Touching Ear in 9mo

[AFWife]

For a few weeks now DS has been touching his ear. It's just the one ear. He does his fingers back and forth (almost like waving) He doesn't seem to be in pain. He did get his first teeth recently...I used to get ear "infections" (inflammation that cleared up on its own) when I would cut teeth...but again, he doesn't seem to be in any pain.

Is this just a normal discovery kind of thing? "Hey, there's something on the side of my head..."

[Xerxella]

It could definitely be teething related, a quirky thing, he just noticed his ear and touching it this way feels interesting, an ear infection, excess fluid in the ear or none of the above. If he doesn't appear distressed, I wouldn't be either.

[Nillarilla]

My 12mo does this and has been for about 3 mos I guess. She does it to soothe herself I think. Like some kids twirl their hair or twist their blankie she touches her ear.

[Madalyn]

Originally Posted by Nillarilla

My 12mo does this and has been for about 3 mos I guess. She does it to soothe herself I think. Like some kids twirl their hair or twist their blankie she touches her ear.

My son does it for these reasons too I think. He also sometimes does it to my boob while he's nursing lol.

[PikkuMyy]

THe 9 mo I babysit for did this last month for a few weeks. She had just figured out that she could reach up and touch that part of her body that she was doing it all the time.

[_betsy_]

My baby does this too. I think it's because she'd LIKE to be twirling or playing with her hair, but the poor dear is bald, bald, bald!

[blumooned]

My 9.5mo does this when he is tired - kind of a self-comfort thing.

[JMJ]

My baby found her ears about that age too. Our pediatrician confirmed what we already knew at her WBV about a week after she started: that her ears are perfectly fine. Even if it is an ear infection, if he's not acting like he's in pain, it's probably not bad enough that you would need antibiotics anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much.

[Peony]

Julian has been doing this as well, for him, it is "Hey, I have an ear!" thing.

[CookAMH]

My 9mo does it to play and also when he's tired. His ears have always been really clear.