Ear Infection in 12 Month Old

Take her back to the DR, she might not be responding to the med's, she should have had some change by now. They might have to give her soemthing stronger.

The first time my 4 year old daughter had an ear infection, we gave her antibiotics. The 2nd time in 6 months , I put some garlic oil drops in her ear and made her lay down with a hot (warm) water bottle wrapped in a towel on her ear. She napped, woke up better, went to bed that night and woke up feeling "Great"!!
The next time (one month later) we were at a hotel and all I had was a warm wet washcloth. That worked too. She was fine in the morning.
She hasn't had one since (knock on wood!)

I recommend getting her off dairy if she is on any and taking her to a chiropractor or someone that does cranial sacral. Antibiotics are only going to hurt her health more so you need to find an alternative now.

My daughter just had an ear infection and I found a wonderful MD/ homeopath pediatrician and he recommended willow/garlic ear drops which you can get at Whole Foods or any health food store. He said if it didn't work in 3 days he'd prescribe antibiotics. I feel like Dr.'s prescribe too many antibiotics and they don't seem to always help. I agree with the person that said to give probiotics, great to give year round to keep his immune system up. It helped my daughters digestion as a baby as well. Also Elderberry extract is great for an immune booster ( but check the age it's ok for). With all that her ear infection went away in a few days. Also try eliminating dairy products (use soy formula or something other then milk) to stop the congestion. Good luck!

Hello C.,
I'm a nutritionist and I specialize in infant nutrition. The most important thing you should be thinking about is WHY you baby is getting re-occurring ear infections. From my experience, 95% of infants with ear infections benefit from eliminating pasteurized cow dairy which is the most common allergen. It's fascinating to see how powerful nutrition is in infants. Your baby can go from chronically ill to perfect health by just focusing on her nutrition.

Perhaps the only thing you need to do to get her better is eliminate the offending cause. Can you remove ALL pasteurized cow dairy from your baby's diet for 1-3 months and see how she does? The reason is that pasteurized cow milk (which is the base for infant formula) contains some very strong allergens which cause an inflammatory reaction resulting in ear infections, skin conditions, asthma, and gastro-intestinal problems. It's incredibly common, and it was a personal battle of mine as a child. I had many years of ear infections and I suffered terribly!

Your very best substitute for cow dairy based infant formula is RAW goat milk. Raw milk actually helps PREVENT ear infections while pasteurized milk tends to cause them. If you don't know about raw milk, please read up on it. I has improved the life and health of countless babies and parents. It's an amazing health food.

Benefits and safety or raw milk: Raw-milk-fact.com
http://tinyurl.com/6rnmba

If you live in Miami, I have started a Co-op to obtain it from a wonderful Amish farm. Read more details about the Miami Co-op, raw dairy and safety for infants here: http://tinyurl.com/6pc2sq

If you are not in Miami, and your health food store (Whole Foods/Wild Oats) will carry it. It's sometimes in the back and you have to ask for it and it says "for pet consumption" on it, but it's just a FL law. (In very health progressive states like CA for example, raw milk does not need to say "for pet consumption"). Or if you don't want to get it at the health food store, you can have very high quality raw milk shipped to you from a number of farms around the country: www.realmilk.com/where.html

Your second best alternative if you cannot afford raw goat milk (which by the way is delicious and lasts 2-3 weeks in a cold fridge), is pasteurized goat milk found next to the regular milk at the supermarket. Here's what it looks like:
http://www.meyenberg.com/?action=prod2
However, due to the ultra processing/pasteurization of this milk, it may also aggravate your baby's ears. Yet it's easier for infants to digest and more similar to breast milk.

