My daughter had ear tubes put in when she was 9 months old. She is now 15 months old and has her first ear infection since the tubes. She started with a cold and cough 4 days ago and now has had an ear infection for the last 2 days (fluid has been draining out of the ears, sort of clear, sort of tinged with wax). My assumption is that the ear infection was caused by the same virus that gave her the cold, and therefore antibiotics would not help. I'd like to give the infection a chance to clear up on its own, particularly since it appears to be from a virus. How long would it take an ear infection to clear up on its own? Since the fluid is draining from her ears and not building up, she doesn't seem to be particularly uncomfortable, no fever or anything.
Thanks, everyone. I did take her to the doctor when the drainage hadn't stopped after 5 days. He prescribed antibiotics and mentioned the baby might possibly need the drops that a couple of you spoke of. Now 2 days later there doesn't appear to be much if anything draining anymore, so she seems better. She goes for her follow-up tomorrow. Thanks again. You just tend to think that once they get the tubes, there won't be any more ear infections, but I guess that's not always the case.
my son has had 2 sets of tubes now we are finally finished.( first set at 19 mos second at three Call the ent and get the drops ear infections are extremely painful. Also you may want the ent to check and make sure the tubes are still in. I always had great luck my sons stayed in for a extremely long time, but I know of tubes coming out fast also
Chronic ear infections are a possible sign of dairy allergies. If you google it, you will notice some great info on it. Also a good round of probiotics will help rebuild her immune system so she can fight off illnesses. When you take antibiotics it kills the bad and good bacteria making us more proned to the same illness and more. A sign of a weakened immune system is getting sick more than 3 times in one year. Renew Life has wonderful probiotics for infants/toddlers/kids. www.renewlife.com and you can find a store near you to purchase or go on line at www.smartbomb.com
A large study done proved that antibiotics does not work for ear infections, it just weakened the immune system.
Good luck!
J. W. MPH
Lifestyle and Wellness Consultant
Lynn is correct about the infection. The infection is now in the ears due to bacteria build up. My daughter has tubes, and has one infection and the doc (ENT) prescribed antibiotic drops to put in her ears. Clreared them up in days. Call your doc and ask, I don't think she needs oral anibiotics in this case.
Good luck
I have been told by my dr. who also believes in waiting on antibotics said to wait for 5 days from when you notice the symptoms and if it has not cleared up you need to take her in to be seen. If it goes too long it can cause other problems. Hope this helps.
If she gets uncomfortable try tylenol or motrin and a heating pad against the infected ear set on low heat. Trust me as someone who has suffered with ear infections my entire life, the heating pad really does help with the pain. But only do it for 10 minutes every hour.
If she really has an infection (that was originally caused by a cold), then the antibiotics will help because the infection is bacterial, not viral. The cold was viral but when the fluid in the ears builds up and doesn't drain properly, it develops bacteria. Having gone thru what you are going thru now I know how difficult all of this can be and draining both on the baby and family. I totally understand your desire to wait it out, and have done it with my daughter after she got tubes too. Sometimes the infection does clear itself up but sometimes not.
