How to help toddlers glue ear from home

[Peeshy123]

My son has a language regression about 6 month ago. Today we had an hearing test which he didn't really cooperate with so they couldn't measure exactly how much hearing loss he has but they've said he has fluid on both ears, more on the left side. He has to go back in two weeks to try and play the game again to check how much he hears but in the meantime is there anything I can do at home to help?

We were recommended by the doctor to buy an Otovent to help with glue ear at home. They sell them on amazon.

@Oceansriseempiresfall did it help at all, and how did it work?

You could try a saline nasal spray, my son had really bad glue ear, he got grommets recently and amazing changes in him! But at the consult with the consultant he recommended using a saline nasal spray up to 3 times a day while we were waiting on our appointment. Now we tried it and he was having none of it (he just turned 4) but the doctor said some parents found it helped?

@Daniki right thank you. He always seems to be blocked up so I have some of that around the house tbh

@Peeshy123hope it helps!

I would learn some makaton or bsl so he doesn't get too frustrated. They will probably offer hearing aids if he is still struggling to hear the the next appointment. He will grow out of it eventually. People do.

My son had glue ear for a few years. The audiologist recommended an Otovent.

Did they not offer you gromits?

Also did it work? My son isn't quite two and I've just had a look and it says not to do that until they are 3

Otovent or blowing a balloon was all DS was offered for years. And he was so hard of hearing that he had no clear words and would jump out of his skin if you came up behind him.
After 3 ASD screenings, loads of hearing tests and watchful waiting he finally had grommets age 4. He was using full sentences in days. But needed speech therapy for a year.

My 22 month old got grommets. They was putting him under anyways to fix his sleep apnea. He has 0 words and they just did them while they was there anyways. He'll probably need them re done when they fall out.

The differnce has been amazing.

This is very much anecdata, but one of our relatives had a child who was very snotty and had glue ear as well. The poor little chap developed a cows milk intolerance of some kind, so he was put on soya milk, yogurt, ice cream etc instead. Within a few weeks, the runny nose had cleared up, and at his next hearing check, his hearing was fine. The family has since assumed that removing cows milk products helped. This was going back years, there might be proper research around it now.

Grommets are not normally offered nowadays. They are a pain in the bum as you have to make sure that absolutely no water goes into their ears or they can end up with permanent hearing loss.

My DD is having grommets in, tonsils and adenoids out shortly - it's been a long time coming! Things that we were told to try to help the glue ear were the otovent balloon and blowing bubbles in water through your nose (neither of these were happening for DD!) but also eating lots of crunchy food like baguette, carrot sticks etc.

My son also struggled with this when he was little and turned out to be dairy intolerance - try a couple of weeks with no dairy and see how your son gets on - definitely worth a try 😊 But please also look into dairy alternatives - we were advised against soya as it contains hormones.

My 2yr old is under ENT for glue ear and nasal congestion.
With hearing loss.

We are waiting for another hearing test in 4months, but in the mean time we are using a saline spray in the nose 2 x per day.

They did also say they could prescribe a steroid nasal spray. But wanted to try the saline one first.

Interesting reading the other responses about dairy intolerance.

My eldest has CMPA and the 2yr old has just been advised to go dairy free due to bad nappies. Only a week in, but I wonder if this will help their nose!

We were on the list for grommets for 3 years!

They worked for my daughter at 6 ish. She complained of struggling to hear, we got a hearing test that showed hearing loss due to glue ear. We got an otovent and used it 3x daily before the follow up hearing test and it cleared it. She mentioned hearing problems again the following winter, but the otovent cleared it so we didn't go for tests again.

However, I think a child under about 5 would probably struggle to understand how to use them, let alone be able to do it. They have to hold one nostril closed, blow into the otovent balloon with the other, and if that doesn't cause their ears to pop, hold their breath at that stage and swallow a few times. The first couple of times they do it seems to be the hardest to get their ears to pop - it does get easier after that.

What alternative did you use for milk?

I used oat milk- it's got a milder flavour I think than some of the others like almond milk. Try to introduce the sugar free ones though as they can be quite sweet otherwise!

I didn't realise it was done by popping there ears.
It makes sense that they would get easier to pop, when I was a child I made a habit of popping my ears (god knows why) but now they pop themselves when I drive up a hill 🤣

My son got given hearing aids for about 9 months, until the glue ear cleared. Made a huge difference and no waiting list (unlike grommets). Audiologist said that age 2 he was too young to be able to do the otovent properly.

Don't think I'll be able to explain to my 23 month old to stick his head in some water and blow through his nose, he still tries to eat bubbles when we tell him to try 🤣

That's awful! Did they not offer temporary hearing aids?