6 ear infections since September

amother

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 8:43 pm

My dd is about to turn 3 and has had many ear infections. My pediatrician counted her chart and she has had 6 since Sept alone. That is like one per month. Right now her infection was gone but there was still fluid in her ear. My ped said she will monitor my dd for a month to see if she gets another one then we go to an ENT if not maybe better weather will lessen the infections.
She advised me to stop the pacifiers which my dd had been addicted too. She said maybe that will help too. We cut them out right away.
I just am worried about waiting to see an ENT. Should I go right away or is waiting a month fine? I do not want to play with my daughters health.

fc8899

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 8:53 pm

my baby is a year and a half and has also been having frequent ear infections. my doctor told me that there is NO lasting harm with the ear infections. he may have conductive (temporary) hearing loss because there is fluid iin the air that is obstructing sound...
my doctor also told me we will wait a few weeks to see if there will be more ear infections. she told me that waiting will be helpful because its very possible it is caused from the winter months. for now, I went to a health food store to get some herbs to treat it. I was told that in two weeks I would see a big difference in the fluid.
I got oil of oregano to rub in the back of the ear, garlic drops are also helpful. I also gave him some extract from lotus roots.
go to the healthfood store it might help you
just remember, while your child may feel uncomfortable because of the fluid, it can be treated and wont have longlasting effects.
good luck

the world's best mom

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 9:03 pm

THere are many children who have recurrent ear infections from dairy intolerance. When I took my kids off of dairy, their ears cleared up beautifully.

I would not worry about waiting a month for the ENT, but keep in mind that the good ones often have a few months wait for an appointment.

Also, at 3 this may not be an issue, but in younger kids, hearing loss, even temporary, is likely to cause speech delay. That is a lasting effect of the ear fluid.

fc8899

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 9:06 pm

my child is off dairy , it didnt help
also doc is not concerned at all about hearing loss because his speech is up to par.
she said he may not hear one or two tones.. but thats it

amother

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 9:20 pm

OP here
My dd is on dairy and loooves dairy so I dont know if I could take it away from her. I will wait on that and see if maybe she will clear up without her paci. Unfortunately sleep is not as it was with the paci. She is still up now. I guess she is adjusting to falling asleep without it.

chevron

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 9:28 pm

I second the idea of garlic drops. It made a huge difference for my son. If it's a really bad ear infection with a hole in the ear it can be dangerous so ask your ped.

Hatemywig

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 9:35 pm

My baby had incessant ear infections, I took him to a homeopathic Doctor who prescribed a two month homeopathic medicinal course. I followed it to the letter.

My baby is Bar Mitzva Age today and BH has never had an ear infection since!

bradybunch

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 9:20 am

I think it depends entirely on how well you think your child is hearing. The ear infections themselves are not a big deal (although that many rounds of antibiotics would have me personally concerned). But not being able to hear can be incredibly frustrating for a child and everybody around him. It can seriously affect behavior, as well. Have you had fluid in your ears recently? I just did with a bad cold that's going around, and I realized then why my DS acts so crazy when his ears are full of fluid or infected.

A few months after my DS turned 3 he got an ear infection that never fully went away (he had never had an ear infection prior to that!). After about 4 or 5 months of him not being able to hear, we went to the ENT. He got tubes, could hear again, and everything was fine and dandy until his second tube fell out recently (age 5.5). We're set to go back to the ENT soon and probably get another set of tubes.

So, IMHO I would go to the ENT sooner rather than later.

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 9:43 am

I second the idea of getting ear tubes. One of my children had ear infections once a month, like yours, starting at 3 or 4 months of age. It was horrible. Finally when he turned a year we got him ear tubes. He is now 3.5 ka'h and hasn't had an ear infection since (the tubes are long gone by now). I think some kids really need them to remove all the fluid from the ears that causes recurring infections....

amother

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 10:38 am

Join the club. My baby is 10 months old, and B"H has tubes. Before the tubes he had ear infections weekly, we just went from one medicine to the next.
I would not wait to see an ENT; your child is more than old enough for tubes, and the ENT will also probably tell you to come back in 6 weeks or so, to see where she's up to. My baby has permanent hearing loss, but why should you suffer through ear infections when tubes will do the trick? I'm a big fan, and it's a minor procedure.
To all those who use garlic drops and other homeopathic methods: I'm unfortunately very educated about the ears. Garlic drops can be EXTREMELY dangerous. Just go to a good ENT.

cbsmommy

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 11:41 am

DD had nonstop ear infections. We put tubes in at 10 months and they stopped somewhat temporarily, but hearing and speech were affected. DD would get giant holes in her eardrums with infections due to the pressure and a pained, misbehaving toddler is NEVER fun.

We tried no dairy but not because of the ears (DD was vomiting after drinking milk) but the ear infections continued. When DD was 2, we removed adenoids. The ENT said her adenoids were incredibly swollen and full of pus. K"H DD hasn't had an ear infection since.

Call the ENT. Ask for an appointment. Some children get 1-2 ear infections and it clears up. But for the most part, oral antibiotics don't fix the problem. Oral antibiotics cannot drain the fluid; all that they do is kill the infection that thrives in the fluid. Putting in tubes allows the fluid to drain, plus, in the event of another infection, it allows you to use OTIC antibiotics which also have a pain relief component and can REALLY help clear up a bad ear infection.

chani8

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 11:41 am

Hi OP, I just read your posting, but not anyone elses, for lack of time.

When we cut out all milk and cheese products, the ear infections and runny noses stopped also.

Good luck.

chani8

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 11:45 am

I can't believe I forget to mention that on top of getting rid of the dairy, I keep antihistimine drops/tablets and mucolite syrup/capsules on hand, as well as sambucal syrup and echanasia (sp?) herbal tablets.

Keep the mucus thin and clear and dry it up as much as possible (mucolite and antihistimine) and nip viruses in the bud with sambucal and echanasia.

amother

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 11:53 am

I could have written this post myself. My DS has had 5 ear infections since september. He is 17 months old.

By the 4th ear infection his doctor referred us to an ENT. He suggested a maintenance level of antibiotics until the end of the winter (about 6 weeks). This way we wouldn't get to an acute situation and hopefully after the winter is over, things will be better.

amother

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 2:38 pm

cbsmommy wrote:

Call the ENT. Ask for an appointment. Some children get 1-2 ear infections and it clears up. But for the most part, oral antibiotics don't fix the problem. Oral antibiotics cannot drain the fluid; all that they do is kill the infection that thrives in the fluid. Putting in tubes allows the fluid to drain, plus, in the event of another infection, it allows you to use OTIC antibiotics which also have a pain relief component and can REALLY help clear up a bad ear infection.

Antibiotics is being abused in today's medical world! After so many infections all it does is, leaves off some mold (that's actually what it is) & builds up yeast. Who knows if ur child's "ear infection" is not a yeast infection in the ear? and all ur doing is feeding it w more antibiotic?!?!?!?
I would suggest to have it checked out by a chiropractor. Or at least help the ear heal w some probiotics.

dmum

Tue, Feb 07 2012, 3:01 pm

My DD has permanent hearing loss from recurrent ear infections. Basically, her newborn hearing test came back clear. She had recurrent infections throughout her first 2 years due to other medical issues. She had constant fluid in her ears and despite amazingly clear speech and a great vocabulary, she now has low-level permanent loss in one ear. She has never fully passed a hearing test since the first one at 1 month.
She FINALLY (at age 5!) got tubes put in this year, and I can see that she is hearing better.
One month won't make a difference to seeing the ENT or not, but just know that recurrent infections/constant fluid can actually cause permanent damage, at a certain level.