4 month old clawing at her ears

[Kveta]

she just constantly has her hands in her ears, has actually scratched them so badly they are bleeding. when I'm feeding her she is particularly scratchy.

I took her to the GP when she started doing it, and he patronised me out of the surgery, telling me that thee is no treatment for ear infections even if she had one. he glanced at one and said she's fine.

anyway, any ideas what else it could be? and any remedies?

I'm taking her on a plane tomorrow for the first time, and am really worried about her poor ears!

Sometimes little ones pull repeatedly at their ears when they are really tired. Any chance this could you your DD's problem?

Try another GP. sounds like an infection to me! Your GP sounds dismissive and only looked in one ear.

Give her something to suck during take off.

Sorry - didn't proof read! Any chance this could BE your DD's problem?

Thrush infection in ears can cause them to itch - just to add to the list..
We had a lot of ear pulling with teething too.
Could you do a Calpol 'trial' to see if it makes any improvement ?

GP was a tosser, and asked me if I knew what causes infections, and if she was my first baby. and was unimpressed when I was able to explain what causes infections as my PhD was in infectious diseases and that I was worried due to DS being under ENT consultant due to recurrent infections, and DH being deaf in one ear due to recurrent infections as a child.

anyway, he didn't really do more than a cursory glance. I plan to feed her on take off, and probably calpol before the flight to preempt discomfort.

it could be teething I guess, but my family tend to teeth late, so 4 months would be very early.

gah, not impressed if I have another baby with faulty ears!!

thanks.

oh, thrush in the ears? that sounds grim :( she hates calpol unfortunately, but we have tried it, and when it goes down, she will go to sleep - but she is normally sleeping at that time anyway, so who knows if it worked. she only wants boob sadly, and I have another child, so can't have here permanently latched on!!

Suckling can help too - so a dummy might be worth a try if you cannot be a permanent fixture!
And have you tried teething gel? Might just take the edge off.
I suppose what I mean by the Calpol trial is eg you notice her scratching in the day, rather than bedtime try then? See if it makes any difference to behaviour?
If you syringe it, rather than spoon it, might get more in?
Ear infection pain is worse whe laying down I believe...

thanks - she is a dummy refuser annoyingly, just spits it out and goes at us when we try.

I'll maybe give teething gel a go tomorrow too. syringing calpol is just as useless as spooning it with her, as she spits it out in disgust no matter what.

Get a second opnion.

Get a second opinion NICE recommend children under two have antibiotics for all ear infections.

In which case I agree with the second opinion approach, the gp sounds a bit of a bugger, and you've a young baby too, by the gp dismissing you, it's been left long enough. Good luck x