Medical Prevention For Chronic Or Frequent Ear Infections
If your child is having frequent ear infections, more aggressive prevention may be indicated. There are different opinions as to the definition of chronic ear infections. How many is too many?
- More aggressive doctors may choose to begin medical prevention if your child has more than three ear infections in six months or more than four in one year.
- Less aggressive doctors may allow your child to have more infections before recommending medical prevention We lean more in this direction.
- Other factors such as hearing loss and speech delay may warrant more aggressive treatment.
There are three forms of medical prevention:
About Ear Pulling Or Ear Tugging In Children
If your baby or young child is pulling at their ears, it might be a sign that they’re tired or that their ears are blocked with ear wax.
Ear pulling or tugging can also sometimes be a sign of a middle ear infection or external ear infection.
Teething is often blamed for ear pulling, but it isnt clear whether theres a link between teething and pulling.
Treatments And Tips For Teething
Teething is a natural part of your little one growing up, and unfortunately, all infants experience pain and discomfort while they grow their new teeth. We’ve got some tips to help deal with teething fever and the other symptoms of teething, to help make the process as easy as possible for you and your child.
Earache and ear infections can be commonly mixed up with teething symptoms, but it is not common for teething to cause ear infections for babies. If your baby is suffering from earache that seems to be caused by teething, you might be able to move them onto the side that isn’t as painful, and relieve a little bit of the pain, but most likely the pain is being caused by their teeth and gums and just feels like ear pain.
Keep your child hydrated with lots of little sips of water, as they will be losing a lot of fluid and probably won’t want to drink as often because it may hurt. Little sips as often as you can will make sure they stay hydrated.
Make sure you have a cloth handy to dry your baby’s drool, as it could cause skin irritation which might add an extra level of pain for your baby.
Children’s Paracetamol might be a good option to help with pain, just make sure you read the bottle carefully to get the correct dosage.
If you found this article helpful, then why not take a look at all the milestones or 16-month-old milestones you can expect to see in your toddler?
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S To Prevent Ear Infections
If your child has had several ear infections already, or you simply wish to lower their risk of getting ear infections in the first place, here are some ways to prevent or at least lessen the frequency and severity of ear infections:
1. Breastfeeding
There is no doubt whatsoever in the medical literature that prolonged breastfeeding lowers your childs chances of getting ear infections.
2. Daycare setting
Continuous exposure to other children increases the risk that your child will catch more colds, and consequently more ear infections. Crowded daycare settings are a set up for germ sharing. If possible, switch your child to a small, home daycare setting. This will lower the risk.
3. Control allergies
If you think allergies are contributing to your childs runny nose and, consequently, ear infections, click on allergies to find out more about how to minimize your childs allergies.
4. Feed your baby upright
Lying down while bottle-feeding can cause the milk to irritate the Eustachian tube which can contribute to ear infections.
5. Keep the nose clear
When a runny nose and cold start, do your best to keep the nose clear by using steam, saline nose drops and suctioning. Also, try Xlear® nasal spray which contains xylitol that can help prevent viruses and bacteria from attaching in your childs nose. See colds for more info on clearing the nose.
6. Cigarette smoke
7. Echinacea
This is an herb that can safely and effectively boost the immune system. Read for more information.
Signs And Symptoms Of Toddler Teething
Each child reacts to pain differently. If necessary, soothe your toddler with the same remedies you relied on when their previous baby teeth erupted. At this age, some kids are able to express feelings with signs or basic words, which may be helpful for parents to understand their cause of discomfort, so encourage your child to communicate verbally.
Toddler teething can be mistaken for ear infections, since posterior molar eruption may cause generalized pain that radiates to the ear. Baby or toddler teething, however, does not cause ear infections. If your toddler has a persistent fever, appears lethargic or has ear drainage, consult your pediatrician, as these are more typical signs of an ear infection. Tugging on ears, fingers in the mouth, and increased drool in the absence of the previously mentioned signs are more consistent with teething pain.
Similarly, teething should not cause a high fever. While your toddler may experience a minor uptick in temperature while teething, their fever should not exceed 101°F. If their temperature does rise above 101°F or if their temperature lasts more than a few days, its probably attributed to something other than teething. Consult your pediatrician to rule out illness.
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Teething Isnt For Sissies
When it comes to The War of the Tooth, your infant will fall into two camps.
If your baby is the first category: Congratulations. 95% of the parents reading this hate you.
If your baby is in the second category: Be encouraged. This will pass and your fat-cherub-of giggles will return.