Lastly, it is critical that you give your baby probiotics aka beneficial bacteria specific for infants. These good bacteria which keep your baby's immune system strong, have all been killed off by the antibiotics. Now, with much of the good flora destroyed and immune system weakened, ear infections can occur more easily. Here is a page of info on a great brand of infant probiotics:
http://tinyurl.com/62uajx

You should also read about homeopathic remedies for ear infections. They are the safest way to treat them in infants, and proven effective in numerous scientific trials over the years. The best known one is Oto-Plex.
http://tinyurl.com/5bu5tj

In brief, if you do not address the underlying cause of her ear infections by removing allergens and building up her immune system, the infections will continue to happen and your baby's health will always suffer in one area or another. The reoccurring ear infections are a sign that "something is wrong" and causing her immune system to constantly battle. Getting tubes put in does not eliminate the offending cause.

I highly encourage you to try removing all cow dairy in her diet for at least 3 months and supplementing with probiotics. Side note, do not use soy milk. It is a poison for babies and linked to some horrible health problems. You can read more about dangers of soy for infants and kids here:
http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/infant.html

A. R., CN

My daughter who is 15 now had the same problem when she was about 5-6 months old. She had about 4 ear infections seemed like back to back. Her first antibiotic was Amoxocillin. Her second medicine was Augmentin those didn't work so the Doctor refered us to an ENT. He put her on the strongest medicine she could take it was Septra( I think that is the name). That didn't work so at 7 months she had to have tubes put in her ears. She has had maybe one or two ear infections since but thye were not that as bad as they were before she had her tubes put in.

Now I am not going trying to scare you but my nephew kept getting ear infections and running a high fever and that turned out to be Meningitis. So as a mom I would have my child back into the doctors office or even the emergency room if the antibiotics are not working. Cause normally the doctors tell you 10 days to give the medicine but I would take my child back sooner if I didn't see any improvement.

Try taking her off all milk products. Do a juice cleansing! Do you own a juicer? Apple, Carrot, Orange----To flush the system also make sure you give your child a Pro Biotic to replenish the colon with good bacteria that has been flushed out with the antibiotic. Go to your local health food store for that.

Hi. I agree with other posters who said you need to look for an underlying reason she keeps getting the infections. If she is still using a bottle, I would look for the "normal" issues with that... drinking while lying down, etc. I also would check into the possibility about the milk allergies. I always assumed that milk allergies surfaced as stomach problems. And my son never had stomach problems. And he LOVES milk. Beginning around 4 yrs old he began having a chronic sniffle and sneezing a lot. His K4 teacher (he only went 3 days a week) asked me if he could be allergic to something in her classroom. We never found anything. His sniffles and sneezes came and went. And came and went. And came and went. Seemed like hayfever.. only by the time he was about 7 yrs they seemed to be almost constant. Took him to the doc.. said "allergic rhinitis" (hayfever) and wrote him a prescription for Nasonex (after Singulair gave him stomach aches). He got some relief with it, but not as much as we would have hoped. Finally, on a lark, I stopped letting him drink milk (he loves it, and drank it at breakfast and dinner most days). Within 3 days his sniffles were gone. He STILL is almost completely sniffle free... even though I let him have a small amount of cheese. I don't know why, but it seems to affect him differently. Just what happened with us, and something to consider. The sniffles are from sinus drainage (which can swell and also can clog eustachion tubes).

With that many infections--I would hope they keep bumping up the antibiotic--but if it was my son and he still had a fever after 48 hours I would have him back into the Dr again.
I also agree that you should look into seeing and ENT--that many ear infections may mean that she is just not getting rid of them and may need tubes...regardless, I would recommend taking her to a specialist.

Hi, C.
Reading the first part of your message I was thinking 'well it takes up to a week to see results of the antibiotic' then went on to read the child still has a fever, you should be giving something to reduce the fever in addition to the antibiotic....NOW about the continuing ear infections, I think it is time for a referral for a pediatric EENT Doc! That is too many infections in such a short time! If your ped Doc won't give you a referral make the appointment yourself, try to get one at a University Hospital if you can, I find them to be more 'with it' and willing to go the extra mile to find out the exact problem & how to fix it.

