Ear Infections and Flying

I had this problem and I ended up changing to another pediatrician and the new pediatrician got the problem cleared right up. so my advice is while waiting for the ENT visit, go see another pediatrician and get a second opinion.

I second eliminating dairy. My oldest had constant eat infections has a baby and the Dr wanted to do tubes, I read to try dairy free and it worked wonders! I also gave him a lot of fresh fruit and tried to put garlic in his dinners.

B.,
I have an 8 year old that had dozens of ear infections and has to date had 4 sets of tubes. We flew before her first set, during an infection period and surprisingly she did really well, she was 11months old. My pediatrician suggested a small dose of Benadryl right before flight, as she was congested also anyway. She did fine, we kept the pacifier and bottle on hand. I was more than pleased on how well she did. We had books and toys for her and the flight was successful. Hope this helps!
Good luck to you and have a Happy Holiday season!

I know it will be hard but try to eliminate(totaly)dairy products from you baby's diet. It will help a lot. Good luck!

I had constant ear infections with my son when he was right around 11 months as well. We put him on allergy meds and that dried up a lot of the fluid. He still takes a half a claritin and a singular every day. It has made the world of a difference. We also found Suprex was an antibotic that worked for us when none of the other ones did anything to clear up his ears. I know that doesn't help with your upcoming flight but maybe something to consider before getting in with the ENT.

My ex was an air force pilot and he had tld me he cant ever fly with an ear infection and he had a friend who did and his ear drumbs busted! Talk to your ped dr and ask him if it would be ok for the baby to fly!

My sister flew with her baby boy when he had an ear infection, and his ear started bleeding after they landed. It turned out, his ear drum blew. You'll have to consult your pediatrician to find out whether or not this is a possibility for your daughter, but my nephew was in so much pain. He's a really happy child, and I've never seen him so miserable. This is probably not the response you want to hear, but I would hate to see the same thing happen to your daughter.
Good luck, and I hope everything works out.

I flew with my son when he had an ear infection. I gave him a small amount of Benadryl, and he was fine. He also loves to move and doesn't like to be held, but surprisingly he was SO easy on the plane. Just layed on my lap and dozed on and off. He seriously NEVER did that at home, so your daughter might be the same way. Good luck with that part. As for the ear infections, I had never heard about bursting an eardrum...but that sounds pretty scary. Ok I just spoke to my sister, whose husband manages a pediatrician's office. She said that typically the chances of the eardrum blowing depend on how severe the infection is. If your daughter has had infections for 3 months and has been on antibiotics all that time, chances are the infection isn't too severe. It will cause discomfort for her to fly though, so make sure you bring tylenol or motrin. I'd also look into the ear plugs other people have suggested. Good luck on your decision. It's a tough one. I would be torn as well.

You should get a hold of this book: Healing Childhood Ear Infections by Dr.Schmidt. It has a lot of good advice about alternative treatments (since the antibiotics certainly aren't working for you).
I don't know what to tell you about the flight. I guess just try to avoid the ear pressure (with nursing or bottles) and then try to distract her as much as possible during the flight.
Good luck.

Try "earplanes". They're like earplugs that help to relieve the pressure in the ears while flying. They come in children's and adult sizes. I think you may be able to find them at the drugstore, and I know you can get them at magellans.com (a travel website). Good luck with the ears!

Hi, try earplanes plugs. You can get them at Target or Walgreens..many places. They have a picture of a plane on the front and I believe they have them for children. The problem is keeping them in, but mabye if you distract her long enough she'll forget there there. You put them in before take-off and before decent for landing and she won't notice the pressure. I learned about these only after my own eardrum ruptured during landing when I flew while sick. I tried these and they worked great and I'm almost positive they have them for children. "Earplanes" is the name on the package...hope this helps!

Hi B.,

I dodged ear tubes for my oldest daughter's ears by finding a good chiropractor. Look for an upper cervicle chiropractor in your area and go talk to them. They have a tremendous amount of experience with ear infections and are generally willing to talk for free.

Also go to http://www.mercola.com/2001/apr/28/ear_tubes.htm
and read about tubes. They rarely stop infections, they are painful, and have a 16 -26% chance of falling out and having to be reinserted.

I used to be very "medical" until I realized that there are alternatives to cutting and prescribing. There is a place for medicine but not at the expense of scar tissue in your daughter's ear..for life. Please read up on it before you do anything.

If you would like to talk about my journey thru the medical system, I'm always willing to share.

Regards,

M.

P.S. I ditto the dairy-free long term plan!