In the meantime, you have some options
Or, you could REALLY go crazy and do all three!
I mean, at the heart of it, arent we all freaks in our own way? *removing my chicken hat*
Why not hang out with other mothers who can relate to the underlying weirdness lying just under the skin of us all?
*wink*
How Can I Tell If Its An Ear Infection Or Just Teething
Are you tired of taking your fussy baby to the doctor to check her ears, only to be told its probably just teething? To help you decide, with teething:
- The pain usually starts at 4 months old and will come and go until the 2-year molars are in
- Tugging or digging at the ears with no cold symptoms or fever
- Fussiness or night waking with no cold symptoms or fever
- May have low fever less than 101º
- Teething does not cause a runny nose, only drool
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Common Signs Of Teething
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Your baby is growing up, and so are their teeth! According to the American Dental Association most babies develop their first tooth around six months of age. After that first eruption your baby will have a full set of primary teeth in three years.
Although it is usually pretty easy to spot teething, we created a list of some common signs of teething. If your baby exhibits any of these signs along with irritability and excessive drooling, then get out your teething tools and even ask your dentist or doctor about what you can do to help your teething toddler.
Ear Infections Can Still Happen With Ear Tubes
Unfortunately, the nail-biting experience of putting your young child through surgery doesn’t come with guarantees. Many children will still get an occasional ear infection, especially when they have a cold. However, your child should definitely get fewer infections, and they’ll usually cause less fever and pain.
“In fact, painless drainage from the ear is the most common sign of an infection in a child who has tubes,” says Dr. Young. However, you may not have to fight with your kid to swallow spoonfuls of antibiotics: Children with tubes in place are able to use antibiotic ear drops instead because the opening in their eardrum allows the medicine to get right into the middle ear.
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Weird Teething Symptoms You Should Know About
Weird doesnt mean rare. It just meansweird.
In This Article…
Anyone can tell you the standard teething symptoms. You knowthe drooling, the fussiness, or the dead give away:spotting a tooth.
But what about those baby teething symptoms that arent so obvious? The ones that you cant find in The Big Book of Baby or at www.MegaBabySite.com?
What about the weird teething symptoms? The Freak Show cousins that no one ever talks about, but are still there, sniffing glue in the corner?
Its time they were acknowledged, friend. Time to drag them out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
STEP RIGHT UP, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!
*tipping my top hat and waving my walking stick*
YOU WONT BELIEVE YOUR EYES!!
Teething Can Be Confused With Baby Ear Infections
When your toddler starts tugging on his ear, you may assume that’s a telltale sign of an ear infection. He might do the same thing, though, if he’s cutting teeth nerves in the back teeth branch out to the middle ear, so it can feel like his pain is coming from his ear.
If he has a fever and seems to be most uncomfortable lying down, it’s more likely he has an ear infection, says Dr. Dempsey. Red, swollen gums are a sign of teething. In general, the symptoms of ear infections could describe a variety of illnesses or a child who’s just having a bad day: He might push his food away, have trouble sleeping, or cry more than usual.
But if your instincts tell you that there’s something wrong, especially if your child has a fever, it makes sense to have your pediatrician take a look.
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Your Baby Has An Ear Infection
Your baby might be pulling or touching their ears because they have pain from an ear infection. Ear infections are most common in babies and toddlers between 3 months and 3 years old. And the poor little buggers can get them more than once.
Babies and small children get more ear infections because of where their ear tubes are. They have more horizontal ear tubes, while older children and adults have vertical ear tubes. Fluid doesnt drain out of a babys horizontal ear tubes as well as it does from vertical tubes.
If your usually happy baby is touching or scratching at their ears, look for other signs and symptoms of an earache, including:
- crying
- other cold or flu symptoms
- just got over a cold or flu
A Slight Increase In Temperature
Babies do not develop fevers when teething. Studies show there may be a slight rise in temperature the day before, the day of, and the day after the eruption of a new tooth. However, this doesnt rise to the level of a fever, which is a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or above .
Fever Alert
If your baby spikes a fever over 100 F, dont assume its from teething. Its best to speak with your childs doctor or pediatrician to seek out any underlying illness causing an elevated temperature.
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False Symptoms Of Teething
- Teething does not cause fever, diarrhea, diaper rash or runny nose.
- It does not cause a lot of crying.
- It does not cause your baby to be more prone to getting sick.
- Caution about Fevers. Blaming teething for fevers can lead to a delay in seeking care for infections. Examples are ear and urinary tract infections. Another example is meningitis.
