Tips on telling ear infection from sleep regression?

vszapp

DS had an ear infection a few weeks ago and only had very mild cold symptoms. My only clue was that he would NOT sleep in his crib. At first I thought it was separation anxiety or just plain not wanting to sleep, but I finally got him checked and he indeed had fluid in his ears. Last night he woke up 7(!) times and finally wouldn't go back down at 5:15am. The only difference is last night I could get him back down easily with patting or nursing. I never leave him to cry but will let him fuss while I stay and pat him while he's in his crib, which I tried unsuccessfully at 5:15 and then again at 7:15 for a nap (finally put him in carrier with nanny before work). Anyhoo, we need to get this sleep thing back on track where he's waking only twice, but I am so nervous to push it if he might have a medical issue. What do you ladies do to reassure yourselves that it's ok to let them work it out? I can't run to the pedi every day... He has no fever and is probably teething, but he will be for the next 2 years.

IBackBevo

there is supposedly a gadget you can buy on Amazon that is really good for this, but with that said I've never actually gone to the trouble to buy it. Someone recommended it on here to me when my older son was having repeated ear infections. With him, he usually started to run a fever when he had a true ear infection.