Baby's first ear infection

renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
So, last night, around midnight, Baby starts SCREAMING. nothing can console her, we put orajel on, thinking it's teething, nothing.
so some how i get her calmed down, and she falls asleep on my shoulder. I put her down into her crib--SCREAMING ensues. so... last night i stayed up, dozing off every now and then, letting her sleep on my shoulder. this morning--100.1 temperature.
called the dr, went in, and yup. ear infection :( she gave us an antibiotic to help.
poor thing :(
any way to prevent them? feeding different ways, sleeping different ways? this is of course the first weekend after her first full week of daycare... i wonder where she got it.
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
There is really nothing you can do about that. Our girls started day care at the age of 1 year and 2 weeks. They were sick just about every single week for months on end. Brianna had 4 ear infections and a few sinus infections in a row and poor Alexis had a total of 6 ear infections in 9 months. In October last year they both had tubes put in and since then they have hardly ever been sick. At least they haven't been on antibiotics since then.
Just a tip for teething... don't use the Oragel, get homeopathic teething tablets. They are better for her than giving her actual medicated stuff.
 
crimzy

crimzy

Active Member
It sucks having sick babies in the house. Just so you know, daycare is pretty much a germ-fest. Every child I know that goes to daycare regularly is always sick. Of 15 or 20 kids, 1 will ALWAYS have something contagious. And I don't know any parents that keep their kids home from daycare just because they have an ailment. It sucks. Good luck.
 
mimzy

mimzy

Active Member
there really isn't much you can do to prevent these things; babies get sick. They are SUPPOSED to get sick. Their immune systems are still developing, and if they aren't exposed to things now, then if they ARE exposed to them in the future they'll be FAR worse off.
You're doing exactly what you should be; paying attention to your child and seeking treatment when you feel something is off.

Hope both of you get some relief soon - and some sleep!
 
sula

sula

Member
My son had one ear infection after the other for his first year of life. His pediatrician was almost ready to suggest tubes, then said we could try prophylactic antibiotics. I gave him one dose every other day for the next year and during that time he only got one more ear infection. After a year, we quit the antibiotics and he was home free - he had "grown out of it"
I do believe that in the long run this helped his immune system - he so rarely gets sick anymore. One year, every single other family member got deathly sick with the flu but him. He is 18 years old and healthy as a horse!
Hang in there, we've all been there !
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Feed the baby sitting up, rather than reclining. Follow a feeding with a healthy dose of water.
My son suffered from middle ear infections from the time he was 2 mos. Finally, at age nine, he had to have tubes put into his ears and had a tonsillectomy. No more ear infections after that, but he has always suffered from allerggies.
Depending on how old your child is, you may want to check for allegories, including food allergies. If this is just an isolated illness, then no need to worry.
 
lovethesea

lovethesea

Active Member
ugh.......all of us parents are totally understanding where you are right now. I forgot how painful ear infections were until I had one a few years back. YIKES, I thought I was gonna lose my mind. I don't remember how old your baby is, but I know our Dr. always said for a brief period tylenol every 4 and advil every 6 . She may be too young for this and your doc would have probably suggested it. It helps a ton until the antibotics kick in. At some point I would have paid to take the pain away from my babies when this happened.
Daycare has tons of stuff. A lot of parents take their kids in pumped up on tylenol and hope for the best. My kids got everything under the sun TWICE.
.......and then if the parents are lucky they won't get it.
 
jennythebugg

jennythebugg

Active Member
Originally Posted by SpiderWoman
http:///forum/post/2725482
There is really nothing you can do about that. Our girls started day care at the age of 1 year and 2 weeks. They were sick just about every single week for months on end. Brianna had 4 ear infections and a few sinus infections in a row and poor Alexis had a total of 6 ear infections in 9 months. In October last year they both had tubes put in and since then they have hardly ever been sick. At least they haven't been on antibiotics since then.
Just a tip for teething... don't use the Oragel, get homeopathic teething tablets. They are better for her than giving her actual medicated stuff.
you dont mean humphreys do you? those have belladonna in them
 
ice4ice

ice4ice

Active Member
Most of us agree that there is nothing you can do to prevent ear infections. I was fortunate that my son never screamed alot as your did. Instead, he had fevers. To make a long story short, my son eventually ended up getting tubes put in both of his ears when he was 1 1/2 years old.
I can relate to your worryings and such but it goes with territory.
 
