3 Year Old Getting Tubes in His Ears

I went to a speech and learning disability class once with an audial specialist, and several moms had children who had tubes at one time. I never forgot that two of them said milk was the culprit - and once the milk was discontinued their problem stopped. I can't say I have experience with tubes so I can't make any claims.

As a person that has had tubes (5 sets as a child) and also as a parent of a child that has had them I can tell you that the best thing you can do is make sure they he has his pain meds on time and something cool to suck on. Something like frozen gogurts would be helpful. Be ready with a comfy blanket and give lots of hugs and kisses. Part of having tubes in is experiencing things louder than before because the fluid will be draining away from the eardrum, this can be disorienting. He will have an ear ache because they put the tube through the eardrum. That's all I can think of atm. It is well worth it though if he can hear better. Good luck!

Hi K.,
my son now almost 10 was just over 1 year old when he had tubes put in both his ears for chronic ear infections. he had trouble hearing and was miserable all the time. after the procedure he was cranky probably the rest of the day from the anesthesia which is normal, but immediately we could tell a difference in his hearing he was a happy baby immediately. the difference was amazing. the best thing we did for him. good luck and I hope your experience is as great as our was.
happy new year
S.

Our oldest son (now 9) had tubes put in when he was almost 4 yrs. It was a very quick & painless surgery. he wa sin & out in barely 20 minutes. He had no pain after the surgery. We went to a pre-op apppointment that explained everything to him on a level he could understand. The anastecia (SP?) was administered thru a mask that smelled like fruits or candy so he got to chose which flavor he wanted. I think that really helped. They let him take that mask home so he could get used to it. I also found a book about going to the hospital. It's written by Usbourne Books & you can find it on-line or at Barnes & Noble. We read that every day before hand so he had a basic idea of what to expect. it allwent very well. For some kids,the tubes (VERY small) usually fall out on their own after a year or so but our son's had to be removed after a year. Again, completely painless. Best of luck!

My twin sons were 1 1/2 years old when they got their ear tubes. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly they were up and running around after the surgery. One thing to know is that when he comes out of surgery he may wake up very grouchy. Our one son cried and was inconsolable for awhile. The Dr. said this is typical behavior, though.

I was the child who had tubes put in her ears. It helped temporarily, but I later had problems again with fluid build up. The doctors wanted me to have my adenoids and tonsils removed. At this point my parents got a second opinion and I was put on Dimetapp for 2 weeks. I went from being legally deaf to hearing just fine without surgery.

Fast forward to my kids. My eldest daughter started having problems with excess fluid build up, so I did some research. I began to suspect allergies and told the doctor so. He looked at me a little strangely, but consented to the allergy panel anyway. It turned out she was allergic to dust mites and since I have taken all the necessary measures to clear out the house of them, she doesn't have problems with it anymore. Then I went a step further when it became clear the allergies were getting worse over time (not at home, but when she visited others) I looked into treating it homeopathically. She has been on the homeopathic drops for dust, yeast, and mold for about 6 months now and is doing great! She even reintroduced a couple of stuffed animals to sleep with without any problem.

So, long story short, I would look into possible allergies that may be causing the problem before I subjected my child to surgery. Good luck!

K.,
My youngest son (now grown) had 2 sets of tubes, but things may have been different back then. Between the multiple ear infections and the tubes he has scars on his ear drums and a partial hearing loss in both ears. He had speech and hearing issues (relatively minor) but excelled in school. What no one told us was what was causing the ear infections in the fisrt place. We finally figured out that it was food allergies or sensitivity (oatmeal, milk, peanut butter, chocolate, and food colorings) that were causing all the problems. Once we took him off all the offending items his ears cleared up, his nose stopped running, and he stopped having those dark circles under his eyes - all classic signs of allergies/sensitivity. What was also interesting was that some foods or food combinations would actually change his behavior. He still has reactions but knows what he shouldn't eat and makes his own choices.

The tubes were very helpful to relieve the pain and discomfort, but finding out the base cause was critical to his health improving. Best wishes for a good outcome. -J.

Hi!

My son had tubes put in when he was a little older, about 7 but I've also had many Gymboree parents who have been through this surgery with children of your child's age. It's pretty quick and they recover quite well. Our surgeon was Dr. Wesman and he's fantastic. Many of our clients have used him as well. I think there's alot of parent anxiety before the procedure (understandably) but it's really a pretty safe and basic surgery. I hope all goes well for you.

J. F.

My 3 year old nephew just had this down the weekend before Thanksgiving...My mom (she's rasing him) said it was a breeze. He was in and out in 20 minutes. In fact, the doctor had 20 kids lined up to go.. Apparently its a light anesthesia so there was no groginess or anything like that. he was actually way better than his normal self. He actually came down w/ an ear infection right before the surgery so that could explain the change in temperment. He's speech and hearing is already showing improvement. The hardest part was the no food or drink prior to the procedure.
I should note though depending on how much your daughters hearing was affected and her temperment certain sounds may set her off. My g/f's 2 yr old went ballistic the first time he heard a toilet flush. My nephew didn't seem too frazzled by sounds, but now we do find him plugging his ears when things get too loud, previously that was never an issue. Good luck hopefully the tubes work for your daugher :)

My daughter had tubes put in at 11 months and we have not had any troubles since (about 5 months). The surgery was super fast!! The doc took her at about 7:00 AM and by about 7:20 she was back with us having a snack. She was her normal self silly playfull self the rest of the day!
The scheduler did tell us that they went in order from youngest to oldest and she was not allowed to eat after midnight until the surgery.

Good luck!! I hope everything that goes as well for you as it did for us!

My son is 5 and has had two sets of tubes. The surgery is very routine and not a big deal at all. I know the anethstesia can be scary, but my son never had a problem. Two things I would tell you is to have the doctor check the adenoids if they haven't already, and (as another person already mentioned) eliminate milk from your childs diet. We took the milk out of my sons diet and it made a world of difference! He was still getting infections with the tubes, but not as often. I just give my son cheese and yogurt to meet his dairy needs.

Good Luck!

My son was 3 yrs and 3 mos old when he had his adenoids removed and tubes in his ears. The night of the surgery was the first night he slept more than two hours at a stretch and through the night (!) since he was born. The first night I slept through as well; OK so I did check several times to make sure he was still alive. He is now 20 has had no additional ear infections. After surgery he started eating (no more vomiting) and talking. The temper tantrums stopped also. His speech was delayed and he was difficult to understand until first grade. I considered speech therapy but his speech improved on it's own and therapy wasn't necessary. Please know that he was VERY cranky for a few hours immediately after surgery and then slept for several hours. He woke up later in the afternoon and was very happy. Have the surgery, life for everyone will be great afterwards.

I had this surgery when I was 5 and everything turned out great! It really did help. Good luck to you!

My son got tubes in his ears when he was three. I put it off and put it off. I tried eliminating all kinds of things. I tried homeopathy. In the end, he got the tubes and never had another ear infection. I wish I would have known it wasn't THAT big of a deal. It turned out great! I wish the same for you.