really upset that DS has an ear infection ...........................

[tumpymother]

My PFB so I am probbaly being a bit over sensitive but my DS stopped BF on Sunday eve. I rang the practice for a bit of advice on Mon as he was really out of sorts. He had a high temp on Mon night so rang out of hours GP. He still wasn't right on Tues so I got an appt and took him to the practice and he was examined and I was told it was one of the viral things going round ( My DH has had it and I have got it). Noticed on Thurs am that he has a bit of gunk in one of his ears so got DH to get an appt and take him to practice. He went and was found to have an ear infection and prescribed anti bs. This morning I noticed all sorts of gunk all over his cot sheet and when we rang the practice ( we have got our monies worth this week !) for advice they said he had a perforated ear drum. We need to take him back next week to be checked to make sure it is healing. he is on the mend now and was bouncing round the room as normal today. He is BF normally and drinking a lot but not eating a great deal.
I feel so - wondering if I could have done anything to prevent this happening or anything I could do differently if it happens again ?

awww, don't feel bad. there's nothing you could have done to stop it happening. sounds like you did everything right.
hope he is all healed up and ok

ds3's ear drum burst repeatedly. He's fine. Both ds1 and ds3 had repeated ear infections until growing out of them at around age 2 and a half/3. Not much you can do. Some children are prone to them.

please don;t feel bad.....this has happened to my DS2, and missed too!

it is an awful feeling thinking that you could have done something, but seriously, it is not always obvious, even if the docs look in their ears.

am glad he is on the mend.

You could not have prevented it so stop toturing yourself However perforated ear drums dont always heal, they stop hurting but dont necessaraly heal, so even when he is well and full of beans, check with the doc that it has healed fine, mine never healed and if I submerge my head in water the pain in my ear is agony, and lasts for days, I have to wear an earplug when swimming and in the bath, not trying to worry you btw, just making you aware so you can be careful at bath times.

Your poor DS! I know how you feel, sort of...I had repeated hideous ear infections as a child and am too scared to stop BFing in case my DS gets them too.

A perforated eardrum is not as bad as it sounds - it will have relieved the pressure in his ear, and he will be in a lot less pain now it has burst. There isn't much you can do to stop him getting them, but when I was little I used to find laying on a warm towel/covered hot water bottle very soothing for the sore ear.

Hope he is feeling better soon

You have done everything right, so don't beat yourself up. DD has perforated her eardrum a couple of time - it allows the gunk and pressure out. Not nice, but some children are just prone.

My DD has a perforated ear drum at the moment too. The first thing we noticed was the pus coming out of her ear (she had seemed viral but hadnt been pulling at her ear or anything)
Chances are it will heal up fine. This is the second time that my DD has perforated her eardrum and it healed fine the first time. We have to go back in a week to make sure it has healed.

It sounds like you did everything you could have done to prevent this, but even with the best care this will happen sometimes. If its any consolation he probably felt a lot better once it had perforated, and the pressure in his ear reduced.

thanks all lovely MNetters. I do feel slightly better now. Probably feeling extra sensitive cos I feel so rough myself at the mo.
Will make sure I get him checked properly before we go swimming again as we are doing Water Babies which involves lots of underwater swimming - not great in this circumstance ! What did any of you do about baths ? We usually bath him every night or every other night but I have not done it for a few days now cos it felt like adding insult to injury for him ! Only thing is he is getting a bit gunky round his hair as its quite unruly and curly near his ears! nice !

you could try putting a bit of cotton wool in the affected ear before washing his hair and that should keep most of the water away from it

Hi, I just suffered from this myself! A other posters said when the eardrum actually bursts it does release the pressure and reduces the pain substantially. the doc said it's usually just a tiny hole that can heal in about a week.

As part of my reading up on this when i was ill i found out that young children are very prone to ear infections as their ear canals are short and a different shape compared to an adult so easier for the bugs to travel to the ea (from nose, throat etc).

Hope your DS is better soon. I'm sure it was coincidence that you just stopped BF - I don't think the antibodies from your bm would leave his body that quickly.

thx - I didn't stop BF - he went on a nursing strike for 18 hours to start with but he is back on form in his true guise as a milk monster ! probably now his ears feel a bit less sore.

DD had ear infection a week ago and then continued pain from fluid on the ear. According to the GP, their bodies produce extra mucus to fight an infection but their little eustachian tubes that run from the ear struggle with the extra mucus, hence pressure and pain on the ear ... so nothing you could have done to prevent this.

DD's ear hasn't perforated (yet) but GP said it would actually provide relief from pressure and pain if that happened (as others have said above). He also said if discharge continued for more than 2-3 days to go back to docs.