My 7-month-old baby girl plays with her ears all the time. Mostly, she does it when she's sleepy...but she does it other times too. It seems that they're always itchy - so much that she has little cuts inside them from scratching them all the time. The couple of times I've asked my doctor about it, he said she has not fever, so it's not an ear infection. She is not unusually fussy. Is this just normal or something I should be worried about?
Both my boys played with their ears alot...and they never had an ear infection, unless it was just after a cold and accompanied by a fever. I'd say for your little one, it's probably normal.
This is a tough one. Just remember you know your child best and if you think the doctor isn't listening to you or caring enough about your assessment--get another (this is advice from my son's pediatrician).
if not an ear infection, does she have dry skin that itches on the rest of her body- are her ears draining with fluid- that could really make her want to 'scratch' them also if there is discharge coming from it. Does she get ear wax coming out of her ear?
Ear infections are not fun business. When my son would get one he would get one with a 103.7 fever, become lethargic, and stop eating. ER doctors would tell me that there is 'a new school of thought with ear infections' meaning they weren't going to treat them with antibiotics anymore. However I would not take this assessment from them and would push them to actually do something about it.
I would think that with your daughter scratching herself and cutting herself there is something going on. Get another assessment- you may want to make an appointment with an ENT doctor to discuss and have them evaluate the situation. It could be nothing or it could be something but it is always good if you are doubtful of your doc's opinion to get someone elses take on the situation.
i would get another opinion from a doctor and have them actually look at her ears. my son never runs a fever when he has had ear infections and is not fussy and shows no signs of one hardly at all. i do bring him in though if i see him tugging on his ears to much and there have been times he is fine and other times hes had one. defintaly get them checked though. if they are clear then you know it is probably just a habit.
Hi S.,
Our daughter had ear infections with NO fever up until she was 5 or 6 years old.
She has had three different sets of tubes put in her ears!
She's fine now. She's 18. But we went through the mill with her.
She had some allergies to laundry soaps and some of the other cleaners in our home. A friend of mine told me about this other company that has safe products for the home and we've been using them for over 8 years.
Needless to say, our son who had asthma attacks several times throughout the school year has not had another attack since! And the excema on our daughter skin is gone completely on her body!
If you would like to know more, let me know.
Otherwise she could have a little allergy to something.
Process of ellimination should do the trick. Plus it's dryer weather. Do you have a humidifier going in your home?
God Bless!
J.
Our son did the same thing. If her hair is touching her ears that could just be tickling her ears and then she is scratching at it, this was the case with our son. He too would play with his ears and scratch at them and matter of fact the 2 times he has had ear infections he didn't even act like it.
Good luck
