Baby's ears!

[waiting4bambino]

I know it sounds superficial, but my baby's ears stick out! I still think she is beautiful, and in fact, i think it gives her character, but i'm afraid she'll get teased in later years.
As her ears are still bendy and soft, they often fold when she goes to sleep, if she has leaned that way etc - will this affect how much they stick out? When will they harden like ours?!
Also, do you think they just stick out because she has no hair, or will they always appear this way?
Has any other parents had children who have had the ear pinning operation? This is not something i would choose to have done, but if she chose it herself in later life, then i would allow her to have it if the risks were minimal...

We've come up with a solution for bath times! I got this funny little headband for her and then on top of that I put a shower cap that I've tied a knot in to make it smaller (the type you get in hotels)....she looks so funny but it really works - no wet tapes yet. And we use the special adhesive remover things that they sell on the website. The stink to high heaven but they don't seem to be painful and make removing the tape pretty easy.

Just wanted to add that a friend of mine is a midwife and she stuck her daughter's ears with surgical tape because they stuck out. She did it at around a month I think - I thought it was an odd thing to do but she assured me it was the best thing for sticky out ears. Only thing is I cannot remember how long she taped them for. Maybe google?

Just to put another slant on things -

I grew up with sticking out ears. They are big and really quite prominent. I did get teased, but it really didn't bother me. Other people got teased for other things, this was just my "thing."

Lots of people suggested that my parents got my ears pinned back. They refused as I wasn't bothered. It is a real family trait on my dad's side and thus I'm rather protective and slightly proud of them.

All I'm saying is that you can't assume that your child will be bothered by them. So don't get too hung up on it and perhaps wait to see what happens.

I'm new on here, though have been lurking! I have one ear that sticks out and my mum told me earlier this year (for the first time) that they used to try and make me sleep on that side to stop it. No-one has ever noticed, unless I point it out, which I really should stop doing. I am now 41.

Hello and welcome TurkeyGirl - I also have one ear that sticks out more than the other. Perhaps we could start a club!

Hi, my dd is almost 4 months old now and has one sticky out ear and the other is a little bit sticky out too. Where can you get these ear buddies and are they expensive?

appmac - not sure we allowed to put links on here? Just type ear buddies into google and it comes up. The buddies themselves aren't too bad. But I didn't feel confident fitting them myself so paid for Mr Gault to do it - which is expensive...I think about £200 all in. But that's probably just me being a wally - other people seem to have managed perfectly well fitting them.

I've had to give up for now on the ear buddies. LO keeps pulling at the tapes and really ripping them so I just can't risk her really hurting herself. and it's actually rather lovely to see her little pixie ears again (and they are better than they were even after just a month of taping).

Hi, I have joined mumsnet to give my feedback on using these ear buddies.

We have been using ear buddies for the past 5 weeks since our baby was 2 months old. Whenever we take them off to change the tapes there does seem to be a big difference but sometimes, if we leave the tapes off overnight they do start to stick out a little bit again by about 24 hours. We are hoping that by the time the full treatment is over they will stop re-sticking out.

As the weather is so hot we change the dressings probably once a week to ten days roughly.

One ear is worse than the other so one ear will only need 8 weeks of taping, the other will need 16 weeks.

Our baby has just learned to pull at the tape so we put scratch mitts on as much as possible. It's only for a few more weeks now.

I think it is worth trying, I thought that I would feel awful if my child got teased and asked why I didn't do anything about it when they were still a baby.

We had the splints fitted by Mr Gault - I'm not sure he likes working with babies though as he was a bit grumpy with ours on the day we visited (and it costs a lot to feel like you have been snapped at!!) Having had them fitted I think that you could see how to do it yourself easily at his web site: (go straight to page 26 on this site if you don't want to see surgery pictures) www.davidgault.co.uk/downloads/Ear_Splinting_for_health_professionals.pdf this seems to have much more detailed photos of how to apply the tape than on the ear buddies site. Also, just buying the kit to do it yourself costs about £50 but to get him to supply and fit them costs £240 (a lot when you are on one salary on maternity leave!).

