Ear Plugs for Swimming

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for posting this question. My daugher is nearly the same age (also a twin) with tubes and we are going to a pool on Sunday! Was glad to get the info!

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My son had tubes put in when he was 20 months old and we used ear plugs for swimming lessons or any time we were in a pool. Our ENT told us that baths are okay because that is considered "clean" water but to use the earplugs whenever we had him in a pool or lake. The main concern is that the water will get in through the tube and cause infection if it has chemicals or bacteria like pool & lake water. He said even if my son was not going underwater but he was doing a lot of splashing. We used silicone kids ear plugs. We bought them at Walgreens and they were only about $4. I think you can get them at wal-mart and Target. They're located with the other earplugs. These were really easy to use.

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From our ENT: In his expierence slippery water (soapy) will get into the ears. So plugs in the bath tub. He said not to worry about swimming in pools or lakes as long as he didn't go 5 feet under water. Since my son is 2 he really shouldn't be going 5 ft under water.

Every ENT Dr. will tell you something different. My advice, you trusted him/her to give your kid sugery and you trusted their opinion on inserting the tubes. Trust them on this too. We got the plugs from our ENT after the sugery.

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There are some wonderful earplugs that are wax that you can fit to her ears. My daughter has had to use earplugs many years with tubes and these worked the best for her. She finally got her tubes out this year at age 14, not her first set of them of course. These are less likely to fall out and can be reused as well.

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My baby is also 14 months old and got tubes in March. The vaseline and cotton balls didn't work for me. They fell out as soon as water touched them. I also tried silly putty but that stuck in my baby's ears. I found that Macks wax ear plugs worked best. I got the kid sized ones and twisted them in half so it would fit in my baby's ears. I found them at walgreens and they were 3 or 4 bucks for a pack of 12. I usually reused them two times before I threw them away, but I only use the for bath time! Good Luck and happy vacationing!

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Hi J.,
My son also has tubes and our insurance actually paid for custom earplugs for him, which you may want to look into.

In the meantime, there are wax earplugs you can get for kids (the ones we found are bright orange). They come in a package of about a dozen and worked really well until the custom ones came in.

Have fun!

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Hi J.
They have these really nice silicone ear plugs that you can shape to fit your sons ears they worked great when our son had tubs

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When I was young I too had tubes in my ears as did my sister. We wore swim caps and they worked like a charm. My sister liked the idea of looking like a matchstick (she had a red cap). My parents just said if you want to swim you have to wear this. I had one that looked like a fish. Check out swimoutlet.com They have plugs and caps. Good luck and have a wonderful time vacationing.

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J., we had that surgery done on our oldest son, we found that they also sold a head band that went around their head, and kept water out too, or the waxy ear plugs, you can shape and put in ears, she is 14 months, hopefully a good eye and she wont be summerged into the water, our son was in kindengarden when we had it done, after a year or so, they recommmended doint it again, we did, and they fell out by themselves like a month later, we never repeated the surgery and it helped his ears a bit, but still has hearing loss in that one ear, the help it gave was minimal, in our case, so we never had it done again, now he is grown and has adjusted well, to his situation, any way , have a nice trip, D. s

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I wouldn't worry about it. I had my daughter in water at about 6 months old and she's been a water baby ever since and has never gotten enough water in her ears to hurt or cause infection. I know that some children are more prone to this with water, but at 14 months, it should come out on it's own.

My personal opinion, unless you know water to be a problem with their ears, don't put the cart before the horse and try not to worry until you know it to be an issue. :)

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My son is 4 and had tubes twice. Once at 20 months and Once at 40 months. We use ear plugs for baths and swimming every time. My ENT explained, the less water (bath, pool or other), the less chance for infection. We use the kids wax ones, they are cheap. He doesn't seem to mind and now puts them in himself. He now just equates plugs with water and asks for them. At first we used a head band over them so he didn't pull them out. But now we just put in. He knows they keep his ears clean and help him from not getting sick. They are like $3 for 10. We use 1 set for a week and He has only had 1 ear infection since he got tubes the first time and that was in between sets of tubes. Hope that helps.

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J.
Our son had holes in his ear drum and we went to the audiologist and they made customized ear plugs so the water would not get into the ears. They have really cool colors for them to pick out to make the final ear piece for. Our son used them for a couple of years until he had to have a muscle graft to close the holes. They worked wonderful. At that time they were not that expensive. Hope this helps.

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Well luckly now days you have many more choice's unlike when I was a kid it was silly putty and a horrible swim cap with flowers on it. Anyway my son always gets swimmers ear so what I found at Target was a package set that includes the bright colored ear plugs and a neopren (sp) headband that velcroes in the back to adjust the size. It stayed in place very well and he loved it so much he wouldn't go in the water without it. Hope this helps, J.

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My son also has tubes. There is a great ear plug called Doc's proplugs. We bought them from the doctors office, but you can order them online www.proplugs.com. You want the non-vented ones.

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