Ear Infections

I thought I would share some information on ear infections from what i have learned by being a  parent.  My daughter had an ear infection 3 times in her first year of life. . Anytime she caught a cold, in the end she would more often than not  get

an ear infection.

First of all your nose, throat,  and ears are all connected. So ear infections lies in the eustachian tubes, a narrow passage that connects the back of the nose and throat to the middle ear. When this tube functions properly it allows air in and all the while keeping bacteria and debris from the nose and the mouth out.

Infants and babies have tiny eustachian tubes that tend to get blocked and swollen each time a cold, sinus infection or a allergy attack comes along. So some ear infections might be painfull, and cause irritablitiy. Other's cause  some temporary hearing loss.  So this is why you hear some people, including doctor's  say wait, they might grow out of it. As everything gets a little bigger as our kids grow.  As my daughter turned 18 months it was very rare that she came down with an ear infection. Since than has grown out of them. My daughter is now 9 and she has only had 2 in the last 4 years.

So some ways to make your child more comfortable are :

1. Go to the DR. and get some antibiotics.
2. Use a pain-killer for short-term relief  Such as Children's Tylenol( check the package directions for dosage,  age, weight)
3. Use a warm water bottle wrapped in a towel against the ear  to relieve the pressure and help with draining.
4. Prop your kid up at night with pillows- if your child sleeps on their back it seems to hurt then more. Mine always seem to sleep on their side with the water-bottle.

Some preventive care measure's are:

1.  Don't smoke around your children- children of smoker's tend to get more cold and infections to those children of non-smokers.
2. Breastfeed your baby- The antibodies passed along in breast-milk that helps prevent bacteria from sticking to the eustachian tube and into the ear.
3. Feed baby in an upright position- when you nurse or bottle feed your baby. Especially if they tend to spit up.As the spit up milk could pass into this tube and possibly cause an infection. This is less likely to happen if you hold baby at an angle of 45 degrees or more.
4. In very rare case it could be linked to a milk allergy( talk to your Dr about this first) escpecially if this happens to a child with chronic infections and less than 1yrs old.
5. Watch for early signs of sinus infection- if your child has a cold and the snot starts to thicken and become colored(green or yellow)  it may indicate a sinus infection that needs to be treated with antibiotics. If this is treated early there is a good chance that it won't lead to an ear infection, as again they are all connected.

                                                                

             So I hope you find this info helpful.