Antibiotics for ear infection?

[SarahScone]

My one year old DS has been prescribed amoxicillin for an ear infection. Doc said both ear canals inflamed and couldn’t see ear drum. Doc said as couldn’t see ear drum there could well be infection going on back there too. Baby has a temp and is v distressed and out of sorts.
Doc has also said that inflamed ear canals don’t usually cause a high temp so that also contributed to her thinking that infection also behind ear drum (?in ear drum? I don’t know exact location…).
Everything I read says that abx aren’t usually required for ear infections (esp as symptoms going on for only 24hrs) as more often than not they are viral. BUT, baby is more ill and unhappy with this than I have seen him with anything else so perhaps correct call, even if only a ‘just in case’??

Any child health practitioners or mums of children who have lots of ear infections, your insight and wisdom would be gratefully received!

If he’s got a raging ear infection just give the antibiotics. I can’t believe you’d rather have reassurance from randomers off MN than an actual doctor who saw your child!

I am both a paediatric nurse and a mom of a child who had terrible ear infections and needed antibiotics every single time. Once, he was admitted with ? Sepsis due to his ear infection. He had to have IVAB and blood cultures so yes, I’d give them.

@TinkerbellStarbright your second paragraph is helpful. First - not so much.

I have no intention of deviating from the advice of my GP, I am looking for other people’s experiences which in your second paragraph, you kindly shared.

Yep, the guideline state that most ear infections get better without antibiotics. However it is a brave practitioner who will have that discussion with most parents. Parents want SOMETHING and will become abusive and threatening if antibiotics are not prescribed when they believe they are needed. I have been there and it is terrifying the way some parents behave in front of their own children.
Of course antibiotics are important and save lives but the vast majority of ear infections are viral, science tells us this.
If your dr has prescribed them then there is your answer.

I can only speak from my experience but my daughter has had several ear infections requiring antibiotics and her ear drum has perforated on several occasions, preceded by bad pain. On one occasion the GP could only see that it was sore and she had a temperature, so she didn't give her antibiotics and instead prescribed a spray to relieve the pain, even though I said this is how she was before her ear drum had perforated a previous time... what happened next was exactly as I'd predicted - the pain worsened, her ear drum burst (then we couldn't use the spray anyway!) and then we ended up with me having to swab her ear to collect samples and eventually she was given stronger antibiotics as the infection was a lot worse than previous ones. Since then I have been firm (not rude or abusive) if she's had similar symptoms that she does need antibiotics to clear it. (She also had glue ear which has now resolved)

Hope your little one is better soon, ear infections are horrid, I can still remember the pain from when I was a child!

PS I also tend to give probiotics to try and counteract the negative effects of the antibiotics, so that might be something you could consider?