- There are 2 reasons why infections start between 6 and 12 months of age. One is the loss of antibodies transferred to baby from the mother at birth. The other is the developmental milestone of chewing on everything.
- Caution about Crying. Blaming teething for crying can lead to a delay of care for other illnesses. Examples are ear infections or other causes of pain.
Why Teething Symptoms May Be Confused With Cold Symptoms
Research has pointed out that teething begins around six months of age. This is the same time when an infants immunities they received from their mother, via the placenta, are diminishing. This means that the infants own immune system is becoming established. During this time, infants become vulnerable to minor infections. Because these two changes are taking place, the symptoms of teething can be confused with a minor illness or cold and visa versa. This explains why only 70-80 percent of parents reported teething symptoms of their infant its very likely that parents of the remaining 20-30 percent associated the symptoms to a minor illness or cold.
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Remedies And Precautionary Measures
While teething is a natural process that does cause discomfort, it can be tackled with the help of certain tried and tested remedies. Massaging the childs gums with clean hands will help in soothing the irritated gums. One can also massage clove oil or vanilla extract onto the gums. Teething aids such as teething rings or frozen items can also be given to the infant. However, there is a great need to ensure that the object that the child is chewing or biting into, has been thoroughly cleaned, and is free from contaminants. Generally, use of pain relievers is recommended only if other remedies dont help.
If the child is suffering from a high fever, and is exhibiting signs of an ear infection, consult a pediatrician at the earliest. While a mild ear infection may resolve on its own without drug therapy, the use of antibiotics or other drugs may be recommended for a severe infection. However, doctors usually dont prescribe antibiotics for infants who are younger than six months. Application of warm compresses on the affected ear may also help. Since ear infections are usually preceded by common cold, flu, or allergies, make sure that you take precautionary measures to prevent such infections.
While simple remedies would make teething less painful, medical assistance must be sought for the treatment of an ear infection. Parents must be observant, and consult a pediatrician if they feel that their little one looks troubled and seems to be in pain or discomfort.
When Should I See A Pediatrician Or Dentist
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a call to the doctor or an emergency room visit if your child has a fever above 104°F, if your childs fever has lasted longer than five days or if fever reducing medicines do not reduce the fever. Take behavior and activity level into account, too. Observe how your child behaves and whether theyre acting like themselves.
Knowing the symptoms and the timeline for your toddlers teething will help you be prepared when the two-year molars erupt. Teething symptoms like gum and ear pain can be remedied by soft, cool foods. Once your toddler has all 20 of their baby teeth, its now time to keep the teeth healthy and strong. Before you know it, theyll be losing their baby teeth and developing their first adult teeth: the six-year molars.
For more information about Dr. Reenas work at Growing Smiles, please visit the Growing Smiles website.
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When Does Teething Begin For Infants
Teething usually starts around four to eight months with the lower front teeth and continues until 30-36 months of age when the last set of molars appear. During the teething period there are symptoms that include irritability, disrupted sleep, swelling or inflammation of the gums, drooling, loss of appetite, rash around the mouth, mild temperature, diarrhea, increased biting and gum-rubbing and even ear-rubbing. These symptoms were reported by 70-80 percent of parents according to an article from the British Dental Journal. So, why dont all infants experience teething symptoms? Keep reading to find out.
When To See An Ear Nose And Throat Specialist
If you suspect your child has an ear infection, your first step is to call their pediatrician or primary care provider. If they do identify an infection, theyll most likely prescribe antibiotics and the infection will usually clear up quickly. If your child doesnt get better, is in severe pain, or suffers from repeated ear infections, you may be referred to a pediatric ENT specialist like Dr. Wertz also known as an otolaryngologist.
The most common treatment for chronic ear infections is to place a tube in the eardrum to provide ventilation to the middle ear and prevent fluid buildup, says Dr. Wertz. This very minor outpatient procedure usually resolves the issue right away.
Dr. Wertz explains that in 95 percent of her patients, the ear tubes fall out once they are past the stage where ear infections are common, and she rarely has to perform a retubing procedure. Another less common procedure she performs involves surgically removing adenoid tissue from back of the nose. But thats only in rare cases, she says.If your child suffers from recurring or severe ear infections, its important that they see their pediatrician or primary care provider who can refer them to an ENT specialist if necessary, adds Dr. Wertz. Most ear infections arent serious and are easy to treat, but left untreated, they can affect your childs hearing and speech development. So, its definitely worth having them checked out.
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