My son has had 4 ear infections this cold/flu season. Pedi said one more and we will have to take him to the ENT and discuss getting the tubes in his ears. I have heard that the surgery is not a big deal, but the thought of him under general anesthetic petrifies me. I cry just thinking about it. He just finished a kids' "z-pack," which worked last time, but this time he is still rubbing his ear and saying, "ouchie ear." He was on amoxicillin for the first couple of ear infections, but the doctor switched him to the "z-pack" so as not to overuse the amoxicillin.
I am going to call the pedi first thing tomorrow morning to have him rechecked.
My heart breaks for my poor little boy! Can anyone share any experiences with persistent ear infections and/or tubes? My son just turned 2 a couple of weeks ago, BTW. TIA!
Re: Tubes in ears? :(
DD -- 5YO
DS -- 3YO
Thank you all so much for your responses. I feel much better now!
I guess what was really bothering me about this most recent ear infection is the fact that it did not clear up after antibiotics. This was the first time the antibiotics didn't work, and it really has me worried.
My DS really only gets ear infections when he has a cold, but it happens with almost every cold he gets.
But it sounds like tubes can be very helpful, and I'm definitely feeling a whole lot better about the idea now. Thanks again everyone!
goodgollie -
Thank you for telling me this. It's comforting to know that this is not uncommon!
Both of my girls have tubes, one at 13 months and one at 10 months. My older daughter never had another EI, but my younger daughter still has them. But all the yucky stuff drains out, which is good, because she ruptured her ear drums multiple times.
It is really scary having them put under, but seriously, the surgery goes SO fast. It'll be over before you know it!
I wish that I could have tubes placed sooner in DD's ears to avoid the horrible experiences that our family suffered due to an ear infection.
A little background: DD went her first year of life with no sick visits -- no colds, no ear infections, no diarrhea, no vomiting, no coughing, no sneezing, etc.
Two days after her first birthday, she was inconsolable and running a fever. I took her to urgent care and was diagnosed with 'red ear canals' but not an active infection. I requested antibiotics and topical pain medication and received both with instructions to use motrin and tylenol for fever. After finishing the course of antibiotics, I took her to our pedi to check the status of her ears since she was still running a fever. Full blown bilateral ear infections and another script for antibiotics.
After finishing this antibiotic, DD had a total of 1.5 days fever free and then BAM it was 103-104 and nonresponsive to motrin/tylenol. Another appointment to our pedi and yet another antibiotic was prescribed. I asked at this appointment about tubes and was told that she was not a candidate until she has had an ear infection for 3 months.
Three days into the last prescription of antibiotics, my DD stopped eating, stopped drinking and just slept. She still was running a high fever of 103-104 nonresponsive to motrin and tylenol. I called the advice nurse and was told to continue the current therapy. Following my mommy gut I scooped her up and took her to the childrens ER.
She was admitted immediately and had an IV line placed, sedated and catheterized to check for a urinary tract infection and a spinal tap for meningitis. Her white blood cell count was sky high. She was administered Rocephin - apparently the miracle antibiotic for children. We were discharged with instructions to return the next day for her second injection of Rocephin. We came back earlier than instructed because she still was not any better. She then was admitted to the pediatric ward and started on four different antibiotics. After 4 days of treatment, she was taken for surgery to have her tubes placed. The ENT said that there was no way that she would have been able to clear that infection. We were discharged 36 hrs later and battled recurrent fevers for 2 weeks after that.
So if I had a choice to have tubes placed earlier, I would have opted in. The surgery is much less invasive than our experience and the surgery is so short that the risk of being under general anesthesia is minimal. IMO tubes are wonderful, DD had an infection earlier this week and it was just pouring pus (gross!!) but we are able to treat the ear directly and it doesnt hurt since the infection can drain.
HTH
ds got his tubes at 11 months old. It was great for us. Yes, the surgery is hard and the recovery is the beast but he gets so much relief. We've been told that when they get an ear infection once they have tubes, it's not as painful because all the fluid drains instead of builds up.
Join our wiki and tell us what your baby eats for finger foods.