DS is on his third ear infection since starting daycare in August. His ped brought up the idea of tubes today. She said for us to think about and that we could talk more at his 9 month appt (in a few weeks).
Does anyone have experience with tubes? Did they help your child?
DS1 got tubes right when he turned one. It was life changing. He had several persistent ear infections prior to tubes and was infection-free for almost two years after getting them. Having the procedure done was no big deal. If another one of my kids suffered from recurring ear infections I would do them again in a heartbeat.
DD got tubes at ~14mos. I wish we didn't wait that long. I was really hesitant. She is now almost 3 and no more ear infection since then. Both tubes have fallen off. The worst part of the procedure was when they gave DD the "happy" juice.
Ds2 got PE tubes at 6 months. I am super thankful we did it. He was always a happy baby but he got even happier once we got the tubes. He was obviously in pain and we just never knew it.
DS got them at 13 months. It was like a light switch being turned on in terms of language development. He'd had fluid in his ears since 4 months at that point, had developed an allergy to amoxicillin, and was taking the stronger antibiotics each time. Even on those we couldn't always clear the infection up.
He didn't have another ear infection for over 2 years. One tube got all gross as it was working it's way out and clogged with blood and wax, and got infected (that tube had always had dried blood around it on his ear drum. The tube came out a few weeks later in a ball of gunk. The first tube had come out uneventually 9 months earlier.
No direct experience, but friends have had similar experiences to the pps. Constant ear infections, pain, delayed hearing/speech development. Tubes in and voila--problems went away. And even the surgery was a breeze. As described to me, by the time each parent was getting worked up over the surgery, the child was already done with it.
She had significant hearing loss from the fluid buildup after so many ear infections and it was resolved immediately. Her language/vocabulary has exploded since the surgery. She was 2 years, 4 months when she had it done 2 months ago. We are so happy we did it!
E was on antibiotics 10 times in 14 months. That much medicine just isn't healthy. He had tubes at 15 months and now has been antibiotic-free for 3 months. He has had one cold and had drainage out of the tubes.
I had CONSTANT ear infections as a child, I remember being miserable. That is some of my only memories from 2-3 yrs old-ish They completely cleared up when I got my tubes put in at 3. If DS has persistant ear infections I will not hesitate to give him tubes.
Post by GailGoldie on Oct 23, 2012 12:58:33 GMT -5
DS1 had a lot of EI's his first year (in daycare) and then they stopped.
one of the twins had a ton- and they never stopped so at 18mo he got tubes. I wished i got them much sooner b/c it ruined his speech development having a lack of hearing for all that time.
i'd get the tubes. easiest and fastest surgery ever... with such great results.
Jack got them at 4 after a solid year of ear infections. We kept thinking as he grew it would get better.
Best damn thing we have ever done. They have been in for almost 8 months and he went from getting ear infections 1-2 a month to none since they were placed. I kick myself for waiting on them. Also he was such a loud talking and we realized it was because of the constant fluid in his ear. His speech has improved as well.
My sister had them due to persistant ear infections. If I recall correctly they did fall out once or twice and had to be put back in, but they made a huge difference for her.