Good Luck!

A.

My Son had many ear infections as a child. Normally, from my experience, the medication usually works well after 1 or 2 doses. Do you know if they were treating her for just one ear? If she is pulling at the other, maybe it is a double ear infection. Did they say if it was a bad one or just a beginning of one? I know, my Son had a really bad one once & they told me the medication will help, but it wouldn't do what he needed as quick as he needed. They gave him a shot & then gave him the antibiotic. If your daughter isn't feeling better I would let the Doctor know & see if you can have her seen again. There are 2 differant medications, that I know of, & one of them worked better for my son than the other & that is the one we had for him after the first time we realized it didn't do the job. I would get her on a new medication. It is so hard to see our babies in pain. Good luck!! (the last time my son had the beginning of what I thought was an ear infection I went on line & found a homeopathic medication as in the past I have used them myself & beleive in them 100% & being natural is all the best. The name of it is Hyland's Earache Drops. This is suppose to help sooth & prevent, but I know in her case it will not prevent but it will help sooth. When my son had conplained for about a day I went & bought them bc we had just moved to the area & I didn't know a doctor & didn't have my new insurance cards so I was buying time. I used thenm for 2 days & never had to bring him in.) As far as the tubes go...they wanted to do the same with my son but I wasn't comfortable. I beleive it is in the answer in some areas, but not in all. My son had about 6 in about a 12 month period. I had put it off b/c I didn't feel it was time & I think God was telling me something b/c he didn't get another after that for 4 years. So make sure you are supportive of whatever they say b/c Mommy always knows best. Trust your instincts.

Dear C. i can feel for you as i went through that with all are most of my grandbabies. In time they had to have tubes put in their ears that helped a lot. I use to hold them and gently breath warm air into their ears that to helped sine they were to young for heating pads. Another old cajun treatment my mother used she would heat salt and put it in the toe of a sock and hold that on their ear but you have to be careful salt will heat fast and hold the heat.
I don;t know if this will help you but if all else fails just a close hug , a rocking chair, and the smell of mother always helps. Good luck my dear i know how you hurt when you have done all you can and nothing is working. A little song helps also. Good luck nanna

My son is 10 mo old & has had recurring ear infections, also. My pedi told me that his fever should be gone w/in 48 hrs of starting the antibiotic & tugging on the ears should stop. If it's not, the antibiotic may not be working & you should call your dr again.

Hi C.,

I certainly can't speak as a physician but if it were my child I would call the pediatrician back and explain what's happening. It seems to me that once a child has taken antibiotics for 24-48 hours the symptoms should start to subside.

On a side note, baby shampoos and body washes have formaldehyde in them (even the most popular brands) noted on the bottle as quanternium 15. I did a little research when my son was younger because he was having multiple ear infections. The American Medical Association has stated that formaldehyde in shampoos and air fresheners causes earaches. I was shocked as I wasn't aware that the products I was using to clean my baby and in my home could cause such harm. I started shopping with a wellness company online that sells non-toxic products for your home and my son hasn't had an ear ache or an ear infection since.

I would highly recommend, especially since your baby is having multiple ear infections, that you begin by doing just that - switching your home over to products that do not contain those harmful chemicals that make us sick. I will be happy to share with you what's made a difference for my son and our family. Don't hesitate to contact me ###-###-####).

