection. She is now 8 and has outgrown her allergy and drinks regular milk. If I had known this, she could have had soy formula too, and saved many, many trips to the doctor. I wish someone had suggested this could be the problem. Maybe not you DS's problem but anything is worth a try......

 

[Maggie'sMom]

My nephew and his son have had horrible ear issues too so maybe it is something genetic that causes some kids to be more susceptible to infections.

I firmly believe there is a genetic component as well. I had lots of ear infections as a child and DD did too. It's an issue with fluid not draining from the ear because of the shape of the eustatian (spelling?) tube. It is more horizontal in young children which causes the fluid to stay in the ear. As the child grows, the tube becomes more vertical and the fluid will drain. The ENT I took DD to told me that the shape of the eustatian tube can be inherited and therefore issues with ear infections can run in families.

My DD had 5 ear infections in a 1 year time span. That was the threshold for her pediatrician to refer us to an ENT. It was a good thing he did. There was fluid behind her eardrums that wasn't EVER draining. It was enough that her eardrum wasn't functioning properly. The ENT described it as she would be hearing as though her head was under water.

She was delayed in speaking. I raised the issue at 15 months with her ped. He gave me the whole "kids develop at different rates, don't compare her to other kids" speech. At that point she'd had 3 infections in 6 months. In the next 3 months, she had two more infections which prompted the referral to an ENT. The ENT recommended the tubes, which we did about a week after our first appointment with the ENT. The doctor told us the fluid behind her ears had been there so long that it had the consistency of glue. Yuck!

The difference after the surgery was amazing. She's 4 1/2 now and hasn't had an ear infection since the tubes were put in. (They fell out a while ago.) And her speech took off around 2 weeks after the surgery! It was incredible how quickly she picked up new words after being able to hear properly.

As for preventing them, I know a friend who's doctor recommended starting decongestant anytime her child got a cold. It didn't prevent infections totally but she thought it might have headed off a couple. Other than that, I don't think there's much you can do. I also heard the connection between bottles and ear infections. DD was BF, but also got bottles so I can't speak to that.

I'd take your DS back to the pediatrician before flying next week to have the ears checked. If the infection hasn't cleared up, they can prescribe a different antibiotic. 2 reasons for this: 1) It's miserable to fly with an ear infection. My mom still talks about how they flew to FL when I was 2 and had an ear infection. Apparently, I screamed bloody murder the whole flight. The other passengers must have just LOVED that. 2) You don't want to be at WDW, far away from your pediatrician, and be stuck with a sick child who needs another round of antibiotics.

For soothing the hurt, warm, moist compresses on the ear can relieve some of the discomfort. Other than that, Motrin was my best friend when DD had hers. Nothing else worked quite as well at getting the fever down and making her comfortable.

Good luck!

 

[Tam1067]

My oldest had an ear infection at his two week check-up--and he was breastfed. He had repeated infections and the high fever spikes until he got tubes in his ears when he was about 10 months old. I feel for you, but he will eventually outgrow it. Once mine got his tubes, he was fine.

 

[NJMomma]

Both of my kids were bottle fed. Ds has had maybe 1 ear infection is whole life, DD had about 10 per year. UNTIL...finally after trying everything under the sun (I did not want her to have tubes), the chiropractor suggested she could possibly have a milk allergy, as his son did. So I started her on soy milk (she was 2 by this time) and she NEVER has another ear infection. She is now 8 and has outgrown her allergy and drinks regular milk. If I had known this, she could have had soy formula too, and saved many, many trips to the doctor. I wish someone had suggested this could be the problem. Maybe not you DS's problem but anything is worth a try......

We had a similiar experience. DD ruptured her eardrum about a month after switching to milk from formula. This, of course, was about 1 month prior to her first trip to WDW, which included her first plane ride . It took weeks to clear, and we were not cleared to fly until a few days prior to our trip. She had never had an ear infection prior. We switched her to soy milk and the ears are perfect since then. She was recently tested for allergies and came up allergic to nothing, including milk - go figure Good Luck, I hope your baby feels better soon

 

[Drewsmommybear]

Your poor little guy! We just had the same issue with our son who is three. I purposefully scheduled an appt. the week before we went to WDW and of course, he had a raging infection. That was his sixth in six months and at that time, our pediatrician said that we fit the protocol to go talk to an ENT. Of course, when we went he didn't have an ear infection (but he had a fever and he was getting pnuemonia). We decided to wait to see if he got another one before we made a decision about tubes. I don't want to do any unnecessary surgery. Your son, however, is much younger. Next time he has an ear infection, I would ask when would be a good time to make an appointment with an ENT.

Also, we've found that Motrin helps and so does cuddling. but not much else.

I hope he feels better for your vacation! Have a good time.!

 

[ses1230]

When DD had her 6th infection we took her to a pediatric ENT. They tested her hearing and she had hearing loss, so really getting tubes was a no-brainer for me. It was scary, but in retrospect is was the best thing to do. She has not had an ear infection or a bad illness since and that was 22 months ago, and her hearing is normal now.

Good luck. I hope the baby feels better soon.

 

[jennifer293]

dd7 had one ear infection at 2 months and not another one until she was 5 and then she had 6 infections in 3 months or something like that, so we got tubes put in. She never had a problem with them in, and they never fell out like most do so we had them removed in December. She had an infection in March, but had some other sinus junk going on too and she has been fine since KNOCK ON WOOD!!! Hopefully it worked!!!

 

[odc146]

My son also had chronic ear infections. We had tubes put in on the recommendation of his ENT. His infections were so bad that we had to reschedule his surgery 1 time because he had an active infection and the Dr. wanted him to finish the course of antibiotics before the surgery. After his surgery, the doctor said he had about 50% hearing loss due to the goo that was clogged up in there. It wasn't permanet. I also noticed that he never really would play by himself unless he could see someone in the room, it dawned on me after the surgery that it was because he probably couldn't hear if you were behind him. It made me sad for him. He had his tubes put in at about 18 months and only had maybe 1-2 infections after that, and they weren't bad at all, because the fluid drained properly due to the tubes. He will be 6 in July and the tubes have fallen out and he hasn't needed any replacements. Good luck

 

[pigget74]

All of my kids have had this problem. Youngest is 7mths and we had an infection in November and we have had one since Feb. 7th and been on numerous meds since. we go back today for our 6mth checkup and I am sure that the ear is still not well. If so we are then headed to the ENT. My DS 2 just got his 2nd set ot tubes. Oldest DS had tubes and oldest DD had 2 sets as well. I love my DR. (we have used him for 13years) and I asked him 2 weeks ago how youngest DD not only still had an ear infection but also had bronchitus even though she had been on meds for so long and he must looked at me and said in his softest voice--"Now mom, it is all genetics--just face it --you did not make good ears or lungs." He said this since we are in there on a weekly basis between the youngest 2. Youngest DD had double pneomonia at 8 weeks thanks to youngest DS. SInce then she seems to have a lot of lung issues.