Ear infection in small babies- would you always give anti-b?

[Mrscarrot]

My 20 week old was up screaming for over three hours on Monday, first time he's cried in the night (he wakes up for feeds but doesn't cry)
so I knew something was wrong.

Gp said an infection in one ear but mild, see how he goes in two days.

This morning seemed ok so didn't ring up but he had a big screaming patch this afternoon, took him back and they said as it's still infected two days later, better give him anti-biotics.

I collected them but haven't given them yet as I'm really anxious about the link to allergies. Dd had asthma as a baby, and lo is already showing symptoms of allergy, wheeziness, watery eyes, cough etc, so I don't want to make it worse.

here

On one hand, ears often clear up themselves and its better to avoid AB if at all possible, especially they're allergic types

on the other hand they're bloody painful and there have been links to glue ear with untreated infections.

Feeling very stressed about it, any advice?

there was a radio 4 programme which said that anti-bs will only save 1 day in the life of the infection at the possible cost of upset tummies, diarrhoea and oral thrush. They didn't mention any link to asthma, excema etc. They said the research suggested it simply wasn't worth taking the anti-b's UNLESS the ear drum actually burst in which case there's an open wound which can lead to further problems and should ALWAYS have anti-biotics.

We've had lots with the 2 ds-es and calpol, nurofen and waiting has usually sorted it out. It is horrible while it lasts though!

HTH

oh no, Eeek, you've swayed me back again!

That's what my neighbour said, that it would clear up anyway, but then she said her daughter was now deaf, not sure if there's a connection

Pooka, I've not sure what the prevenar imm is, do you mean the normal ones they have?

partially deaf, in one ear, after suffering lots with glue ear

A cranial osteopath said that children's eustacian tube (can't spell it - and hoping its the right one anyway - the one from the ear to the mouth) is very horizontal and becomes more angled as we grow up. She said this makes it more likely that muck will collect and cause an infection. She also said that some children will have the tube even more level and therefore suffer more. No idea if that's true - I want to believe it as it sounds so much classier than just 'prone to ear infections' .

Seriously - you can only do your best and what feels right to you. But think about how much screaming overnight you can stand. I have taken ds for anti-b's knowing it'll only save 24 hours but determined that he wouldn't survive that long if he didn't stop screaming and let me sleep

Coincidently, Eeek, we were at the cranial ost on Monday as his wheeziness and watery eyes have been worse.

He said there was still some compression and that his ear was congested, and it was that night that it started..

I have heard about the tubes being horizontal too

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Sorry prevenar (or maybe prevnar) is the imm against pneumococcal meningitis. Also can help prevent ear infections so I hear.
Seems to have with ds. DD didn't have it because it wasn't given when she was a baby.

Night, Doodle, thanks. I'm off to bed now too.

Thanks for all the help everyone

oh, ok, pooka.

He hasn't had jabs yet, won't dwell on that too much tonight though. More guilt!

I am very surprised at the GP who thought you should deal with ear infections by pain relief.

There is evidence that A/Bs link to allergies.
But sadly as we see, you can lose the use of an ear by leaving it too late.
That makes use of A/Bs a pretty sure bet to me.

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I'm not sure what benefit a qualified charlatan has over someone that just makes it up.
Homeopathy is a scam.
If you want to pretend that secret quantum ripples in holistic spacetime will make your rash go away, then fine.
Just don't let your kid lose their hearing because you were giggling in the back of your biology classes.

a lot of what is posted on the net is rubbish. A link between two things doesn't imply cause and effect - hemlines are linked to the state of the economy but changing one won't cause the economy to improve

Give your child probiotics and be especially carfeul about what you feed them while on abs but don't risk their hearing, and their speech development, for an unproven link. Speech developes more slowly in a child who can't hear sounds properly. Ear infections often cause temporary deafness.

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Mrs carrot - how is she now? Did you give the antibiotics?

I gave my 12 week old antibiotics. I really didn't want to, but my GP said told me: she's losing weight, she's been ill a week and isn't getting better. I realised she could end up in hospital if she got much worse, and how would I feel them if I hadn't have given the antibiotis?

