My two year old has had a cough and a stuffy nose since yesterday and had a VERY mild fever yesterday. She's still coughing today and she complained that her ear hurt. No fever or anything. Could she have an ear infection? Or could the pain just be from her being stuffed up and coughing? I'm not sure what to do for her stuffiness and cough. I gave her some Tylenol for her ear pain. But I just read that the FDA said that cough/cold medicines shouldn't be given to children under six. So now what do I do? Her doctor's office is closed until Monday morning. And my poor baby is uncomfortable and coughing like crazy- so bad it kept us up most of the night last night and cut her nap today waaaayyyyy short.
Little kids often get that fluid in their ear because of the congestion and the way their ear is right now, it's not fully developed and sometimes the fluid sits in there. If that fluid gets infected, THAT is why you need the antibiotic for an ear infection. Read the article for other moms' advices and consult a doctor.
I would take her to MedChek so that they could look at her ears and determine if she has an infection.
Most doctors office do have someone on call who can call you back and advise you. If yours doesn't then you might want to go to one of the 24-hour clinics associated with whichever hospital system you would use. The doctors there can make sure it's not more serious. The cough/cold medicines can work sometimes, in my opinion, but I would limit how much. I like to keep meds for the kids as a last resort, but not let them get to being miserable. Good luck!
One thing that I would say is DON'T have her lie with her ear down, that hurts. If it is in ear infection there is fluid behind the eardrum and when you lie her down on that side it just puts more pressure on a stretched eardrum and increases the pain. Have her lie the opposite side down.
Having had many ear infections since I was a kid I can tell you this is more comfortable.
If she continues to complain today you should take her to the emergency care. You don't want to wait and let her ear drum rupture, that hurts even more than the infection.
Make as warm a bath as she can tolerate, put a cotton ball in the ear that hurts and let her play, trying not to get her ear wet. The moisture from the bath will loosen things in her chest and sinus and the bath will feel good.
I feel her pain...been sick for 10 days straight with a stupid cold. There are some bad bugs out this year.
PFFT, give her the recommended dose of Tylenol for her age. You don't want her to be in pain!
Please do NOT take your child to a chiropractor just because she has ear pain. As a common medical saying goes, "When you hear hooves, think of horses, not zebras."
Which means, think of the common stuff. Chiropractors should NOT be a first resort. They are doctors but not medical doctors.
Many times, ear pain can be from congestion and fluid in the ears, fluid in the sinuses, or even in the eustachian tubes. Best way to know? Have the doc take a look in the ears and they can use a small insufflator that blows pressure on the eardrum to further determine if it is infected (looks like a tiny black bulb).
As for what to do, there is an over the counter ear drops available for ear pain you can try. Ask the pharmacist where it is kept. A prescription can also be obtained for Auralgan, which is an ear pain reliever. In the meantime, don't let her go out without covering her ears, put warm compresses near her ear, and no water in the ears. And of course alternating Tylenol with Motrin will help. Warm fluids and soup too.
As for cough, a vaporizer, like the Vicks vaporizer commonly found at CVS, helps. Rubbing baby Vicks on her chest and putting warm compresses on her chest will bring more blood to her lungs and help relieve cough. OTC cough medicine doesn't do much. If it's really severe cough, make sure u mention it to the doc on Monday, and she may give a cough syrup with codeine so your child can sleep at night at least.
Lastly, it is NOT true that antibiotics don't work for ear infection. There have been many studies, and yes, some have shown that the duration of ear infections are the same regardless of antibiotics or not. But there are many factors that play in -- environment, past history of ear infections, etc. So let your doctor make that decision.
And be sure to see the doc Monday! Best of luck.
You definitely shouldn't wait to take her to the doctor. I had ear infections when I was little that ended up requiring tubes in my ears. Due to the infections, I lost some of my hearing. If you live in NWI, you can always take her to a place like Immediate Care in Schererville on Burr and 30 across from Walgreens. In the same area as Hooters and Outback there's a medical center (used to be Prompt, but they have a new name now which I can't remember). You get the immeiate care without the ER bill. You don't want her going the rest of the today miserable just so you can see her doctor tomorrow. And you don't want to take any chances with her hearing. It's best to be safe rather than sorry.
Get some saline nasal drops (ask the pharmacist if you can't find them). This should help drain her nose. Sit in the bathroom with the hot water running a few times a day, and then put a vaporizor in her bedroom. I've also heard that vicks on the bottom of the feet with socks on at bed time helps coughs. I know it sounds weird but my aunt is a nurse and swears it works. Good luck til Monday.
It's not true that antibiotics don't work on ear infections. It is true that most ear infections would clear themselves on their own - eventually. It's not like using antibiotics for the common cold, which has no effect - antibiotics do help clear most ear infections more quickly.
In any case, some ear infections don't resolve on their own and a doctor should make the call if she's still in pain by Monday. Keep her head propped up, use a warm hair vaporizer in her room, and try alternating the tylenol with motrin if she seems to be in pain. Good luck! There's nothing worse than no one sleeping because of those coughing colds. Hopefully she'll feel better soon!
Can go to the clinic or try vaporizer, vicks on chest, saline up nose, vicks plug in, vapor bath....they actually are saying ear infections can clear up on own...maybe tylenol for pain
Go to Wild Oats and get some garlic oil (not garli-flavored, but actually garlic oil). Put a few drops in the ear that hurts. Garlic kills bacteria and cures most ear infections! If it's not better Tuesday see the doc.
I use baby vicks salve on the back ,chest and bottem of the feet with a footed sleeper. Since she is snuffing you need to get the mucus warmed and running out of her head.moist heat of any kind. I would even go as far as putting it behind and under her ears. turn on the cool mist or even a vaporizer and try to keep her near to it. Don't use dry heat (hair dryer or heating pad) You could us a hot water bottle and have her lay her head on that with a towel. Keep the pain reliever going. If you could alternate tylonal and advil you can give it to her every 4 hours. If you doubt this info call your local ER and talk to a nurse. I have raised 4 of my own and 6 steps and I still use vicks and footed pj for them. PS my oldest is 22 and she now uses it on her son,lol. Good Luck.
Little kids often get that fluid in their ear because of the congestion and the way their ear is right now, it's not fully developed and sometimes the fluid sits in there. If that fluid gets infected, THAT is why you need the antibiotic for an ear infection. The fluid may remain, but at least the infection would be out of it. Fluid itself in there doesn't typically cause them pain.
You could also take her to Walgreen's or CVS *Today - Sunday* because some of those have quick care clinics and they could quickly look in there and see if it looks infected or not and prescribe antibiotics if needed.
For the cough, I use Vicks Vapo-Rub. At the least, it seems to comfort them.
Even if you take her to the doctor tomorrow, they can't do anything for an ear infection. Anitbiotics have been shown to have no effect on ear infections.
Take her to a chiropractor. A lot of times, an ear infection is a symptom of an upper vertabrae being misaligned.
My two oldest used to get ear infections all the time. I took them to a chiropractor friend and problem solved. Actually, my oldest got a couple of them and I took her to our chiropractor. Immediate relief.
Good luck, I hope your little one feels better soon.
