On-going Ear Infections

[marispel]

My DS is 17 months old and started DC about 3.5 months ago. Since then he has had nothing but colds. He'll get better for a few days and then here comes a runny nose. UGH...well, since the colds rarely clear up he is now getting ear infections. We're on a 4th round of antibiotics in just 6 wks.

Please tell me this will get better! The Dr. hasn't mentioned tubes for his ears, but it seems like we may be headed that way if he doesn't get better long enough for his ears to clear up. UGH. So frustrating!

[Alyantavid]

My boys both went through this. Turned out, they were allergic to milk.

You might try eliminating dairy and see if that helps. Chiro adjustments help as well. And now that he's had antibiotics, he's more susceptible to catching the bugs going around. Garlic/mullein oil drops work really well for infections.

[marispel]

I don't think he is allergic to milk. He's been on whole milk since 12 months old and he didn't start getting sick until 3 days after he started daycare.

I'm giving him Vitamin D drops in the morning about 400-500 iui (not sure of the correct term there).

I'll look into the garlic/mullein too.

[Xerxella]

I've got to put my 2 cents in here, but antibiotics may be the exact wrong thing to do. Ask your doc and she'll admit that 90% of ear infections are viral. Meaning, you're giving them antibiotics which kill the bacteria in the body (good and bad) while doing nothing to combat the problem. Now, the little body has no good bacteria to help combat the germs that come into the body.

Here's a link to a nice website from a reliable source about it.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antibiotics/FL00075

Antibiotics are a life saver when they're needed. Just make sure they're needed. Even if you decide to go with antibiotics consider giving probiotics with them.

Good luck. It's no fun having a sick babe.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by marispel

I don't think he is allergic to milk. He's been on whole milk since 12 months old and he didn't start getting sick until 3 days after he started daycare.

I'm giving him Vitamin D drops in the morning about 400-500 iui (not sure of the correct term there).

I'll look into the garlic/mullein too.

My youngest was bf until 13 months, when I put him on whole milk. It wasn't until about a month after that that he started getting sick alot. Whether your child is or isn't, it's worth looking into before your doc does bring up tubes.

I agree with Xerxella about the antibiotics. Another thing I would do, is start him on some probiotics to build his immune system back up.

[marispel]

My Dr. and what I've read says that the fluid takes days, sometimes weeks to drain and unfortunately, my little guy catches a cold before the ears have drained so they become infected again. That made sense to me.

I'm not against giving him NOT giving him antibiotics, but my DH is. He is one of those people that wants to take medicine for any little sniffle and he strongly believes that an antibiotic will fix things. (I know, I know).

My DS currently eats about 4-10 oz of yogurt a day that has probiotics. I will look into getting another supplement if needed.

[Masel]

DD1 had a series of bad ear infections at age 2. We already knew she was allergic to milk so it wasn't that. Eventually I had her hearing checked and it was really bad! We did eventually go with tubes and the change in her was remarkable. She suddenly had so much energy and just started talking up a storm. I thought she was pretty verbal before. I didn't find out about chiropractic manipulation for ear infections until afterwards or I might have tried that. I just want to emphasize not letting this go too long. Tubes just ventilate an infection. I think its better to do it in a controlled way rather than let the drum burst.

[mamaLucie]

My daughter started having ear infections when she was six months. Both of her ears ruptured several times. Antibiotics did not help. Finally I took her to a homeopath and her ears are fine ever since.

[ShyDaisi]

My first thought was chiropractic adjustments. I used to work for a chiropractor and saw a LOT of children helped by getting adjusted -- going from one ear infection on top of the other to as little as none!

[Bellabaz]

I didn't read all teh posts but wanted to add my experience. I had ear infections alot when I was little. Chirpopractic and garlic oil. Open a liquid cap of garlic, pour in ear, put in cotton ball. Do this before bed for a couple days. Works just as well as antibx. And the chiro can help too. Hope it gets better!

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by marispel

I don't think he is allergic to milk. He's been on whole milk since 12 months old and he didn't start getting sick until 3 days after he started daycare.

I'm giving him Vitamin D drops in the morning about 400-500 iui (not sure of the correct term there).

I'll look into the garlic/mullein too.

For kids with food intolerances, often the difference is that their colds progress into an EI, whereas another kid who also gets a cold doesn't have any complications. They both are getting more colds now that they're in daycare, but one kid's are uncomplicated.

That said, some sort of chiro adjustments or a DO who does cranial-sacral could help a lot, that's what stopped my daughter's EIs as an infant.

You may also want to look into more vitamin D, or at least have a blood test done. That level of supplementation is not usually enough to bring a child up into the good part of the reference range. The vitamin D council discusses supplementation and testing more.

[catballou24]

you might try taking him to the chiropractor...they work wonders with things like that!

and if it is viral then the abx are not really doing anything to fix the problem unfortunately...

i hope he gets better soon. i just got over a horrible bacterial ear infection (never had one before) and it was terrible! the pain trumps childbirth... it took 2 rounds of abx and my hearing is just now returning in that ear....i feel for your little guy...