Either find a new ENT that can do something for her or postpone the trip until you can get that under control.
My oldest had horrible ear infection like that and went through several different antibiotics then they did the tubes in his ears. You wouldn't believe what came out of his head after the surgery. We went home and I put him down for a nap as he was still groggy, when he woke up all of this stuff (at least a cup full) green snotty goo had come out of just one ear. No wonder he was in so much pain.
If she even remotely has that in her ears taking her on a plane would be torture for her.

I had the same problem with my son. He had 3 mo of ear infections and fluid in his ears for my cousin's wedding. Dr ok'd the flight. We got numbing drops for his ears. I think he was in a little pain when we lifted off since he was screaming, but he refused to drink during takeoff. It only lasted about a minute and he did ok through the rest of the flight.

Try to give crackers and make them thirsty so she'll drink when you are lifting off. I was really worried as well but it worked out ok. Good Luck. We had surgery when we came back and 2 mo later we have not had an infection.

This past summer we had to fly from Florida to Washington to visit family and such. My 9 year old daughter is very sensitive to pain and had a pretty consistent ear infection at the time that made her cry at times. I asked my doctor what I should do and he recommended tylenol and motrin both be given just before the flight and continue every 4-6 hours as directed. I ended up doing this for all of my kids, it helped them to remain calm (they had never been on a plane before) and not fidgety. I even did this on the way back as well. I have to say that my 9 yr old never complained about pain in her ear, not even once. I wanted to share to let you know that this worked for us.

i am a flight attendant i have seen people burst an ear drum from flying while their ears are clogged.
most of the time the children are fine but do not go unless you get the go ahead from the doc.

Hi B.,

I have always used garlic and mullein oil to get rid of ear infections. You can get it in the health food stores.Use Qtips or dropper to put it in the ear. I usually do this at night before they go to bed it is better in the morning and gone by the next day.

Don't take the trip. I wouldn't put my child through that. I did it once because I had to. We were in Louisiana visiting the inlaws and had to fly back with our son who got an ear infection while we were down there. Could you imagine the pain?? Also, we talked to an ENT and there are positives about the tubes and negatives. I felt there were more negatives than anything. I'm not one of those crazy natural people that don't give my child any medicine or whatever, I really weighed out the options and the negatives filled up the list. They can fall out, it's invasive because they put your child out, etc. He also told me that only Americans give their children antibiotics -- other countries don't. So I would highly suggest talking to the ENT and discuss the option with the hubby. After we talked with the ENT, our son only had 2 ear infections after that and I guess grew out of them. I'm very glad we didn't choose that route. So good luck!!

B.,
i just looked this up and found an article on medicinenet.com. It sugsest not flying with an ear infection because of the air pressure but gives some suggestions on what to do if you must. I personally would delay this trip if she is that bad off. Three months is a long time and you definetly should try to get to a specialist soon. My daugter had one fro about 6 weeks and she was miserable.
Check out the website and go from there. Just think of how bad it would be to be in a different country and not have access to yout doctor if she gets worse. Wait til she is better. Also don't be scared if they suggest tubes. I know kids would are 100% better after having these in. There life is so much better.
Wish you the best.

My son had recurrent ear infections and I finally took him to the chiropractor with me. The dr did an adjustment and he hasn't had an ear infection since then. It's been almost a year! If you are in the Gulf Breeze or Navarre area, his name is Dr. Ron Marshall. He practices at Baird Family Chiropractic Clinic. I've been to several chiropractors and he's the only one I will ever trust again!!
Best of Luck, Jen

Reaccuring ear infections at that age are most likely due to an allergy to milk protein. Try switching to an Organic Soy based formula (and eliminating any other dairy solid foods) and see if that doesn't clear it up. It is important to buy organic soy because non organic soy is genetically modified and can be highly allergenic for some. You really want save the ear tube operation as an absolute last resort.

You may want to find a pediatrician that is more knowledgeable about nutrition. Most doctors are completely uneducated in this area and having this knowledge could mean a lot less unecessary medication and antibiotics for your child.

I personally recommend Dr. Carr of Pediatrics Plus in Orlando and Dr. Cannizzaro of Pediatrician's Care Unit in Longwood.

Best of luck with your travels. Just try to stay calm and sit near the engine. The sound of the engines always lulled mine to sleep at that age and masked the sound of any crying :)

~G. G.
Certified Health Educator
Winter Park, FL

Hello,

You need to stop what ever you are doing and make your daughter #1 with this problem with her ears. You need to take her to another Dr. Find a different place to take her to see a ENT.

If this does not go away soon then you are looking at her losing her hearing FOREVER! Ask the Dr.

Here is a web site that has a listing of ENT's in your area.

http://jacksonville.citysearch.com/search?context=generic...