nacl freak

nacl freak

Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/2725472
So, last night, around midnight, Baby starts SCREAMING. nothing can console her, we put orajel on, thinking it's teething, nothing.
so some how i get her calmed down, and she falls asleep on my shoulder. I put her down into her crib--SCREAMING ensues. so... last night i stayed up, dozing off every now and then, letting her sleep on my shoulder. this morning--100.1 temperature.
called the dr, went in, and yup. ear infection :( she gave us an antibiotic to help.
poor thing :(
any way to prevent them? feeding different ways, sleeping different ways? this is of course the first weekend after her first full week of daycare... i wonder where she got it.
Ask your ped for otocaine. This numbs the eardrumb. The pain comes from infection behind the eardrum causing the eardrum to stretch, or bulge. When lying flat the pressure is greater. That's why she went to sleep on your shoulder only to awaken when put down. You can try letting her sleep in car seat instead of flat in bed, or adjust mattress to an incline position. Another tip is before putting her down is to warm the spot with a heating pad. Then place her with bad ear down on the warmed spot. Hope this helps.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
heh, thanks all for the information. I never thought of some of the things, and knew a couple. I'm curious...why not use orajel? it seems to work wonders. I'm sure the Hyland's is fine in small doses, but surprising to see that it has belladonna in it.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
I recall that we used a thick oily fluid in a blue bottle at the recommendation of our pediatrician when our kids had ear infections. It brought almost instant relief Our pediatrician was always reluctant to give antibiotics for ear infections, and felt that this stuff was effective in relieving the pain until the child's immune system cut in. When my wife gets home from work I'll ask her the name of the oil - I barely remember my own name these days.
 
maryg

maryg

Member
IMO as a nurse in a former life...., it has alot to do with an infants anatomy. The tubes in an infant are more vertical and that has alot to do with drainage and germs collecting in one area. My own daughter (who is 19 now) had constant ear infections in her first year of life. Just feed in an upright position and never let them fall asleep with a bottle in their mouths. Sometimes no matter what you do the little ones will always get at least one or two good ear infections.
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
Originally Posted by MaryG
http:///forum/post/2726468
IMO as a nurse in a former life...., it has alot to do with an infants anatomy. The tubes in an infant are more vertical and that has alot to do with drainage and germs collecting in one area. My own daughter (who is 19 now) had constant ear infections in her first year of life. Just feed in an upright position and never let them fall asleep with a bottle in their mouths. Sometimes no matter what you do the little ones will always get at least one or two good ear infections.

In our case the ear infections were directly linked with starting day care. My twins had not been sick until they started day care at the age of 1. I'm knocking wood now, the tubes have been in about 10 months and everything is good so far. :)
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
problem with the tubes is an example my wife told me--
she had ear infections like mad, and got the tubes in. One morning, she found a tube on her pillow--it had fallen out. the next morning, the other tube fell out. what's preventing the tubes from falling IN if they can fall OUT?
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/2726828
problem with the tubes is an example my wife told me--
she had ear infections like mad, and got the tubes in. One morning, she found a tube on her pillow--it had fallen out. the next morning, the other tube fell out. what's preventing the tubes from falling IN if they can fall OUT?
Nothing reliable really. It's all about the inner ear structure that dictates that. We've just been lucky that they haven't come out and in the last checkup they were snuggly in place with both girls.
According to our ENT, children outgrow the problem by the age of 5 and no more tubes are needed.
The other option is having the child on antibiotics every month. For us tubes were the only option just because the continuous back to back infections. We couldn't be happier with that decision.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
The medication we used for our children when they had earaches was "Auralgen". It has a numbing agent in it, so the child gets immediate relief.
 
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