This is long-winded, so I apologize beforehand. My son is almost 6 months old and has had double ear infections to varying degrees since he was 3 months old, consecutively. I thought we were finally rid of them, but took him for a re-check this morning and he STILL has slight infections in both ears. The last round of antibiotics was for 14 days to boot! I'm very frustrated and hate having him on antibiotics this long because it wrecks him stomach, even with Probiotics. His regular Ped, who we love, was out today so we saw a fill in Doctor. This Dr. suggested that he had a dairy allergy, to take him off formula completely, give him juice with calcium instead and/or goat's milk and up his solid intake . My questions is, has anyone had similar issues with recurrent ear infections and a dairy allergy link? Note: He also has silent reflux and is on Prevacid (15mg 2x daily). He is a happy baby overall and has been sleeping much better in the last week or so, but obviously still has the infections. I'm willing to try anything at this point, I just want him well. Any thoughts/input/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
We took him off milk-based formula (MBF) immediately and put him on Similac Alimentum. It's been 6 weeks+ and no ear infections! We had him checked with an ENT about 2 weeks after taking him off MBF and he had some fluid on his ears. The ENT said that if it was still there at his re-check we would have to discuss getting tubes. Well his re-check was almost 2 weeks ago and there was no infection or fluid at all! It could be that summer is here and ear infections are not as prevalent in summer months, or that the last antibiotic finally worked. My regular Ped and the ENT are skeptical that he has a milk allergy at all. That said, since he IS infection free on the Alimentum I'm not messing with a good thing.
Well, I'm no doctor, but the idea of taking a 6 month old off of either formula or breastmilk is INSANE, imo! No 6mo is going to get complete nutrition from juice and solids.
There are options for dairy- (and soy-) free formulas with proper nutrients.
My daughter had chronic ear infections until we took her to a pedia allergist. She was allergic to all sorts of things. Elimination and shots stopped the ear infections. She has some hearing loss today due to that period of time in her life.
Have you thought about taking him to an ENT. Both of my kids had tubes because of recurring ear infections and it completely cured the issue. My daughter got them when she was a year old and is now 5 and has never had another infection, and my son has had them for about 2 months now and has not had an infection since. The tubes were definitely the best thing I ever did for my daughter, she was not walking or talking but I swear the day after she had them put in she was running.. The girls equilibrium was so off that she could not even walk because of the fluid in the ears. I think it is a little odd to be taken off of formula/breast milk so early but I am certainly not a doctor so I don't have all of the answers :)
Good luck!
When I was younger I had chronic ear infections and had to have ear surgery... Later in my teens I stopped drinking milk and have not had an ear infection since. When my son turned a year old I gave him a bottle of milk and within a few days he had his 1st ear infection so I took him off milk and started giving him soy milk. At day care one day they accidently gave him a glass of milk and again with in a few days he had his 2nd ear infection. This is the only time in his life he has had ear infections and he is now 3 1/2. I think that in our situation yes milk was a cause for our ear infections. I would try to take him off of milk for a couple months and see if the ear infections stop. If they do then that was probably your cause.
Correction- I would take him off of the milk based formula and try a soy based formula. A 6 month old should not be off of formula yet.
Antiobiotics will affect the teeth. We did both - tubes at 10 months and no dairy for one year - to make sure we were doing all possible. But this may be the wrong time. We had tubes put in during winter.
I have two sons and both have had recurring ear infetions. My oldest son is 4 and had his first set of tubes before he was 2. Everything was tried (I do mean everything) and even after tubes he had a few infections. He was recently diagnosed with glue ear. So, after more antibiotics and a steroid nasal spray he had tubes in again and his adenoids removed. In fact, his surgery was today and he can actually hear now. My younger son, does not have them to the same extent as my older child so tubes have not been suggested, but we use antibitoics and a nasal steroid to help. My youngest had a dairy allergy and my oldest was breast fed for 9 monhts. I see zero connection in with the dairy, but that is only my case. I cannot imagine taking a 6 month old off of formula, but that is me and I am not a doctor. It might be time to see an ENT. I love my ENT. Infections are so frustrating. Now, I will say seasonal allergies and colds contribute to ear infections in my children. An ENT could explain so much more and help you with this.
Between the ages of one and two my son had constant ear infections. We pulled him off (most) dairy and he only had one ear infection between two and three.
He's had eczema since be was born. At age three we got rid of wheat. Now he is eczema free.
For him there is a very strong link between what he eats and his health.
I have heard that dairy can cause ear problems, but I have no personal experience one way or the other. My oldest child had an ear infection that pretty much never went away for over 3 months. Finally, at 9 mo. of age we saw an ENT and had tubes placed. It was a LIFESAVER for us, I can not emphasize enough how much it helped. I know some people freak out at any idea of surgery, but they do not completely sedate the child to the point of total unconciousness, it's just enough sedation to knock them out long enough to be still for the 1 minute it takes to put the tube in. Seriously, they took him back and not even 5 minutes later told us they were done and moved us to the recovery waiting room. We had barely settled into our new seats and they called us back because he was waking up. It was very fast and a simple procedure. Yes, I know there are always the stories where it doesn't help or they need repeat tubes, but I think that's in the minority of the cases. Plus, even if it's not infected and just fluid on the ears, I have seen many children with speech and motor delays because of the fluid (I'm a pediatric physical therapist), and my son was a little slower with speech even though he had his tubes well before he turned a year old. Just some things to think on. I certainly don't blame someone for choosing against a procedure, but in our situation (and I believe the majority of people's situation), it was a lifesaver and I don't regret it a second.
