Babble

My daughter started daycare 2x a week in Sept and has been sick with ear infections and colds every since.  Yesterday - her 4th ear infection - I was told she needs to see an ear, nose and throat dr. to discuss having tubes put in her ears. 

1.  Does anyone in Brooklyn Heights know of a good Ear, Nose and Throat Dr.? 

2.. Has anyone gone thru tubes being put in your childs ear? 

 

Our first had frequent ear infections, and when his language development seemed to slow down and then reverse, we took him in for a hearing test and discovered his ears were 50-60% blocked.  The doctor recommended tubes, so we took him in a week or two later.  The procedure took all of 15 minutes, and within hours his speech had noticably improved.  It was really amazing. 

We've never had any problems with the tubes.  I think one has fallen out, but that happens eventually.

My son had tubes in his ears.He had such frequent infections that he knew exactly what flavor of medicine he wanted and exactly what his choices were ( I would have bought stock in the amoxycillin company if only we had money back then.)  Tubes did stop those awful ear infections.  The tubes do fall out as they grow,  but for my son only a couple of times.  They replace them much easier than with the initial surgery.  My son was not put to out for this.  He was awake but able to sit very still for the doctor.  It really did make a world of difference.  He eventually outgrew the need for tubes in his early teens. Swimming was a bit of a downer because no deep dives ,at least back then,  the pressure was too much on the tubes.  I was glad we did it. Much more importantly,  he was glad we did it! 

It looks like we are headed this way with our DS, 6-1/2 years old. He clearly is not hearing well, and his speech is affected. Apparently he has fluid in his ears, esp in one, and yesterday his teacher caught him sticking a pencil in his ear because 'there was something in his ear.'

My daughter was having hearing issues (no infections) and she had fluid behind her ear drum.  She had tubes done before her 2nd birthday - no issues after surgery. She was a real trooper! 

My son had tubes put in at the beginning of February.  We are currently on our 3rd ear infection since.  :(  Everytime he's off the antibiotics for a few days it comes back. 

I was under the impression that tubes would stop the ear infections.  The ENT's reply was "About half of kids that get tubes put in will never get an ear infection again, another 25% will get one or two, and the rest it will be like it made no difference at all."  Real nice huh?  So I guess the tubes made no difference at all - at least the tubes releave the pressure so he's not in any pain.  There's definately no doubt it's an ear infection either now because puss will drain from the ear. 

How old is your son? I am asking because our 20 month old daughter was in a very similar situation, infection after infection, tubes, more infections. It ended when I took her bottle/sippy cup away. I think drinking laying down was cause fluid to drain into her ears.

She has never had another infection again.

You probably know this already, but just in case.

He's 11 months. I've started weaning him off the bottle and he doesn't use a sippy cup (only regular cups). The only bottle he has is at nite before bed and he's sitting up). I wish the solution to this problem was something so simple!! :(  But thank you for trying to help!!!

 

Even when sitting up the bottle still is a no no. Trust me. Loose the bottle, and I bet the infections will go away.  Another possibility is sinus drip. Does he have Upper respiratory problems?  Snotty nose?

I went to the ENT today.   They want to put tubes in my 2 1/2 year old. She has fluid behind her eardrums which is affecting her speech.  She only says a few words. No sentences.  She is in school now, where she is recieving speech therapy.  This is helping allittle. Honestly, I think she mostly reads lips and body language.  I am very scared of the risks of general anestisia. And the possibility of hearing loss due to scar tissue and toughing of the ear drum from the tube insertion.  I really do not know weither to get them or not.  It seems to me that eventually her ears will drain on thier own, and she will catch up with her speech.  Without having to risk complications from surgery.  I dont know what I should do... Please Help.

 YOU ARE ALL STUPID.

 

CUT THE EAR DRUM

GREAT IDEA

 

DRUG YOUR KIDS

 

 

HOW ABOUT TAKING THEM TO A CHIROPRACTOR.

 

MY KIDS NEVER HAD A SHOT OR PILL AND THEY NEVER WILL

 

DUMB ASSES 

This topic is here for parents seeking advice from others who have gone through similar experiences.  Not to shout (using all caps), call them names (Kindergarden stuff), or bash their parenting knowledge/skills.  (No comment) 

 "HOW ABOUT TAKING THEM TO A CHIROPRACTOR."

Chiropractors can be a great alternative, for some.  Just because they work for you doesn't mean they will work for everyone else. 

"MY KIDS NEVER HAD A SHOT OR PILL AND THEY NEVER WILL"

If your children have never had a shot, I'm to assume they have not had the vaccine shots needed to protect them.  Lets hope your Chiropractor has an adjustment specific for DTP, Hib, Polio, Whooping Cough, Measles, etc.

I suggest the next time you want to leave some public advice...don't. 

My message to all of the concerned posters/readers:

 I stumbled on this board looking for info on Ear Tubes.  Thanks for all the great success stories and other advice.  Tubes were recommended for one of my granddaughters and my daughter is hesitant about having the procedure done.  I am trying to find information to help her in this decision. 

I apologize for my reply to the above poster.  I find as I get older, it's harder to keep quiet about things, unnecessary rudeness being one.  I probably should have kept my 2-cents, but wanted to reassure those who have posted, we (parents/grandparents, etc) are appreciative of the information you have given us on what has been successful or unsuccessful for your situation.  Thank you.

I had tubes in my ears when I was a baby. They're not some kind of new-fangled, hyper-parenting thing. My chronic ear infections didn't stop but they became significantly less chronic. And I'm fine now.

My son is 8 months old and he has had 3 ear infections already. I am sure they will consider tubes but I have heard about the chriopractor instead and I am very intrested in that option. How does it work?

My wife had fluid in her ears as a child and it affected her speech, but she learned to lip read. When she was 4ish a doctor finally told them she had speech problems due to fluid in her ears. I'm guessing since they didn't know previously, that she didn't have infections. Her mom's memory the subject is not too good. My wife still says that diving deep in the pool hurts, and in the winter she can feel the cold wind blowing through her ear into her head. I'm guessing this means her ear drum is ruptured; she's avoided talking to the doctor about her issues for some reason. My daughter (3) is definitely having ear infections. I had read online before that the sucking on a bottle or sippy cup created a vacuum in the head that pulled the infection in... looking at cross sections of the head, it didn't make sense, but that's what I had read elsewhere. I asked 2 or 3 doctors about the link between bottles and ear infections and they thought I was stupid. The explanation I was given was that when you're young and your head is smaller, your Eustachian tube is kind of a straight line between your sinuses and middle ear so mucus carrying bacteria (etc) can run into the middle ear when you're sleeping. Then as you grow older and the head becomes larger, the Eustachian tube becomes "S" shaped and fluid doesn't run down it as easily when you're reclined. If that was the whole mechanism, then it seems like small people or dwarves would continue to have the problem through adulthood (Google searching hasn't confirmed or denied this to be the case). After reading the advice here, I'm going to stop the sippy cups in bed. Now I need to go looking for advice on how to deal with taking away her beloved cups. *sigh*