Ear infection following RSV, plane trip on Sun - WWYD? Please advise!!

[sammymama]

Hi Mamas,

Seeking wisdom and experience here...

My 17 mo DD was diagnosed positive with RSV 10 days ago.  At that doc appt, the doc said she had a slightly red right ear and to watch for signs that it was bothering her.  About 5 days ago she fiddled with her ear *once* while she was playing, and that's all we've observed.  The last day and a half she was nearly cough free, and for the past 2 nights her sleeping patterns have been back to normal.  We are scheduled to fly cross-country this Sunday so I took her in today, hoping for the all-clear, but instead was told that she has "signs of" infection in her right ear - and she was running a low-grade fever again this morning (no fever for the last day+).  The doc said "signs of white, indicating pus", but not bulbous or inflamed.  The doc gave us a prescrip for amoxycillin (so?) and said she thought that as long as DD didn't have a fever by Sunday morning and she'd been on the antibiotic for 48 hrs we were safe to fly with her.

I have a million thoughts on this... first, even the doc said that 70% of ear infections are VIRAL... which means no antibiotics, right??  So I would be dosing her for a 30% chance that it is bacterial?  Is it more likely that her current virus - RSV - has continued on in her ear, or that some bacteria from the RSV (as doc suggested) is now causing an infection?

When we got home I put a few drops of breast milk in her ear.  My inclination is to skip this prescription, at least until we wait a few more days and see if the fever goes away/if she develops any more symptoms.

And as far as this trip (which is taking us to visit our home, where we have not been in 3 years so of course I am aching to go)... I suppose I know that we should stay home, eh?  Wah.  :(

Thank you in advance for your thoughts!!!

Sammy

[A_Random_Phrase]

Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape, or form diagnosing or prescribing. I am simply saying what I would do in a situation like that with my particular children. I would skip the antibiotics if the odds are 70-30 against them being something helpful. I'd squeeze a fresh garlic and put the juice in olive oil (so it's mild enough not to burn), then I'd put a few drops in her ear. (I made it too strong for one of my dc and it hurt, but the ear ache was gone by the end of the day - so it worked, but I would never go that strong again.) I'd also postpone the plane ride.

[springmum]

Many health food stores also sell garlic ear drops. That's where we get ours, and they've always cured my DS's ear infections. 

In your position I don't think I'd give the abx, but I don't have experience about flying with kids recovering from an ear infection.

[A_Random_Phrase]

The reason I'd say don't fly is because I was coming down with a cold (but didn't know it until that night or the next morning) and got a terrible earache. I was in a smaller plane, though, and it may not have been pressurized (held about 1/3 - 2/3 less than a 747 type).