Reoccurring ear infections

[hunkamunka22]

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Does anyone else's dc suffer from constant ear infections? Dd has been poorly lost since starting nursery in January - as expected. But every time she gets a cough or cold she also seems to get an ear infection which is evident because yellow pus drains from her ear. She will be unsettled for days and then the pus will appear and we will know that's what must have been causing her pain.

She has had endless courses of antibiotics. Doctors suggested she wasn't fully getting over the initial infection but after 3 back to back courses of varying antibiotics I'm not sure how that's possible. She seems to get better for a week and then it starts again.

I'm so fed up with her being unwell and also worried about the lasting damage constant perforating of her eardrum to release the fluid must be causing. Has anyone else had anything like this?

My DS has this! Started nursery at 12 months, started getting ear infections about ever two weeks (also a couple weeks of back to back antibiotics) continued for about 8 months and then all of a sudden stopped! We were taking him to the GP at first sign every time (got used to the signs) and he got amoxicillin every time so his ear drum only ever perforated once. We got an urgent referral to an ENT, took 4 months to actually get in to see anyone, but they tested his hearing and it was fine. He did have a bit of glue ear, but they said it would probably clear and gave us a standing appointment in case he starts getting the ear infections again or we have concerns about his hearing. If you haven’t been given a referral yet, ask the GP next time you go in. ENT told us possible courses of action were a daily low dose antibiotics or grommets once he turned 2. Hope this helps!

Thank you that's really helpful. The past few times we have been prescribed antibiotics over the phone without the GP even seeing her.

I think if it continues I will push for a referral as it's surely not normal to have gunk coming out of your ear so often and I do worry about potential hearing loss.

My daughter had numerous ear infections before she was 19 months old. So, so many ruptured ear drums, gunk seeping out and intense pain. She was referred to ENT who put grommets in the following week. She's now 7 years old and hasn't had an ear infection since.

My daughter had this recurring for years with perforated eardrums - GP kept saying we need to keep an eye on it incase it effects hearing but referral was 18months ish- in the end went for private ENT got some antibiotic drops on private prescription and it never happened again

Ds started at 10 weeks old and approximately had one every 10-14 days until he had his (first) set of grommets at 20 months.
Once the grommets came out it started again.

I suggest you ask for a referral to ENT. Talk about her speech and effecting development rather than the ear infections.
Warning though: ds (aged 15yo) was rereferred at 13yo and his appointment has just come through. I'd hope it was quicker for tinies though.

Hi there I’m having the same thing my 3 year old since January has been on 4 doses of antibiotics but every time she gets a cold shes in pain until the fluid starts coming out. Doctor said now antibiotics wont make a difference and that she has glue ear. She has been referred to and ENT but the waiting lists are 4months long. I don’t have any advice I'm afraid i just feel your pain and it feels like shes always sick😫

Dd had this, and it affected her balance too. On holiday in France I had to go to the pharmacy with sinusitis and they gave me acetyl cystéine and said dd could have it, too. From then on, each time she had a cold I gave her a sachet twice a day, and so managed to keep her free of antibiotics for several years. It's available on prescription.

We had an ent referral but they ruled out grommets saying that it's impossible to get a small child to keep their head out of the water when swimming.