I'm so glad your dr. pointed to dairy! Your poor little guy! I am certain that's what caused my son's ear infections. He used to have them constantly; it was awful! I finally heard about the milk/ear infections link, and we stopped drinking milk. He never had another one! Not one! I hope this works for you, too. You could also ask your doctor about almond milk. That's what we drink. But your son is so young you should definitely check first. I don't like giving juice because of the high sugar content. Sugar is another problem food. When we stopped eating that, my son's asthma cleared up!
Best of luck!
My daughter also had a lot of ear infections, pbly 8 until we did tubes when she was 1 1/2. I breastfed her and never limited dairy, but when she was old enough to drink milk she had soy milk and that seemed to help, although we still had to do the tubes. After the tubes she has never had another ear infection. My suggestion would be to try soy formula and see if that helps. It does relieve congestion, she does fine with other dairy products, cheese, ice cream, just not milk. She is still on soy milk and she is 2 1/2.
Dairy was also suggested to me as a cause of my kids' ear infections but they only got ear infections during cold and flu season. None during the summer even though they consumed the same amount of dairy. Sometimes things like this are correlations, not causations.
YES! Same thing happened with my son, but he was a bit older when this happened. I took him to see a chiropractor and he never had one again. I also took him off dairy, but he shows no reaction to dairy today, so I don't think that was what was causing it necessarily (probably didn't help though).
What my Chiro said was that when a child goes through the birth canal, sometimes the neck can get out of place (which I can totally imagine!) and the Eustachian tubes get maligned and they cannot drain properly. I would see a chiro before spending the money and trauma of doing unnecessary operation.
Good luck, I feel your pain! I was there...
My son has both (and had reflux) - but they are unrelated as far as I can tell, because when we eliminated dairy, he was became a much happier baby (less gas, less tummy upset, reflux was better although he still needed prevacid, etc). But he still got ear infections.
The only thing that cured the ear infections was tubes. They've been great.
I'm surprised the ped told you to take your son off of formula all together. There are several commercial formulas that do not have cow's milk in them. I use Nutramigen (by Enfamil) and Similac makes a similar one called Alimentum. You might try one of those.
Also, it is my understanding that many babies who are allergic to cow's milk are also allergic to goat's milk. I breastfed (used the formula for supplementing sometimes) and I could not eat feta cheese which is made from goat's milk because it made my son fussy, so I know that I certainly wouldn't have been able to give my son goat's milk instead of cow's milk.
All-in-all, if I were you, I'd have enough questions about this advice that I'd make another appointment with the pediatrician you know and trust, and discuss it further with him.
yes I have dealt with more than my fair share on both of my kids. Mine is getting tested for allergies by an ent later this month. I have talked to alot who say dairy is a big factor in it. I have cut my sons dairy as well. I highly suggest tubes and trying a chiropractor also. Some of us are just jinxed when it comes to ear infections. Mine had to go through 3 rounds of antibiotics and one was a double antibiotic to get rid of his and then we had other issues as well. I as well don't do the juice but am not going to push this on you. He has major yeast infections due to antibiotics. so be careful there. Once you eliminate juice and milk and anything with sugar in it is when it starts getting tricky. I am still trying to find the trick to control ear infections ( alosing battle I know) but somethings that were suggested to me but mine is also over 2 and yours is not is an daily allergy med and a mucus med. seems to be helping mine but yours is too young to try this I think so don't do it without doctor guidanance.
Well, you may pull up some old posts I have replied to, but I will try to summarize my experience quickly here......
95% of ear infections are a food intolerance---so I would cut dairy for sure. Healthy Kids Pediatrics is who has educated me in holistic healthcare to avoid tubes with my girls. They have been great and it has worked. They also would treat reflux differently too; although I was past that point when we found her. My sister took her baby to Dr. Chalmers and he treated the reflux with a natural pink salt......I will provide both links for you......please feel free to ask any questions if interested.....
www.healthykidspediatrics.com
http://chalmerswellness.com
Good luck; it is so frustrating and crazy trying to figure out what to do, but with these two doctors, me and my girls are in the best health ever and I am without a doubt super grateful.
My friend's son "J" had the same problem with recurrent ear infections to the point that it was causing hearing damage and antibiotics stopped being as effective. He would need two rounds of antibiotics before they would knock out an ear infection, and he would get double ear infections.
When he was 3 1/2 years old she insisted that he get tubes in his ears and the ear infections subsided dramatically. As he gets older, whenever the tubes have fallen out he ends up with a rash of ear infections again so they have the tubes put back in. He's 11 years old now and still has the tubes, but has been ear infection free.
Both of my children had problems with ear infections. I was lucky enough to meet a lady that helped me with my youngest ear infections naturally. I did take dairy out of his diet for a short time period, but he is back on it now. There are things that you can do naturally to help your son.with not only his ear infections, but for his reflux as well. Her name is Jude Peskuski and her phone number is ###-###-####
M.
