Tubes and Milk Allergies??

B.,

I have a 2 1/2 year old with this same issue. When she was about 9 months the dr was telling me the same thing about the tubes. She had a stuffy nose from the time she came home. We switched her to soy milk and she just stopped having ear infections. Now if she ever has regular milk I can totally tell. I know this is going to sound crazy but her attitude changes when she has regular milk. She will though more fits and is more unreasonable. She also used to get really bad diaper rashes from it. I hope this helps. Soy was the way to go for us.

J.

Take the baby to a chiropracter it will help with the infection.The tubes in theears get pinched and are unable to drain properly.

As for the milk allergy try some soy so awhile and see if that helps.

My son also had problems with Milk when he was younger and had several ear infections. We took care of the milk allergy and waited out the ear problem. This was a bad idea. When we took him to get his hearing checked he had actually lost some of his hearing. He was still getting the infections also. At the end it was so bad that he could not be taken off the antibiotics becuase within a day he would have another one. We had the tubes put in. He now has perfect hearing and has not had an ear infection in over 2 years. I will never regret having the tubes put in. It was a very simple procedure and he was only under for about 10 minutes. By the next day he was up and running around. Good luck!!

M.

First of all, let me just say that I've had tubes twice, and never did they hurt. The second time I was 3 or 4 and remember going and it really does immediately take away any pain. I found your question to be quite interesting because my son was diagnosed with a milk allergy when he 2, but never once before that had ear infections. In fact, now that we're doing non-dairy in our house, I think I have MORE infections then before, at least 2 really bad ones every year.
At the same time, there's certainly no harm in trying a different diet, especially if that's the cause for him. But I also wouldn't postpone tubes as I know how much they help.

My daughter had reoccuring ear infections as well from the age of 3 months until 8 months when we had tubes put in. No one said anything about allergies causing the infections. She has had only one infection since the tubes where put in and it has been 11 months. I am very happy with the outcome and think that sometimes tubes can help. You could try removing dairy from his diet and see if it helps but if not then getting tubes is not a horrible thing to do.

Hi B.

We have had a similar experience with my child when he was between 1 and 3. The cause of it was that when giving antibiotics for a cold, I didn't finish giving ALL of the medicine. This led to the build up of fluid in my sons ears known as otitis media and he needed the insertion and removal of grommets (tubes).

So, my question is, have you given medicine for illness and not finished the course of taking the medicine? I am not accusing, but this was something that I thought would not cause as many problems as it did as my baby (5 now) was developing a reaction at the time.

My son started getting ear infections at 9 months and we ended up with tubes at 12 months. He never responded to antibiotics and had to have rocephen (sp?) shots. Since the tubes he has gotten 4 ear infections in a year. We found out from culturing his ear infections that they were mostly viral and there was no need for any of the antibiotics or shots as none of that was going to clear up the infection. Now we go to the Dr when we think he has an ear infection but refuse the antibiotics and just keep him comfortable with motrin until it resolves itself. I wish we would have known that before and not given him all the antibiotics. Good Luck with whatever you decide.

My 2 year old son was getting many ear infections and we had been referred to an Ear, Nose, and Throat for tubes. I began researching and found that eliminating milk may help. I started him on rice milk and decreased his milk intake (in forms of cheese, etc). He had his first ear infection this week after almost 4 months of no ear infections!
The ENT we went to see tells all patients to decrease of eliminate milk products during the cold/flu season as it causes excessive mucus build-up.
Hope this helps!

I totally dealt with this problem when my 2nd daughter was around 18 months old. We took her off all dairy products per the advice of a Holistic Doctor and she never needed tubes. You will need to find a doctor that believes in natural healing so that they can guide you on what she can and can't have and what homeopathic meds to use. The doctor we used passed away a couple of years ago from breast cancer and we never found another Holistic Doctor but we have always used homeopathic meds she recommended.

