If your kids got tubes put in

[meganew]

Please come in here and tell me all about it.

Ollie has another double ear infection (and pink eye! Wee!) so I called the pedi to ask about tubes. She looked at his chart and basically said, "Yeah, it's time to see an ent"

I was the one who brought it up, but now I'm kind of freaking out! I know in reality it's a quick, simple procedure, but he's just a baby! And he's MY baby. : (

[alzi]

no kid yet, but i'm an audiologist. tubes are amazing. it will be a 5-10 minute in and out procedure. the only reason they knock kids out is bc they won't sit still. they do adult tubes in office sitting in a chair. they will suck out all the gunk while they are in there. he will hear better, and feel better, and be up and playing soon after he is done. promise.

[Kristinmo]

DD got them 3 weeks ago. I went back and held her while they put her under. She was out of my arms 10 minutes. The worst part was when she woke up from anesthesia. She screamed for about 30 minutes be because she was confused (super common). She fell asleep on the way home and slept for 3 hours. When she woke up she was her normal self.

[zarapipe]

DD has them. I love them- never had another ear infection and they are still going strong 1 1/2 years later. The worst part, same as PP, was recovery. It did not go well coming out of anesthesia and she screamed bloody murder for about an hour. She was mostly scared of the blood presure thing on her toe that the nurses could not take off. Once she quit screaming and her blood presure went back to normal they took that thing off and she was better.

[Deleted]

Ds got them. It was NBD.

[leia221]

Exactly what everyone else said, it was a quick procedure and the worst part was my son coming out of the anesthesia. After he was awake and we got home, he was back to normal. My son still got ear infections fairly often, but we could see stuff coming out of his ears and knew what was going on and could get him to the doctor. Before the tubes, we'd wonder, "is this another ear infection, do we take him to the doctor now or wait a few days and see what happens?".

[Deleted]

DD had them when she was younger. Never another ear infection and she just turned 14.

[Redpoppy]

DS had them. Best thing we could've done for him. He didn't get an ear infection for two and a half years when one got clogged coming out (it had dried blood on it since getting inserted). He had a language explosion within weeks of getting them. The holes are taking forever to close, we are a year out on one and two in the other so we may be looking at getting them patched but the ENT doesn't consider it until 6 or 7 and wasn't concerned.

Also, some ENTs are super cautious and say ear plugs for everything and others don't put any limitations. I just got him a cap for swimming and the ENT said the only concern with water in the ear was a potential infection.

[eddy]

I fucking love tubes. Jack had an eara infection every month for a solid year. The last two times his eardrum ruptured. :-(

The procedure itself is so easy. I went in with Jack as they put him under. He was done in 10 minutes. the hardest part of the day was not giving him breakfast. He was a bit woozy coming out of it but by the time we got home he ate like a monster breakfast. 1 year later and we haven't had even a hint of an ear infection.

He stopped getting motion sickness. He started to talk quieter and clearer. I just can't say enough good things.

[alzi]

Oh and I second whoever said using ear plugs. Especially if your kid is a fish in the tub or swims. Important to keep the water out!!

[GracieLouFreebush1]

My DD got them at 10 months old last year. I was nervous but we went back with her and they gave her some nose spray that made her really relaxed so they could take her from us without her freaking out. We went to the waiting room, used the restroom, and the doctor was already looking for us b/c he was done.

It was SO easy and she hasn't had an ear infection since. Prior to tubes she would be on meds for 10 days and be back in the pedi office 4 days later with another infection. It was never ending for months and I'll do it again in a heartbeat if her tubes fall out early and she needs a second procedure.

ETA: I'll ditto that the toughest thing was not feeding her before the procedure.  We're an hour from the Children's Hospital but, luckily, she was the first one to have it done that morning since they go by age and she was so young.