cleaning 3 yr. old ears

ladylisalt

When my DS was a baby I was advised to not use any baby Q-tips etc. Now that my son is 3 should I be using the kid ones once in awhile or should I leave them alone? I have no idea if there is a ton of wax build up or not so I was curious, also my son takes swim lessons wasn't sure if that and the bath, swimming,etc. would just naturally loosen stuff up. I can't imagine as an adult never cleaning my ears so I was curious when it is a good time to start with toddlers.

maggiesmom1

I was wondering the same thing. This article https://www.babycenter.com/0_earwax-buildup_65367.bc#articlesection4 says to let the doctor clean it.

SusieBW

We have put the fear of God into DD when it comes to q-tips.  She loves having her ears cleaned/dried with a regular q-tip, but she stands more still than I even knew she was capable of when I do it.  I used the baby ones when she was small, but have been using regular ones for a while now.  I don't put them all the way in her ear, just the outside and right inside the edge to get whatever wax or anything is there.  And I only do it if I notice that it looks yucky or if she asks me to, which is maybe every 2-3 weeks.

Emerald27

Technically ears are self-cleaning, and using qtips to clean ears (beyond any gunk you can see from the outside) can do more harm than good. They can push wax further into the ear and compact it, or they can damage the oh so sensitive skin in the ear or even harm the eardrum if inserted too far.

I've always heard to rinse ears once or twice a week gently in the shower/bath, and stick nothing in their ears (that goes for adult ears too)!

ladylisalt

Emerald27 said:

Technically ears are self-cleaning, and using qtips to clean ears (beyond any gunk you can see from the outside) can do more harm than good. They can push wax further into the ear and compact it, or they can damage the oh so sensitive skin in the ear or even harm the eardrum if inserted too far. I've always heard to rinse ears once or twice a week gently in the shower/bath, and stick nothing in their ears (that goes for adult ears too)!

This is what I keep hearing. My only concern is that as a kid I had swimmer's ear often from going in pools,beach etc. When you rinse ears can you run the risk of something like this if all the water dosent come out? Not sure if you know the answer but wanted to throw it out there.

Emerald27

ladylisalt said:

Emerald27 said:

Technically ears are self-cleaning, and using qtips to clean ears (beyond any gunk you can see from the outside) can do more harm than good. They can push wax further into the ear and compact it, or they can damage the oh so sensitive skin in the ear or even harm the eardrum if inserted too far.

I've always heard to rinse ears once or twice a week gently in the shower/bath, and stick nothing in their ears (that goes for adult ears too)!

This is what I keep hearing. My only concern is that as a kid I had swimmer's ear often from going in pools,beach etc. When you rinse ears can you run the risk of something like this if all the water dosent come out? Not sure if you know the answer but wanted to throw it out there.

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I have no idea! We honestly don't rinse DS' ears, though I'm sure they do get some water in them when we rinse his hair in the bath, but I do use a damp washcloth to gently rub around and barely inside his ears to keep them gunk free. Maybe that's a safer alternative?

heatherwhite1984

this just came out a few days ago   https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/dont-clean-ear-qtip_n_5600401.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063 
we don't use q-tips in ds's ears. we only use them on the outside where we can visually see the wax has built up and wants to come out. ds has been to the ent and said ears look great and they are draining as they should be, even with his very frequent ear infections.