22 Month Old Taking Zyrtec to Dry up Ear Fluid

I had never been given the advise to use Zyrtec, but I do have a child that had tubes put in.

From experience, (I had 2 kids with countless ear infections....one ended up with tubes) ear infections usually happen between October and March when your child is more apt to get sick. So, HOPEFULLY this will be her last one for a while.

If you have to go the tube route, let me tell you, it is the BEST thing ever. We had soooo many miserable nights due to ear infections and the tubes made them all go away. Our daughter still had a couple ear infections after the tubes, but the fluid was able to leak out of the tubes rather than pool up in their ear causing the pressure.

Good Luck...ear infections are the worst in little ones!!

1 mom found this helpful

Sounds pretty normal to me. We had an ENT recommend the same thing for my daughter.

Specialists will often recommend things that a normal pediatrician or family physician are hesitant to do. Generally speaking, pediatricians are more conservative on their approach to treating illnesses. That's why they refer us to specialists. The specialist is far more equipped to handle the situation than the regular doctor. If the course of action that the pediatrician was taking was working, you wouldn't be seeing the ENT. I say go ahead and give her the Zyrtec as the ENT prescribed.

You might also want to look into chiropractics. Sometimes the tubes that drain the ears can become kinked. A simple adjustment by a chiropractor might be the key to solving the problem.

My son (now 20 months) has been on Zyrtec for allergies since he was about 14 months. He has horrible seasonal allergies, so from spring until fall, he gets 1/4 tsp. every night before bed. The only thing we find is that it makes him very sleepy, so that's why we do it before bed. No more runny eyes, runny nose, or congestion! We tend to use the Wal-Mart or Sam's Club brand just because it's more affordable for us!

My daughter has had about 14 ear infections in her life so far (she is 28 months old) thursday she is having her second set of ear tubes done. Her Ped NOR her ENT has ever prescribed anything for the ear fluid..my daughter just always has the fluid there.
I think was he gave you is another form of Benedryl so it just dries everythign up (for allergies etc)
I cant wait for her to have her surgury...when she has her tubes, we are pretty much ear infection free for about 6+ months...once they fall out she gets infections approx once a month..ICK.
PS the tube surgery literally lasts about 10 mins...its pretty minor

My 4 and a half yr old uses Zyrtec for allergies, congestion and whenever she has an ear infection and my 3 yr old has been using it since she was 2 and they both get 1 tsp (5ml). I would definately keep using it to see if it helps with the fluid. My 3yr old uses it for a cough that she gets and was getting as a baby but they wouldnt let her use allergy med until she was 2 so she was on a neb that wasnt helping and the zyrtec helps.

My daughter had an ear infection a couple of months ago and her pediatrician told me to give her some zyrtec at bedtime to help dry up fluid, runny nose, etc. I gave it to her recently as well since allergy season is kicking up and her nose started running again.

my son lived on Claritin from age 2-3 1/2 & then on Zyrtec until he was 6. It worked wonders for his allergies.

Our pediatrician put our son on Zyrtec for allergies for congestion due to allergies (and in part to prevent secondary ear infections), when he was 18m (at 1/2 tsp dose). However, we found, for his specific situation, Singulair works better for him.

I think it's probably more accurate to say that the Zyrtec will help stop the body from producing more fluid as a reaction to allergies, and probably won't actually "dry it up," so to speak.

i don't know the answer to your question but I would encourage you to do some googling on ear infections and probiotics. At the very least I would get her on a good vitamin with prebiotics. I will be happy to send you a link to both if you like.

Alfalfa root is a natural decongestant...... just another thought.

My daughter is 21 now but had the same issue. Zyrtec wasn't around then but they did prescribe things to try to dry the fluid, because if the fluid is there it will only turn into an ear infection. My daughter did end up with the tubes which was no big deal. They did the job, the surgery was over in 10 minutes and no problems after her tubes were put in. My daughter was on antibiotics and decongestants for 6 months straight before we did the tubes, if I had to do it again I would have gotten the tubes sooner and avoided all of that medication. If it doesn't clear the fluid first round I would just get the tubes, verses more courses of antibiotics and Zyrtec. Good luck!!

My kids never took Zyrtec for this reason, but I've done it as an adult. It does work well, for me, as I'm prone to that fluid buildup. I hope you find it effective for your daughter. If you're nervous about using this drug, ask the ENT what he/she thinks about it and ask the pharmacist as well.

I'd have your doctor and the ENT speak. IF the specialist says 5mg and the dr says 2.5 - who do you go with? I'd look into that further.

My daughter was on Allegra at that age and it helped a lot.