I am just at a loss: LO on sixth ear infection
My LO has had 5 ear infections since January. His fourth ear infection was a double and he had a burst eardrum. No sooner than a week after that cleared up he got a fifth ear infection in the ear that didn't have the burst drum. He's still on antibiotics for ear infection #5 and now we believe he has a sixth double ear infection. We have an appointment with an ENT for July 15th, but this is just getting ridiculous. I am at a loss as to what to do, and my poor baby is so used to being in pain that he isn't even fussy: he just holds his ears (that's his telltale sign). I killed myself to nurse and EP for this baby because it supposedly reduced the rate of ear infections. I guess we just got a sh!tty luck of the draw.
Does anyone have a LO that has needed tubes? We were holding out against this, but it looks inevitable. Thanks for listening-I guess this was a vent.
Re: I am just at a loss: LO on sixth ear infection
Poor little guy! It's not your fault!
I have a cousin who had tubes put in a couple of years back and it made things so much better. He was nursed too, so don't feel bad about that part.
Hopefully if he ends up with tubes it will get rid of his pain. I'm sorry you guys are having such a rough time!
He sounds a lot like poor Eli. The only thing that fixed the problem were his tubes. I don't know if they'll keep him from getting more ear infections because he just had them put in a week ago, but everything else is much improved.
Can you possibly get your ENT appointment moved up? I begged ours to see us sooner because Eli was getting maybe 2-3 hours of sleep a night, wasn't eating well, and was basically just grumpy all the time. They got us in and did our surgery 10 days later.
I wasn't sure about them either, but I'm so glad we did it. The doctor said when he looked at Eli's ears under the microscope, he couldn't tell that he'd ever taken an antibiotic before EVER. They were that bad. He basically said we could have given him meds forever and they wouldn't have done a bit of good.
Aw, I'm glad to hear she did so well. It's also encouraging.
Our neighbors went thru the same thing in early April. Their appt w/ ENT was on Mon., & their DS got his tubes on Thurs. It was a HUGE difference for him. He even went from waking up many times a night to STTN.
Don't beat yourself up for not BF/EPing! She nursed that kid all.the.time. & delayed solids.
Buggie started getting them, too. When I took her in for the 100th time, I asked what I could do to prevent them. He told me there are 3 factors that really promote ear infections (smoke, baby laying flat to nurse/feed, family history). In our case, it's family history. My dad & I had ear infections as kids.
Absolutely NOT! I think he's been exposed to smoke once when we were eating outside at a restaurant and some girl lit up a cigarette.
Our pedi is pretty sure it's his ear structure. It doesn't help that he's constantly catching colds at daycare.
I'm sorry. DD has had 5 ear infections since Feb but ::knock wood:: only one in the last 2 months so I think we finally kicked it. I had horrible ears as a kid - tubes 4 times I think. I will say I felt so much better after I got them.
There is nothing you did wrong. Some kids just get ear infections.
Erino, I'm sorry you and Noah are going through this. I don't have experience with ear infections, but I know how hard it can be to watch your child suffer. I hope the doctor is able to determine the best treatment - soon!
I am right there with you. LO is currently on his 8th treatment of antibiotics since January. We have an appointment with the ENT in August. The big children's hospital in our area is in full demand and we got the appoiontment in April. Sucks to wait it out and watch him continue to get the infections in the mean time. It has been much better the past 2 months with the warmer weather though.
I hear tubes are great. Better sleeping, better eating, better moods.
I have also heard chiropractors can help. GL
Matt has had 9 infections since December; when he started daycare. Most of his are double ear infections, and like your LO, he is so use to them that he doesn't even get fussy anymore, but will just tug on his ears.
Matt got tubes, and unfortunately he has had 2 ear infections since then. They did a lateral neck xray on him last week, and noted that he has enlarged adenoids, which can also cause ear infections. He's too young to have his adenoids removed at this point.
They are trying him on Prilosec because he has some reflux issues. The ENT told me that kids that have reflux are more prone to ear infections, because reflux is worst at night, when they are laying flat. The acid comes up, and just sits there, and can cause inflammation in the throat, nose, etc, and that's all interconnected with the ears. I'm hoping that this works.
I hope your ENT is able to help your LO. Good luck.