Earwax removal in a 3 yo, any tips?

[MilesHuntsWig]

Do you use warm olive oil? Doesn't this make your pillows grim? Any other proven methods? Thanks

Don't. Any excess will work its own way out.

Why do you think your 3 year old needs earwax removing? If there are any issues such as with hearing, go to the gp rather than mess around with such a delicate area.

Yes olive oil drops work a treat. Put a towel on the pillow or change the pillowcase frequently.

My youngest had earwax, the nurse suggested the drops. I agree that you should have your dc see by a Gp or nurse, if you are concerned about dc's earwax

GP told me to! Thanks for tips.

olive oil works for many really well but didn't for my DD. We tried it for about a year on the advice of audiologist. We were then advised to try sodium bicarbonate by ENT Dr and it worked brilliantly. Just Incase olive oil isn't a success....

Ask Boots (other pharmacies are available) for the fizzy drops. They are either Hydrogen Peroxide or Sodium Bicarbonate, but the fizzing breaks up the lumps of ear wax which can then work their way out.

A little That your concern is mucky pillows, tbh.

How do you apply the bicarb, Boboma? We're all quite waxy, mine are itchy and irritated - I'm constantly resisting ear wanking scratching them

Sorry, should have said - they were just over the counter bicarb ear drops from the chemist. We just had to do drops twice a day for a week, same as doing olive oil.

Thanks for helpful tips.

Tbh I'm a bit that asking for pretty innocuous advice leads to a suggestion that I'm "messing around" unnecessarily from one poster (when actually I'm looking for implementation advice following a dr's recommendation) and an implication that I prize my pillowcases above my child's health from another (of course I'll do it whatever the downside if required, I just don't see the point of doing something the hard way if alternatives are available?).

Maybe I'm falling into the trap of reading more into text than I should be (possibly due to having been up with a sick child for the last 4 nights and working) but sometimes people here really seem to be just trying to pick holes in others or spoiling for a fight. It's a real shame.

Don't worry hun. Lots of self righteous, judgey bell-ends on Mumsnet. Hope you get some sleep soon. No advice on ear wax - think you're going to have to live with minging pillow cases.

Get some cheaply white pillow cases (Asda smart price or whatever) then you can see if there's anything coming out at night and boil wash them if they do get a bit icky.
A lot of children I look after that age have wax issues and the olive oil does help.

Thanks sugartits and trouble

You didn't say in your o/p it was on a dr's advice though? That's kind of a key fact, don't you think?

"Messing around" with ears can do a lot of harm. If someone has a problem with earwax I'd always suggest a trip to the gp to see if there's any underlying cause or if the earwax is enough of a problem to need removing. Especially a 3 yo.

That's all. I wasn't going to start advising on pouring stuff down your ears or whatever - that's a dr's job.

I am also rather surprised the Dr didn't tell you how to proceed safely, and just left to following advice on non- qualified people on t'internet.

I'd go to a pharmacist and ask their advice.

Thanks for your concern Micah (I do mean that btw!), I didn't include it in the OP as it was an implementation question rather than a motivation question.

Anyway, on the advice of several I'll be sanity checking this with a pharmacist this pm.

Miles when I had to do this I put a soft towel on top of the pillow at night. It didn't work for us incidentally, my DS had to have it suctioned out and the Paediatrician said it was so impacted it would never have come out with the olive oil. Do u have an ent referral? If not get one