I do. My BIL insists that you aren't supposed to give antobiotics for ear infections (he is not a doctor, lol) but both my pedi and the pedis of the clinic I use sometimes prescribe them. My kids are miserable when they get them, so I am very happy to see them treated.
DS2 has had pretty much non stop ear infections for the past 6 months, which have led to 4 fevers that reached >104, so we usually head in to try and avoid the fever. DS1 never had a single ear infection, so we never dealt with it.
Post by vaportrail on May 26, 2015 13:16:04 GMT -5
I didn't even know DS had a double ear infection until his 9 month well check. Amoxyl didn't clear it up, so he just finished Augmentin. Guess next step will be tubes (omg I originally spelled it "toobs") if they're still infected at his recheck in two weeks.
My kids have not had many. Nearly all of K's happened when she had RSV. WE tend to wait to see if they go away on their own, which many do, unless the girls are in a lot of pain or have crazy high fevers like K did with her last double ear infection.
And in fact I just took K in today because she is running a fever, just to rule one out. Her one ear a little red, but we are holding off on giving her antibiotics. I want to see if she starts to feel better once her fever goes away.
Luckily my dd has only had one ear infection, and she was too little to tell me if she was hurting.
However as an adult I still get nasty ear infections, mostly after taking a flight. Several years ago I lost hearing in both of my ears for several weeks, it was horrific and I definitely have some hearing loss as a result.
I think as far as dd goes, if she was in the kind of pain that comes along with a real, needs abx ear infection (like stabbing pains, your whole face hurting and unable to hear) I will not hesitate to bring her in. But again, we are lucky and she has been extremely healthy throughout her five years of life, and has only taken abx that one time.
Henry hasn't had many actual ear infections but when he did, they presented the same way as his pneumonia cases - very sudden, very high fevers. (He had recurrent pneumonia until we figured out he was having problems forming an immune response to the vaccine.) We always went in, just in case. He hasn't been sick in forever now, but I'd probably be less spooked at this point.
Ear pain for my kids has always happened at night following a cold. So I give them Tylenol for the pain and we put a heating pad on the ear. By the next morning they are back to normal and running around with no complaints. If they were to be showing any further symptons then I would take them in.
Post by kellykapowski on May 26, 2015 13:23:49 GMT -5
I do (did - she has tubes now) because DD went from waking up with a slight sniffly cold to 103 fever and vomiting from pain and dizziness from ear infections in 4 hours flat. I never chose to wait it out given how sick she'd get so quickly. Her doc prescribed antibiotics, and within 2 doses she'd do a complete 180 and would be back to normal. I feel like we were treating correctly.
She had 8 ear infections in less than a year. Since she has had the tubes, she has been a completely different child when she catches colds.
Post by snowflurry on May 26, 2015 13:24:35 GMT -5
My kids have never had a diagnosed ear infection. Pedi said it is likely that they did have them but they healed on their own without meds. They never exhibited any symptoms.
My oldest was around 3 when he got his first ear infection. He woke from nap at daycare screaming.
Our pediatrician basically said "you really don't have to give antibiotics for ear infections anymore. There is some concern about developing resistance to antibiotics, but some parents still find them helpful. What do you want to do?"
At that point, my kid had never had antibiotics for any reason in his life, and he had cried through most of the appointment. I gave him the medicine, and have made the same decision both times that my daughter has had ear infections as well.
If either kid was getting frequent infections, it may affect my decision to treat with abx. I did find it really overwhelming, as a first time parent, to have to make the treatment decision.
I didn't even know DS had a double ear infection until his 9 month well check. Amoxyl didn't clear it up, so he just finished Augmentin. Guess next step will be tubes (omg I originally spelled it "toobs") if they're still infected at his recheck in two weeks.
This EXACT thing happened to us. My son had even been pretty healthy through a rough winter. But once the infections started, they kept coming back. It felt like it took forever to finally get the ENT referral. Even after the tubes, we still have issues, although not as bad.
My almost 3 year old has had 2. My 9 month old has never had one.
The almost 3 year old gets antibiotics only because she's speech delayed, and the doctor prefers to treat them in kids with speech issues so as not to further hinder their speech.
I didn't even know DS had a double ear infection until his 9 month well check. Amoxyl didn't clear it up, so he just finished Augmentin. Guess next step will be tubes (omg I originally spelled it "toobs") if they're still infected at his recheck in two weeks.
This EXACT thing happened to us. My son had even been pretty healthy through a rough winter. But once the infections started, they kept coming back. It felt like it took forever to finally get the ENT referral. Even after the tubes, we still have issues, although not as bad.
So how does getting tubes work? I assume it's an outpatient procedure that requires general anesthesia. What's recovery like?
Yup, I take them in. They're usually accompanied with high fevers (104+ for my youngest, ugh). I also worry about potential hearing loss, like others mentioned above.
So far DS has only been diagnosed for an ear infection if we are there for something else. He's never complained about his ear but we went in for pinkeye and he had an ear infection or a well visit and they said his ear looked infected. Theyve given abx each time.
Yes, I've had an ear infection as an adult and I wouldn't wish that pain on my worst enemy. My pedi makes a determination based on other symptoms, how high the fever is, and how severe the infection is but will always give pain relief ear drops either way.
Always. My kid gets them SO often. Had tubes for a year, which helped. He outgrew those and now he's getting infections again. Not as much as he used to, but plenty enough. I can tell how miserable he is whenever he gets an infection and I can't imagine making him suffer through that without antibiotics. He doesn't sleep, doesn't eat, and cries all day and night...they hurt, man.
This EXACT thing happened to us. My son had even been pretty healthy through a rough winter. But once the infections started, they kept coming back. It felt like it took forever to finally get the ENT referral. Even after the tubes, we still have issues, although not as bad.
So how does getting tubes work? I assume it's an outpatient procedure that requires general anesthesia. What's recovery like?
Nonexistent. They wake up pissed off from anesthesia, and then they're fine. Lol