ear infection? (long and rambly...sorry)

[babybirkel]

So, maybe I'm just a dumb first time mom, but I don't "get" ear infections. Like, every one of my friends who had kids with ear infections had very sick kids...fevers, vomiting, like a real illness. In those situations, I think an antibiotic is totally appropriate and necessary.

My son (16.5 months) gets ear infections in his right ear primarily. It's always so mild that I haven't even noticed any symptoms. At his 15 months wbv, his ped said he had an ear infection so she prescribed amox. I am all for antibiotics when it's obvious that the immune system isn't winning this fight and needs help. But he wasn't even really sick -- he had a little cold -- and seemed fine. No pulling on his ear, no crankiness, eating pretty well, sleeping well. So I decided to fill the prescription but wait and see if it cleared up on its own.

So...it's been like 6 weeks. He's completely over the cold he had, pretty happy (I mean, other than typical toddler meltdowns every so often), eating pretty well, sleeping pretty well. So...how do I know if it's cleared up or not? We go in to the doctor tomorrow to get the shots he didn't get at 15 months due to the cold he had, and I asked that his pediatrician re-check his ear. I am worried that it is somehow still infected and I am a horrible mother, but I really hate to give antibiotics for every little thing...and his ped seems pretty antibiotic-happy. Like, give his immune system a chance to fight it off first, right? I have worked very hard to provide good bacteria (through nursing) and I really don't want to kill it all, thus compromising his immune system further. Does any of this make sense?

I took him to a chiropractor 2-3 weeks ago and she did some little ear thingie (not an otoscope, it just reads the fluid levels in the ear) and she said both his ears were clear. But I have gone in before where his ped has said he had an infection and the chiropractor will check his ears a few days later and they are clear. But she's a chiropractor and not a ped...

My mom thinks I'm crazy for taking a wait and see approach, especially with antibiotics, but what would you all do? I might seriously just be dumb, but if he's happy, eating well, no fever, sleeping well, does that ear infection need to be treated with antibiotics?

I'm just constantly afraid of doing something wrong....

[LaLaLaLa]

There's been a bunch of research recently about ear infections, and many of them do clear up on their own. The whole viral vs. bacterial thing--antibiotics won't touch it if it's viral; it just has to play itself out. Bacterial can be treated with antibiotics, but I think even many pediatricians are choosing to wait and see more often, instead of giving antibiotics as a first line of defense.

I think you're doing a great job, and if your little one isn't uncomfortable then you can definitely afford to wait and see if things clear up on their own.

Last week DD had a double ear infection, so I spent lots of time googling ear infections. She's five and has never had an ear infection before, and had the raging fever/throwing up/crying about her ears hurting/excessive sleeping that you mentioned. Eek. Our pediatrician said her ears looked particularly goopy and we chose to do the antibiotics, mostly because it was just days before a huge class field trip and her first dance recital, so we were willing to try ANYthing to make sure DD could participate in these much-anticipated events. If her symptoms were less severe and she didn't have such a busy week, I would likely have opted to wait and see.

Good luck with your decision!

[pbjmama]

Have you asked your ped what the alternatives to abx are or if your ds really needs the abx at that point? Could you go back and check in a few days? Sounds like maybe you just need a new ped?

[Skippy918]

The last 2 times DS had red ears, we did the wait and see approach which the doctor had actually suggested. I agreed with her plan. He had had a low grade fever, congestion, so we took him to the doctor and his ears were infected. We monitored him for a few days and he was fine. The doc had said if he developed a sudden high fever to start the abx.

If your child is acting fine, then I don't think he needs the abx.

[hrsmom]

Your approach sounds fine to me. The thing with ear infections is that there can sometimes be fluid in the ear and it's not at all infected, it's still sterile. So antibiotics wouldn't do anything anyway. I think moms have a good sense of how well their kids are hearing. If there is enough fluid to be causing problems, I think you'd be in tune to it.

How is the ped determining infection? If the chiro is measuring fluid levels with a piece of equipmeny, I'd give credence to that.

FWIW, I'm an audiologist, and I tend to refer to chiros whenever possible, and I feel abx are overprescribed for ear infections. I don't see that many kids anymore, just my own!

Sounds like you're having regular check-ups so no reason to worry.

[babybirkel]

Thanks for all the replies!

I am glad that my gut instinct seems to be correct...but I just worry a lot. I should probably be on anti-anxiety meds...it's 2am here and I couldn't sleep because I am worrying about this.

His ped is generally pretty awesome...but seems like every time we are in that place she looks in his ears and gives me a scrip for an antibiotic. I think tomorrow if she says his ears are infected I will ask for a culture or something to make sure it is bacterial and the antibiotics are necessary. I'm pretty sure it's viral if it's anything because it always comes on the tail end of a cold and he'll have a little bit of a cough (at night, seems like) which makes me think it's post-nasal drip. I've heard viral coughs can last 3-4 weeks, and it's definitely getting less and less every day...

He has a vocabulary of 50-60 words and will hear a dog bark down the street several houses down and will start "barking" back and saying "dog!" so I'm pretty sure his hearing is okay.

Thanks ladies for putting my mind at ease...I will let you know what his ped says tmrw.

[ellemenope]

As far as ear infections, my personal rule is to not let child go any longer than 4 days with a somewhat consistent fever that is either followed by or concurrent with cold symptoms.

DD had a cold and on the tail end she started spiking a fever. I took her to the doctor on the fourth day of fever and was told her ear was a little pink and to wait it out. On the 5th day her eardrum burst. After the first dose of abx her fever was gone.

To be honest everything I have read on the internet about ear infections is so confusing and contradictive. This is only the rule I came up with as a result of personal experience.

Trust me, I hate killing off all the good stuff with abx. But, a ruptured eardrum is serious, especially for a toddler still learning the subtleties of spoken language. We are talking temporary hearing loss and possibly even permanent.