Should you clean your babys ears?

[Hughsie]

ds2 of 9 months has an ear infection and doc mentioned his ears were waxy...... so to clean or not to clean that is the question????

Funnily enough, Hughsie, I was just thinking about this for my ds of 5mo. At present he doesn't have an ear infection, but I can see some wax just inside his ear. Not sure whether to clean it out or if this will just make things worse (ie. I could push it in further).

Looking forward to the replies!

I've never cleared either of mine's ears but they've never really looked unduly waxy. Ds1 used to get ear infections but no-one mentioned cleaning his ears. Somehow I've got an idea that you're not supposed to dig about in there but I'm probably wrong.

I wondered too!

You mustn't poke anything into a baby's ear, but you can wipe around the outer part with a flannel, which usually takes the worst of the wax just inside the ear with it, if you see what I mean.

Having said that, I think I have done this once or maybe twice on dd. It just doesn't seem necessary.

Again, you definitey shouldn't be digging around in them - I generally wipe round ocassoinally with a flannel in the bath, but just the shell, not down the ear canal.

If it helps, my ds2 is prone to ear infections, and for us often the first sign is that the ear is very waxy, I think this is because the infection slightly raises the temp. in the ear,m, thus melting the wax a bit & it coming out of the ear, so maybe in future you can look out for this?

That's what I thought - I know you are not supposed to use buds on them - i just thought it was surprising that the gp mentioned it - mind you I wasn't very impressed with her anyway so she probably didn't realise that it would worry me. I have only ever cleaned ds1 with a cloth when I can see some but never probed as they are so delicate. With me - I always clean after a shower with a bud - but then you can judge your own ear much better.

you can get special cotton buds - johson and johson do them and tesco do an own brand - which are specially shaped so that you can't push them in too far
hope that helps

they just clean the bits of the ear that you can see but cant reach

i agree with popsycal - the johnson special buds are brillant - i've always cleaned dd's with these and so far we've never hada ny infection.

As i have really bad ears (deaf in one of them) i find if wax is in the outer canal i'm more likely to get infections.

The best time to do it is when they come out the bath as the wax is soft and more often than not comes away on it's own.

hope this is of some help.

we were told by our GP to make sure that your baby/child lies down in the bath to get water in their ears which loosens the wax. If they won't lie down then to pour water over their hair, and hope that some trickles in.

According to this article more people are harmed each year by cotton wool buds than by razor blades! I only clean the shell bit of the ear. If there's a problem with wax, then an HP should deal with it, I reckon.

Since DD was just a few weeks old, I have used the cotton buds and twirl them around in the ear - only the visible part to pull out what is visible to me. I know this hasn't pushed anything in, as I have managed to extract quite a bit of wax out of DDs ears this way. I also of course use the cotton buds to clean all around her ear. DD has never had an ear infection, so I think it's okay. I must admit that when I can see a huge hunk of yellow wax sitting right there and readily extractable, I would have to restrain myself not to do anything about it.

There is an old saying that nothing smaller than your elbow should go in your ear. I have always been told that it is an excellent saying, adn we should lsiten to it. Incidentally I know 2 nurses who are mums and they both told me the same thing. So, I clean the shell with a flannel in the bath, but never, ever use a cotton bud, or try to clean inside. As suedonim said, it can be really dangerous.

A midwife in hospital got me to clean out obvious bits of wax near the surface, but said do it with a cloth that has been really WELL SQUEEZED, so no water drips down into the ear, as this could spread infection.