I can speak from my own experience as a child, I had tubes in and out of my ears for years because they were always so filled with fluid that I had actually lost 70% of my hearing. Finally when the doctors told my parents I needed them for the fourth time, they decided to try taking me to an allergy specialist. Well as it turned out, I had allergies to things like mold, pollen, dust, etc. and so they started me on allergy shots and medicine. Within weeks I was suddenly able to breath through my nose and all my ear problems cleared up. Now I still do have seasonal allergies but I don't even take allergy medicine anymore. I would definitely get your son tested for allergies before you go the route of tubes in the ears! Good luck!

Hi B.,

First let me say, how wonderful that you have 3 boys. I have one son, who is 14 mos. old, and he keeps me very busy! Unfortunately, he has had continuous ear infections since he was 8 mos. old. We just went to Valley ENT (51st and Warner Road), and were advised to seek tubes for his ears. Prior to the specialist, we had been treating with antibiodics, etc. I have read in the past that it is very difficult to identify allergies in children until they are around age 2, so I am interested to know what your doctor said the allergy might be. Also allergies are typically (not always) genetic. Have you had that with your other children? You may want to get another opinion if you are concerned. I know it took my husband and I awhile to come to terms with the tubes because I didnt want to put my son through it, but honestly - I am now concerned about potential speech issues, etc. if we do not do something soon. Hope this helps a bit... Good luck with your decisions and I hope your little guy feels better

I don't know a lot about allergies, but I have experience with tubes in the ears. If a child gets ear infections a lot, then the ear drum is being scarred and it affects their hearing after awhile. So, the tubes would create a way for the infection/ pressure to be able to release without creating another scar. WHen a child outgrow the tubes, they automatically pop out. The only danger to having them is that you cannot allow water in their ears in swimming or baths - they have to be covered watertight. My son had constant ear infections until he was 18 months old. Then we had tubes put in and - no more ear infections! He was so much happier and it was so easy. By the time he was 3, both tubes had popped out. Either way, you need to stop the infections!

My sisters boy has had repeated ear infections/tubes/uri's and so forth. He is 2 and has been soooo sick since he was born. She finally took him to a naturopath and had him tested. He is allergic to dairy!!! Once she removed that from his diet, he has done SO well. It made a HUGE difference. So, if it were me, YES I would try to remove dairy from your diet and see if that helps him.

E.

My oldest son is now 21 and had a huge allergy to banannas of all the odd things to be allergic to. He would eat banannas and get excema inside his ear canals. He had tubes, tonsills and adnoids removed when he was 4 and never had another ear infection. He still had itchy ears when he ate banannas and we stopped giving those to him. He never had any problems with the tubes, and the surgery was fairly simple and his recovery was pretty quick. The biggest thing I remember was having to keep his ears very dry while the tubes were in there.

I think tubes are one surgery that can be postponed if you want to try a diet free of milk. If that works great and if not do the tubes. One of my boys couldn't do milk based forumula but he drinks cows milk just fine now. I just put him on soy based formula for the duration.

Be patient with yourself! This is one of those things we worry ourselves sick over, and eventually it all works out.

A.

It seems very possible. My son is scheduled in March to get his tonsils & adenoids removed & they will put tubes in. The ENT thinks that the tonsils & adenoids could be the reason he has had sooooo many ear infections (he's also had tonsil issues (so we're not getting them removed - just so the ears will get better ; ). The reason they get ear infections is cuz of mucus & if an allergy is causing a bunch of mucus - a simple cough can cause all that mucus to get into his ear parts (sorry I don't know the technical name). Then cuz of the shape of kids ear parts - they STAY there & get infected. So - if you can get rid of the mucus by finding out what the allergy is . . . It's worth a try & it's good that he's young. My aunt who is a PA & has worked with ENT's for YEARS & also had 2 kids that had tubes - told me she wouldn't think twice about tubes - we "thought twice" about having his tonsils removed. Especially if he's fussy - tubes will relieve him immediately!! I'll let ya know how it goes after ours - if you want ; ) GOOD LUCK!

http://www.hpakids.org/holistic-health/articles/148/1/Ear...