I couldn't believe that at barely 3 months she already needed antibiotics! I got to age 23 years without taking antibiotics!

At about the same time I gave the antibiotics, dd2 developed mild eczema. I do wonder if it was due to the antibiotics, or due to being run down by the illness itself.

My mother has significant hearing loss due to untreated ear infections as a child.

Hi everyone,

I didn't sleep much last night with it all whizzing round in my head but he seemed ok, didn't wake more than usual and didn't cry.

My instinct this morning was still not to give them so I went back to the doctors to see how it looked, thinking if it was still bad I would treat him.

However, I saw a different gp, and she said the ear looked a bit pink rather than red and that as it wasn't bulging she thought it was viral, especially considering his sticky eyes and his recent cold.

She didn't think they would be much use in this case, and that if it worsened or he cried again to go straight back but a pink ear was unlikely to deteriorate to bursting very quickly and he would certainly be making a fuss, in which case I could then give the ABs.

I have got him some homeopathic stuff, not as a replacement but to support his immune sytem (I know some of you think it's tosh) and I feel a lot happier about it now that this gp has reassured me. I will definitely do something if he worsens.

Hedda- I don't eat wheat anyway because of my IBS but cutting out dairy has been a nightmare. I like lurpak thicker than the biscuit so I do miss it, but it's not for ever. It does seem to help so I'll stick with it. Don't you start feeling guilty! We all do what we can

Again, thanks for all advice. He's been chuckling away all day so fingers crossed he's on the mend.

that's good news! It's hard isn't it these decisions!

Hi just wanted to add my views.

My ds has never had ear infections (he's 4) so I didn't have any experience of them . Then I had my dd and she's had so many
It makes me feel bad for her and worry that I'm doing the wrong things to make her get them so often. Its strange too as ds was only bf for a short time and dd was bf exclusivly till 6m then is still bf now at 22m.
She's had so many lots of Ab's. Sometimes only 2 weeks apart. At first we tried waiting to see if the infection cleared up by themselves but they always went on for weeks. Now she always gets AB.
The gp explained to me aswell about the tubes not being slanted enough and too narrow and that makes sence to me.
We know 2 children who have had loss of hearing and affected speech because of ear infections and I don't want to take that risk.

Hope you lo is better soon.

glad your child isn't too bad. However children don't always make a fuss with ear infections. Sometimes it comes on quickly and the drum bursts.

You may want to consider things that will boost your child's immune system to try and avoid infections in future - some advice from a alternative practitioner on that

"Poor nutrition is the most common cause of a weakened immune response. Foods that are good natural sources of the immune-boosting antioxidants include kiwi fruit, which contain more vitamin C than oranges; chinese cabbage, which is an excellent source of vitamin A; avocado, known as nature?s own super-food because it provides the optimum healthy ratio of fat, carbohydrate, protein and vitamin E. Foods that are rich in vitamin B6, which boost the production of antibodies to fight infection, will also help. These include bananas, carrots, lentils, tuna, salmon, wholegrain flour, and sunflower seeds. You also need to step up your intake of dietary zinc by eating more seafood, eggs, turkey, pumpkin seeds, and crabmeat. "

I'd probably also get an ear thermometer. I don't know if they can detect ear infections but its seems likely the temperature would be higher then.

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Tatt- thanks for the advice but I do have an extremely healthy diet and he's purely breastfed so I don't think it's poor nutrition that caused the infection. More likely the cold we all had combined with his allergy leading to inflammation.

Also, ear thermometers can't diagnose infection but a temperature is a sure sign that the body is trying to fight something off. He had a slight one earlier in the week but he definitely does not have one now.

I'm happy that this gp thinks it's a virus, makes sense with the cold, and I won't risk my child's hearing if I think he needs the medicine, but the AB's will be useless with a viris and will upset his stomach and may make his allergy worse.

Thanks again all.

Doodledootoo- you sound very cheerful