September 2015 Moms

Playing with ears

my little one has recently been tugging / playing with her ears a lot - sometimes it correlates with going to bed/nap and other times not - she is her usual happy self but I was worried if this could mean some kind of ear infection? I have also heard that ear pain can be associated with teething too - anyone else's babies doing this? 

Re: Playing with ears

  • Yes! My son started doing this earlier this week. I have been concerned that it's an ear infection and was thinking about calling the doctor today, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain, just tugging on his ear. I googled it after reading your post and now I'm thinking it must be because of teething. 
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  • I feel like I have a picture for everything lol I mostly get it when he's sleepy or hungry. Been doing it for weeks so I sure hope it's not an ear infection!
  • Yes!! Baby girl does this all the time. At first i thought it was because she was teething. Then she had 2 teeth break through and she was still doing it. Then i thought it was ear infection. Doc checked her out, said she was fine. She just likes to play with them apparently, lol.
  • It might be part is self soothing too. At this age my first used to rub the top of his head when eating or going to sleep. It was super cute. <3
  • I took my little guy in to check for an ear infection because he was always tugging at his ears! No infection and the Dr said that once they "find" their ears it can be a big part of self soothing. He told me that as long as the ear tugging isn't accompanied by a fever or lots of crankiness then to not worry. 
  • Mine holds an ear when nursing since birth.  I have ultrasounds where his hand is at an ear in utero  It's just a comfort thing for him. 
  • It's a comfort thing for my LO. She also recently graduated to a terrible comfort habit!!! Now, she likes to put her hand in my mouth when she's tired before she goes to sleep ... Strange!
  • My son we doing this and I had him checked for an ear infection. I also found out that many pediatricians believe babies can't localize pain and wouldn't be able to tug an ear to show ear pain. 

    Based on my pedi's opinion, I would vote this is self soothing. 
  • My pedi said it's also a sign of teething 
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