Terrible Ear Infection

I am not sure what would work to ease the pain except pain reliever. I have been told by a doctor to use alternating doses of Tylenol and Motrin to help them through the night. One full dose of Tylenol, 3 hrs later one full dose of Motrin, 3 hrs later one full dose of Tylenol, etc. I have even backed it up to 2hrs between doses of medicines, but since the label says 6 hrs I try not to do that. I really hope this works... I feel so bad for your little boy. It must be very painful. And I feel bad for you because it must be tearing you up. I hope that you both get a good night's sleep soon which will hopefully do wonders for his healing. My thoughts are with you.

Since the antibiotics are hurting his system, and the ear pain is causing so much suffering, I think you should go ahead and get the tubes. My nephew and several other friend's children have had tubes and it cleared up the problem without further medication, and its really a simple, safe procedure. There isn't much you can do to relieve that kind of pain, poor boy.

There are some ear drops the Dr. can prescribe that will knock out the pain in seconds. Also Motrin works much better for my 3 kids than Tylenol. You can also alternate Tylenol every 4 hrs with Motrin every 6 hrs and overlap them so that as one is wearing off the other is kicking in.

I have many times given one of my little ones a warm bath at 3am to calm them down if needed.

Good luck!

Yikes! I feel for you. My son just went through some awful ear infections, so I understand. My ped had given us A/B Otic drops for the pain in the ears and that worked really well. I'd suggest you ask your doctor for some. If not (or in the meantime), you can try some warm olive oil in the ear (on a cotton ball to hold it in). Also, our ped had told us to raise up the head of his mattress in his crib -that that would take some of the pressure off his ears and help them drain and him to sleep better. We put a pillow under the head of the bed to do that and it has worked well. Sometimes anitbiotics don't work because often ear infections are caused by a virus, not bacteria. Oh, I would also suggest a humidifier in his room if you aren't already doing that - that should make him more comfortable as well (and help his ears). I was so afraid of my son's eardrums rupturing, but I looked it up on the Internet and it's really not a big deal at all. They heal up pretty quickly if they do rupture, and it relieves the pressure and allows the ear to drain fairly quickly of the infected fluid, so don't be too alarmed if it does rupture. In fact, that's what the doctor is suggesting doing if they don't heal on their own - putting tubes in the ears IS rupturing them and inserting a tube to allow them to drain.

I hope he heals quickly and I will pray for him (and you). I know it's exhausting!! God bless.

My son also has double ear infections, though nowhere near as bad. The only way he'll sleep right now is in my arms. I'm not getting lots of sleep as I worry about rolling on him but he's getting deep sleep which is when the body heals itself.