My wellness guide says this - repeated ear infections with fever and pain, requiring cycles of antibiotics, are a sign of continual blockage of the ear canal. Infections of the outer ear can travel into the ear canal where severe pain is produced. Permanent hearing loss or meningitis can result if treatment is delayed. If antibiotics are unsuccessful, fine Teflon tubes are often surgically inserted through the eardrum, which allows accumulating fluid and pus to drain outward from the ear. The tubes are occasionally expelled within a few days or weeks and constitute a major part of some pediatricians' practices. Other pediatricians refuse to use this technique because of questionable results and the rare chance that the tubes may travel deeper into the middle ear to create new problems. Swimmers, bottle-fed infants, and recently immunized children frequently experience ear infections. *Don't overlook allergies as a cause of the ear infection. Identify the cause, if possible. See your health care provider for further advice. Never send a child with an ear infection outdoors if the air is cool. (Note: The American Lung Association cites formaldehyde as a possible major cause of chronic ear infection in children. Formaldehyde is an ingredient in many cleaning and personal care products commonly found in the home.)

Ok, that whole paragraph above was from the wellness guide. Remember, companies disguise formaldehyde as quanternium 15 or some other scientific name which is just another name for formaldehyde.

Again, please don't hesitate to call if you have questions. I'll be happy to tell you what I've done with success.

K. Woodlief
###-###-####

C.,
I was in your position two years ago with my little boy. It gets to the point where the antibiotics no longer work. I finally ask the dr about tubes and he hasn't had an ear infection since. They are amazing and I would do it again if I had to. A fever is common with ear infection, but if she is still seems to have a cold she may have another virus on top of that. I would call the dr just to be safe. Sometimes they would switch my son to another med b/c he had become resistant to the one he was on. Hope she feels better soon!
God Bless,
R.

Mornin, C.~ I just went through this with my 11 mo old last week. I felt the same way you do....why no improvement by now? My Dr said the antibiotics take about 48 hours to start working. Taylor was showing symptoms and fever for practically a week. Mid-week, her breathing started sounding weird. I let it ride for about 3 days, then went to urgent care. Thank heavens it was just mucas and nothing in her lungs. Of course, she was MUCH better the next day. Funny how that always seems to happen. My point is, just ride it out (unless her fever gets out of control) and see how she's doing in a few days.

As a mother of a daughter who had tubes put in, I've dealt with a lot of ear infections, and I say...take her back to the doctor. If the meds were going to work, they would have by now.
I completely agree with Julie D (the first person who responded)...it may be time to look into tubes. It is definitely a very quick and easy procedure and it made all of the difference in the world in my daughter. If you want to know any more about how the procedure went, message me. Good luck...I hope your daughters gets to feeling better very soon! If anyone knows how much ear infections suck, it's me!!

Ear infections can either be viral or bacterial. 80% are viral. Antibiotics will do nothing for a viral ear infection. Doctors are aware of this, but since they can not get sufficient information from a 1 year old to determine which it is, and a bacterial infection can get bad enough to cause deafness, they immediately put them on antibiotic. It does usually take 3-4 days to see improvement. Also a child can pull at either ear when only one is infected. Pulling at her other ear does not necessarily mean anything. Im sorry for how helpless and sad for your baby you are feeling. I can't think of anything worse than watching your baby in pain and not being able to make it better, Hang in there.

Aside from antibiotics you have to dry up her congestion. Give her lots of water and keep her of citrus and dairy. Orange juice and milk will congest her more. She will not kick the infection until she dries up. Drain her nose constantly give her lots of fluids. For the fever I prefer Motrin to Tylenol. Stay on top of her meds dont skip or give them late. You will see an improvement. If she does not get better in 2 - 3 days take her back to the Dr.

Hope she gets better soon.

Hey C.,

If this is the 4th infection in 5 months then the antibiotics are not working. I would go to the health food store and get some natural medicine for her ears. I've done that with my son and never had to give him any antibiotics. Also, the antibiotics are destroying the good enzymes in her tummy. You can get probiotics at the health food store to replace that in her system. Or you can contact me if you'd like and I can recommend something that I take for myself after taking antibiotics that works wonders for my digestive system!

All the best to you!
T.

Going on the 4th ear infection I would definately take your child to a pediatric ENT not just your pediatrician. They will probably suggest tubes in her ears....super easy and fast surgery and makes a WORLD of Difference!! All the best.................