I hope this helps someone )

Cornflakecake x

cornflake - it's so good you started early. I think I started too late. DD was nearly 4 months and after about 3 weeks she was literally ripping at the tapes. We've had to give up as she kept getting sores on her ear (hence her ripping at the tapes!). It didn't make a difference for us as we didn't leave it long enough. So funny reading your comment about Mr Gault. I felt exactly the same. He seems to find it all slightly annoying. My DD seemed to like him though?! But he got cross anytime I asked him a question. Fingers crossed it works for you - it should do...it makes logical sense doesn't it?

Has anyone used ear buddies on an older baby.
Mine is almost 8 months and I would like to start next week.

Okay so between you all you have convinced me to give the ear buddies a go. My little girl (interesting that we all seemed more worried about bat ears for girls than boys) is 4 months and has inherited the ears from her dad (and his dad). If I can save her grief when she at school with a bit of effort (and not a huge cost) now it's got to be worth it - can't be worse than breast feeding with inverted nipples can it! I'm not sure how it's going to fit with the plan to keep swimming lots but I'll let you know how it goes.

So 7 weeks in and it's definitely working. We have taken the tape off and redone it twice now and they are sticking out much less already and we are at the half way point of the 3 months they predict it will take as she was 4 months when we started. The process wasn't that difficult although easier when she was younger and wriggled less! I would recommend buying the remover wipes as it makes taking the tape off very easy. I gave her a day off each time we have replaced the tapes to give her skin a breather but we haven't had any problems with them. I have been taking her swimming and showering and washing as normal without any damp problems occurring. She also seems to be more comfortable with them on as her ears don't get caught forward all the time and pressed on her cheeks. In answer to all the questions raised I am carrying a photo of my hubby as a child so they can see the problem she has inherited. Definitely a good decision to do it.

Our DS is 5 months old today. In the last 6 weeks or so I've noticed his ears are really starting to stick out, and are always folded over when he's in his car seat or just lying down.

Found info on Ear Buddies and seriously considering, although know time is against us now, as the sooner you catch it the better. Considering ordering some today, but I know they'd have to be in place till Christmas! (3 months advised for babies between 4-6 months).

Any other positive stories on here for babies around 5 months old?

I have to add that he couldn't be anymore cute and adorable, but having being bullied my whole school life for goofy teeth, I don't want him to suffer at in the same way.

Our LO was just over 3months old when we fitted the ear buddies. This is only the 5th day he's had them on but the tape has come loose already on one side, so as per instructions I just trimmed the loose part of tape and retaped with fresh tape over it.
I didn't think the tape would come loose so quickly as recommended they stay on 2-3 weeks if possible at a time.
I completely followed the washing and drying ears for 90mins routine before I fitted them. So i'm not sure why the tape has unstuck so quickly. Anyone else have a similar problem?
I did order the extra thick tape from the website but definitely don't think it will last right through if it has to be changed so often. So I will most likely buy some regular surgical tape from ebay or the likes.
I will repost when the 10weeks are up and let you all know how it went.
Oh and to kimbo try using the off plaster adhesive remover wipes as they make it much easier.
Good Luck

Hi mums, as this is a quite old thread I've been wondering about the results of you using earbuddies on your little ones. Any success?
My daughter is 4 months, I've been using EB for 2 months on her but recently one of her ears got really sore under the tape and I had to leave it to heal for a week. Her ears look the same as before i started to use eb, which is very disappointing. Not sure if I continue using them...

Hi fried, I wouldn't be discouraged. We started at 4 months when they say it takes 3-4 months for them to work. After 2 months I'm pretty sure DD's looked the same too but we persevered and they did work. We kept them on until about 7.5 months. There's probably reshaping going on that you can't see in the meantime. Of course there's no guarantee they will work but it was certainly worth the time for us.

Hi Sioda, thanks for the encouragement, I needed it :) I will give my girl a nice bath tomorrow and put them back in.

Help! I've lost one splint :( :( :( Anyone has got a pair/ an odd one that they no longer use??? It looks we need a couple of more weeks to get the ears sorted...

We spent $90 to get the Ear Buddies (we're in the US). It was so difficult to use and EVERYONE asked what was wrong with out child. His skin was so sensitive to the tape. We are trying a new method. It's called Baby's Bonnet. It's worth a shot.