my baby is 17 months old and has had several ear problems so he had to get tubes put in his ears. well he had no ear infections for about a month and a half and now he has a ear infection and he can't sleep. last night we was up until 6:00 in the morning and he finally fell asleep and woke back up at 10. now it is currently 11:36 and he is still up screeming and crying he has already had his infection medicine and ibuprofen. any ideas on what i can do to get him to stop hurting and be able to get some sleep.
please and thank you in advance to everyone who gives me there advise.
Ear aches can be tough. My guess is something is blocking the tubes. He needs to see the pediatrician if he hasn't already, but do NOT push the antibiotics if he just finished a round. Ear aches are always worse at night. You can ask the doctor for an analgesic, which is a numbing drop for the ear canal. Don't put any homemade remedies inside the ear canal or you risk causing an infection, inner ear damage, or damage to the ear drum.
So sorry. Get him back into the doctor to make sure that "stuff" isn't blocking the tube. If it is, then he has pressure and that can be causing the earache.
Ear tubes don't prevent ear infections. They prevent the pressure build up and bursting eardrums.
Brainstorm with your doctor on how to help prevent infections. Not laying flat and drinking her bottles (if she's still taking a bottle) will help because the milk can go into the tubes and sit there, causing infection. Nose sprays might be an idea to help with fluid in the tubes. Antibiotics may need to be used. Right now while she's little, her Eustachian tubes are straight rather than angled. They will become angled as she grows bigger. That helps.
I know that none of this helps now. I would put him in his car seat rather than laying him down flat in the crib. Maybe that will help. If he can't settle down, I would hold him. If his screaming is piercing and scary, take him to the ER in case something else is going on. I hope your ER has a ped attending.
So sorry.
My doctor has prescribed a drop that stops the pain. Call your son's pediatrician or nurses line and get the medicine at a 24 hour pharmacy. Your son should not have to suffer like this.
Ear aches tend to hurt worse at night.....
The best remedy until you can talk to a doctor would be something warm... I remember as a child, using a hot water bottle for an ear ache...
To make your own hot/warm pack, you can take a washcloth, get it wet, and put it in a ziplock bag. Put it in the microwave for just a very short time (30 seconds, maybe?) to make it warm, but not hot. Wrap it in a thin towel before using it against his ear. Make sure it is not too hot, but just a soothing warmth.
BTW... my son had frequent ear infections as a child, and he ended up getting tubes in his ears, also. He still got ear infections (but it all just drained out of the ventilation tubes, so there wasn't any pain), so the doctor put him on a nasal spray (like flonase). That worked wonders. And yes, he did outgrow the ear infections. He is now 22, and I doubt that he has had an ear infection since the tubes came out.
I agree that if he is in pain, that something is blocking the tube, or it could also be an infection in the outer ear canal (like swimmer's ear type of thing), or the tube has come out and the ear drum has sealed over.
I am going to ditto Doris Day about gunk blocking the tubes. My kiddo had one ear infection after his tube were put in and the infection oozed out of the tube and it was easy for the pressure to be relieved with the tube (hence no earache). Since this isn't the case with your little one, I think something is blocking the tube OR they fell out.
FYI: we ended up not having to do an oral antibiotic (we did drops)
Call now before the holiday really kicks in so you all can enjoy time with family.
I have a home remedy for ear infections that will save you a trip to the doctor and avoid giving your son those dreaded antibiotics!
Sautee an onion in extra virgin olive oil until soft (onion is still white - not carmelized). Put onion slices in a very thin cloth or in a paper towel, and hold them to both of his ears for a few minutes (as close to his ears as possible w/o burning his ears). The onion produces some sort of gas of some kind (gas, or something like that), which kills the ear infection. I hope you don't have to give your son anymore antibiotics - they are very bad for people. However, if you must, please give him plenty of probiotics as well. I hope the onion trick works! It worked for my son. Good luck!
In a Home Remedies book I had one time it said to use a blow dryer and blow the warm air gently over the ear canal. The warm air helps the pain.
I'd also get kiddo back to the doc that put the tubes in. One or both of them could have fallen out too early.
try maybe a warm wet washclothe up against the ear. hope he gets better soon,prayers.
Updated
try maybe a warm wet washclothe up against the ear. hope he gets better soon,prayers.