For your review. also www.westonaprice.org

Hi B.,
I don't know what you are currently feeding your son, but I had a similar thing happen with my son. I breastfed him until he was 14 months old (he's 17 months today), and when I started to wean him to cow's milk, he wouldn't drink it. If I forced the issue, he would actually get a rash around his mouth and anywhere the milk touched his skin. He never got an ear infection (he probably never drank enough), but my doctor suggested I try soy milk, and Gabriel gobbled that up like he'd been drinking it for years, no problem. He would also get the same rash if he had macaroni & cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, or any other milk-type product. I stopped feeding almost everything with milk in it (he likes string cheese, and that doesn't seem to affect him), and no more rash. I'll talk with my pediatrician when we go in for Gabriel's 18 month checkup, but if soy milk works, you might want to give that a try with your doctor's OK. Gabriel likes the vanilla flavor (not Very Vanilla, which has a ton more sugar), which has the same nutrients as regular flavor. Good luck!

Hello. I'm so sorry to hear your baby is having such a difficult time with his ears. I really feel for him. I was one of those babies. Yes, allergies DO play a HUGE role. If there is any way to avoid tubes please do. I had the tubes and I had soooo much trouble with them. It was an awful experience!!! Milk is definitely an allergy that leads to ear infections. (Others could too) I know for me, milk is a big one. I had constant ear infections until I graduated from college and the ENT finally removed my tonsils. (He said I was finally old enough for it to make a difference) My senior year I was constantly on antibiotics as I couldn't even go a month without an infection. However, Important to note.......... the tubes did NOT end my ear infections..... The only thing that helped was staying off allergens. So, please, for your babies sake, try the allergies first, before going through tubes. OH, and if the doctor gives you those awful ear drops to put in your babies ears, and tells you they won't hurt, but yet your baby screams like they do hurt............It's because they hurt like crazy and really don't help. (They're supposed to help the ear infection not hurt, they don't)

Hi B., I just have some question. Does your child drink a bottle while laying down? One of my peds. Dr. suggest my daughter drink more of an angle. To keep fluids from going in that direction. And I was breast feeding at the time. Just a suggestion. One of my grandson's had tubes put in and is doing great.
Good luck,
D.

Hi B., I'm a mom of 4 in less than 4 1/2 years...3 are boys. We found "sweet oil" when the boys were really young and it kept their ear was loose enough that the fluid drained and no tubes were needed. Later we used garlic oil. Both can be found at a health food store. Sweet oil is a purified olive oil and can be found at most pharmacies.
K.

You need to know what else was in those products he has a reaction to - since you are nursing you also need to closely examine what is in what YOU eat. Due to being a nursing mother you have to be careful not only with what you continue to include in your diet, but how you rid your system of things your body doesn't need (ie: chemical toxins, heavy metals, fungus, yeast, parasites) that are coming through to your baby through your milk. If you include commercially-processed meats and dairy products in your diet you will be exposed to those things as animal products are usually under-digested and under-eliminated by our bodies. Pure, raw fruits and vegetables (bought at farmer's markets if you can) are best, whole grains (real ones of course) and only low-stress proteins. A very good and safe food supplement - even for pregnant (and nursing) women - is called camu. It is a fruit that has the highest concentration of vitamin C of any plant in the world plus B vitamins and amino acids to help the body absorb it! The best, most pure source of it is grown in the flood basin of the Amazon River in Peru. It is becoming a new additive to some health foods and juices, but is available exclusively through the Amazon Herb Company as Pure Camu (which is exactly that - no fillers, preservatives, chemicals, etc.) and in a brand new product called Zamu which combines camu with acai berries, cacao, cinnamon, an herb called Sangre de Drago in a pineapple and mango base. Pure Camu is the pure dried fruit, crushed and individual-serving vacuum packed for freshness and quality. Zamu is a concentrated beverage that needs refrigeration upon opening as there are no preservatives. I am a certified herbal consultant and associate of the company. If you are interested in more information you can contact me or check out my website: www.shootingstarherbs.amazonherb.net. Good luck and may the forest be with you!