Anyone gone dairy free for glue ear?

[oohdaddypig]

Hi - I would really appreciate your stories here please as I feel like I'm fighting a lone battle.

DD - 4 - suffered a lot of ear infections as a baby and now has persistent glue ear causing moderate hearing loss. I really want to get this sorted before she starts school. Grommets are being suggested and if they work than fine, but I hear lots of stories of them falling out etc

All the medics tell me there is no link to dairy intake. I am not sure i believe this. I can't have dairy myself due to sinusitis. I see lots of anecdotal online about glue ear resolving with removal of dairy. Some paediatricians even recommend it.

Have you tried it and if so, did you exclude even goat milk? What about butter? I am not keen on soya products so am scratching my head for alternatives. My main concern is calcium/fats/protein that dairy provides.

Thanks so much to anyone who responds.

Thanks vworp - I like stories like yours, as all too often I have only heard negative stories about grommets!

From personal experience, if I have any dairy - even butter (sadly) I suffer revolting mucus in my sinuses which extends to my ears. I think, in my case anyway, it's the casein rather than the lactose.

I am quite nervous about seeing ENT tomorrow. We have waited nine months for this appointment so I want to have a meaningful discussion and not be fobbed off.

Has anyone else been offered and used the temporary hearing aids method? I will give dairy free a go. Any recommends for milk for cereal in the morning?

I too suffer with sinuses, and try not to eat dairy (not alway avoidable I find, is in lots of things!)

My children both had ear infection after ear infection, and both went deaf (one almost total hearing loss). Their faces when they came round from the anaesthetic, and could hear... well, it was priceless really

Both of them have had pretty much infection-free afterwards, though each has had 1 nasty outer ear infection since (4 years for DD, 1 year ago for DS). In fact, DS recently had a stinker of a cold, and had some bunged up ears a little, with sore throat etc, and he actually said "now I remember what it was like when I was little Mummy" as he had some earache that day

Ds1, breastfed from birth to one year, occasional bottle of formula when I was at work. Got lots of ear infections from around 6 months. Eventually got grommets at 20 months, made a huge difference. He still had a horrible runny nose all the time, thick, green mucus, his nose was always dirty. We took him off cows milk, gave him goat's milk and soya yoghurts. His nose was much better when we did that.

Ds2, breastfed from birth to one year, also glue ear, needed grommets at 18 months. The first time he got a bottle of formula, he came out in a rash, GP said it was exzema and to keep bfing at long as possible. Nose not as bad as ds1 but kept them both cows milk free.

Ds3 breastfed till 3, no glue ear as a toddler, but developed it at 5. I wondered if the fact that I'd continued to bf had protected him against glue ear as a toddler but that he's still developed it after we finished.

Ds4, breastfed till 2, no glue ear at all. He's five now with perfect hearing.

Love&Death- my DC were ebf for 17mo ea- both had ear infections from 6mo or so. With DS I was totally dairy free whilst feeding, as he had horrific eczema, and that seemed to help. I lost tons of weight, and had decent sinuses, but he still had ear infections.

Thanks all for the information.

ENT were great and the doctor was very approachable, non dismissive and thoughtful in her views.

There isn't widespread evidence that dairy free works and its hard to implement. She was happy for me to give it a shot for three months so I'm starting in the new year and we will do another hearing test early April.

If it doesn't work, I will be happy to go with grommets.

I think I will go with oatly milk. Would love to share experiences and idea from anyone going the same route.

I really appreciate that people have posted. Mumsnet is great for this sort of thing. :)

I have also been given a good recipe for home made almond milk if anyone is interested. Additive free and natural source of calcium.

No moos...

@oohdaddypig it's a long time ago I know but what was thy outcome for you? We're going through something similar.