16mo crying in pain, but no fever - not an ear infection?

[ImpYCelyn]

Sunday night DS cried like he was in pain from 3.30-6, slept for half an hour and then wouldn't sleep anymore. He was ok during the day, so I decided to see how he was last night in case it was a one off. He woke at 12 and sounded like he was in lots of pain; wouldn't go back to sleep for several hours, wouldn't lie flat and finally went back off propped up on a pillow.

I was convinced he has an ear infection, as that's what he's normally like when one comes on. But I took his temp when he woke up again and it's normal. Several hours after last dose of neurofen.

I don't know what to do now. I would have phoned the GP asap this morning if it had been high, but as it's normal I'm not sure if they'll just say I'm wasting time.

Can they have ear infections with no fever? It's always the first thing I'm asked when I've taken him before.

TIA!

Well, at risk of being too predictable to be helpful... could it be his teeth?

If his molars are coming they can be very sore, throb more when lying flat (remembering my wisdom teeth) and as body grows at night, likely to bother him more at night than in day when more distractions too?

hth. :)

my daughter had an ear infection christmas day without a fever!! she is 8 so could tell me exactly what was going on and cried ALL night christmas eve.. the gp gave her antibiotics straight away.. also when ds 2 has had them he would never lie flat. i would still take to gp to get checked over for peace of mind at least.
x

my ds has had lots of ear infections and i cant remember him having a fever with many of them if any really just excruciating pain . keep him dosed up on calpol / nurofen the hospital told me whether he's in pain or not give him 4 hourly (calpol)and 6 hourly (nurofen) once the pain comes its harder to stop . I stopped giving antibiotics for his earinfectons after being told it doesnt do anything (by a gp) earinfections are viral so unless they have burst it takes the same amount of time to go as with antibiotics make sure he sleeps propped up on a pillow keep it warm and lots of cuddles - this is just my experience of many ear infections hope he gets better soon :)

My ds2 had a mystery illness that kept him crying in pain, but he had no fever. The GP checked his ears and they weren't inflamed but I reckoned it could be a bladder infection, as by the end of it his nappies were very dry. But obviously without a urine test this could not be confirmed. I managed to persuade GP to give him antibiotics as if it were a bladder infection, and he improved from then.

Thanks everyone.

We saw the GP who said his ears are fine, thank goodness. It would have been his 6th ear infection since early December and I'm worrying about how much penicillin he's had in that time. I remember reading that all antiBs do for them is reduce the pain slightly and don't actually help cure, like you say Ruth, so I might start saying no to them anyway from now on.

He's not got other signs of teething, but it could be that. I didn't realise that teeth would be worse at night/lying down. It's definitely a possibility.

GP did say though that given DS had had Calpol/neurofen regularly, his temp was a bit high so he might have a slight fever. He suggested non-specific, mild virus

So I'm just going to keep on with the calpol, prop him up at night as it seems to help, and keep cuddling. Hopefully it'll clear up quickly. I'm dreading the next long haul of teething, maybe this is the start of it :(

Thanks again!