My 10 month old daughter has been fighting ear pain for the last month. We went through 2 different antibiotics and after each 10-day batch of antibiotics, was ok for a couple days and then it returned. She complains and pulls at the top of her ears several times a day. The pediatrician only says "oh its just a little reddish in there" and doesn't think this is a big deal but it is CONSTANT and everytime she wakes up in the night crying, she wakes our 3 year old too... In the last week, she started putting her hand to her temple and crying, as if she has a bad headache. I suffer from migraines and am worried she's getting those too. Any advise for over-the-counter or homeopathic remedies that have worked for you? Could this be part of teething? She got her top two front teeth and bottom two front teeth all at the same time... could she be working on more?
Thank you to EVERYONE for your wonderful advise. It is much appreciated - i didnt think of food allergies causing that but have started a food journal for her. Lilly went to the dr and there is nothing wrong with her ears. He said it is more than likely the fact she is cutting 2 upper teeth at the same time and a lower tooth as well. The pain is in the front of her face but can sometimes feel like it is in their ears or temples because it is part of the jaw. He reassured my husband there is no reason to see an ENT; however, I'm going to check one out to be safe. I REALLY dont want her having migraines like me and my grandmother do. My triggers are usually chocolate and stress, and I dont give her chocolate anyways and try to keep things calm for her as much as possible with a 3 year old brother. Thanks again, you are all gems!
I had something similar with my son and ended up taking him to an ENT. Actually, he was an allergy specialist. She may be keeping the ear infection because of allergies? My kiddo ended up getting ear tubes and hasn't had any trouble since!! The dr. we saw was in Rockville, MD - Dr. Michael Morris. Good luck!
I've heard garlic/mullein oil works wonders for ear aches and infection. I've recently had a Terrible cold with aching ears and headache that got worse and unbearable by the day so I bought some garlic/ mullein from the local health store and within two applications the ear pain and headache dissapeared. When my 11 month old son caught my cold, I put one drop of an ear remedy by Gaia herbs called ear drops for children which includes mullein flower oil, St johns wort,garlc oil, goldenseal extract, lobelia herb, and olive oil in his ear, three times a day for about 4 days from the start of his cold. I didn't want to take any chances of him getting an ear infection. But it's important not to put anything inthe ear if there is a ruptured ear drum. I also gave him an immune support Formula called sambu gaurd For children for about a week at the start of his cold, which contains echinacea and elderberry. Other than having a runny nose and some congestion, my son was acting normal and happy with his cold. I've noticed him tugging at his ears for a day or two but he's fine now. I also have him on probiotics which works wonders for him.
Have you looked into allergies for your daughter? Hidden allergies/ intolerance may be causing ear problems and migraines for your baby.
If what she is having are teething pains, I've used camilia teething relief by boiron which worked well for my son.
Im so sorry you are going through this. Like the others mothers suggested maybe taking her to a ent migt help figure out what is causing her distress.
Several things come to mind. One is that she has a new food allergy, it may be to something new, or may be something that just developped. Start by changing milks, believe ti or not many milk allergies in children start as ear infections. I swithced my son from cow's milk to almond milk and no more ear infections. My others have only had ear infections when teething or they have a cold. Another suggestion is to get the chemicals out of your house. I switched my house over to cleaner, safer, and healthier products and my children are rarely sick now. In fact, this is the first year that any of has been sick since I switched stores. I use the EcoSense line of products and couldn't be happier. It could be part of teething as well, but back to the food issue. Did you know that 70% of your immune system is your intestines. If you don't already, start reading labels and find out what is in your food and hers, there are many triggers for migraines as you probably know. If you know wqhat your triggers are, see if she has similar ones. I hope that this helped and I am sorry that it was sooo long. IF you have any more questions, email me: ____@____.com
Find a good ear nose and throat Dr. I take my child to ENTAA care in Maryland. You really need to go to a specialist I'm surprised the Dr. has not referred you to one yet. This could be her tonsils or her tubes in her ears are not growing correctly. I needed tubes as a child and my child was always getting sick we finally got her tonsils out and all is much better.
Its very possible that teething, or any kind of congestion, could be causing the discomfort. Also, pulling on the ears doesn't necessarily mean there's an ear infection, some kids just like to play with their ears.
You could try tylenol and motrin (you can alternate them every 4 hours) to see if it offers her comfort.
Do you know for sure that the first ear infection went away? Its possible that it was still infected and just flared back up when the antibiotics wore out of her system. Perhaps a stronger antibiotic or a longer period of time on the antibiotic is necessary.
Have you seen an ENT? If she is having this kind of pain and recurring ear infections, it may mean she needs tubes. But since you're not getting this issue resolved with your pediatrician, I'd go to a specialist.
She certainly could be having headaches/migraines. Migraines are heireditary. My son was diagnosed at age 6. The pediatrician said she wasn't comforitable putting him on imitrix or the other migraine meds a this young age and recommended that we give him a slightly larger dose of Motrin the moment he starts complaining of the headache (he knows the diff between a reg headache and a big one) and he will tell us which he thinks it is. The ped said that if we give him a dose right away, we may be able to nip it in the bud. It's actually worked so far. She was very adamant about giving him the Motrin to the point where she said to carry Motrin around like an epi pen - it's that serious. I love our pediatrician.
Anyway, go see an ENT and see what they say. The ear pain could simply be causing the headaches.
Good luck
Jules
Hi A.,
I've had a lot of experience with ear trouble - my son began having infections at 6 weeks old, had three sets of tubes and didn't grow out of this problem until he was 7 years old. I doubt very much that your daughter's pain is due to teething. I would find a good ENT (ear nose and throat doc) and get a thorough work up. If the ENT can't find anything then go to a good neurologist. A 10 month old shouldn't be in that much pain. Good luck and keep searching for an answer.
This could be an allergy symptom. Cow milk is the number one food allergy. Take the child off all dairy and see if she clears up. Unfortunately many doctors know nothing about allergies. If you are not nursing try soy formula. AF
Yes, she could be having teething pain, and that truly may be all it is....but it sounds like you need to see another pediatrician too. If your practice has more than one doctor, ask to see one different from the one you saw before. It seems odd that the dr. is still prescribing different antibiotics if he thinks it's "just a little reddish in there" -- then why the antibiotics? It's a mixed signal and makes me wonder if the dr. is just throwing medicine at your baby to make YOU feel like something's being done. Search Mamasource past postings and I'm sure you'll find messages from other moms with kids who have had chronic ear infections; there may be good advice there. But meanwhile, find a dr. who will listen, and be SURE to tell him or her about the apparent pain the temples and the fact the crying is constant. If you feel you need further investigation, don't let them ignore you. Good luck.
