9 Mth Old to Have Tubes....

My son had tubes when he was 8 months old and yes it scared me to death but was the best thing we ever did for him. We had to have it done in a hospital because of the age he was but that made me feel better actually.

I was a working mom at the time and was not able to stay home with him to avoid daycare germs. He was sick ALL the time with double ear infections constantly. We got 3 opinions with different specialists and all said the same. If you don't fix the problem now you are in for long term hearing issues and medicating an infant with antibiotics which can lead to long term issues. It was SO scary but well worth it. My son is 2 now and doing great.

My oldest who is almost 8 yrs old now actually had thetm put in when she was about 4-6 months old. It is actually for them to get them put in when they are younger. Theyy have a tendency not tot remember them.

My Grandson hollared so much, holding his ears, pulling on them, so they said he needed tubes. He hears much better now and it even helped him talk better. It also affects their sinuses and bronchial selves. I'd say let them do it if they think he needs it. My Grandson hasn't had an ear problem since. He wan't hearing the way he should and it affected his speacj. It will solve many roblems

I have a 2 1/2 year old who was going to have tubes. We went to the Hough Ear Institute in Oklahoma City and saw Dr. Baker. He said that being that young they would put him under for just a few minutes seeing as how they can't sit still. So I would definetly check into it and ask around. Always better to get more than one medical opinion than just taking their word for it. Good Luck and have a great trip!!
C.

My son had just turned 7 months old when he got his tubes. Hes now 2 and still has them in and is doing good with them.

Hi V.!

My daughter had tubes put in at 9 mos. She had several ear infections too. I must admit that it's taken a while for the tubes to be beneficial. I'm not trying to scare you at all. It's just my daughter's eustacian tubes have taken a while to open up with the tubes. She did have it done as outpatient surgery and not in the doctor's office. Are they not going to give her gas or anything? I would probably check into a different doctor but that's just me. I think you'd definitely want it done before your trip. Good luck!

Hi Mom in Edmond,
I am also a mom of 3 children and my youngest had tubes when she was 5 or 6 months old was a very minor surgery so dont worry to much it only took about 15 minutes and she never even knew it. I know how scary it is for little ones to have surgery. My daughter had surgery when she was 2 months old because she was born with a cleft lip and palate and anytime they go under the knife it is scary but everything will be fine and go smoothly. Hope this helps alittle...
Concerned from Duncan,Ok U.S.A

V.-
My youngest had tubes inserted at 11 weeks old! She was born with a double ear infection. She had three sets over four years. She finally had her tonsils out this past December at 14 years old!

Mackenzie ABSOLUTELY had general anesthetic for all three sets! I would insist on it! We used the ENT, Dr. Wild in Chesterfield at St. Luke's. He's awesome!

Good luck!

*K.*

Hi V.-

As a pediatric chiropractor in Kansas, it is breaking my heart to hear your story and so many others of these little babies getting tubes put in, when we have so many cases of chiropractic care being able to prevent this. Isn't it worth a shot to try to prevent surgery/anesthesia for such a little one?

You MUST find a chiropractor who has special training to work with babies. You can find one near you (and look into the cases for ear infections) at www.icpa4kids.org. The direct link to research regarding chiropractic and ear infections is:
http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/chiropractic/ear.htm

Good luck to you, and good health to your family!

Yours in health-
Dr. Alyssa

It's better to do it now than wait until you come back from visiting your family. They are doing it younger now because of the likelyhood that waiting will develop hearing damage and balance troubles.

My youngest had them done at 26 months though.

Have fun on your trip.

My son had this done when he was 12 months old. It was done in the hospital as outpatient surgery, and he was given general anesthesia, and did great. On the car ride home, we couldn't tell he had had anything done, he was playing and laughing.That was a long time ago, he's 16 now. K..

Both of mine had them done early. One at 8 months and the other at 10 months. They were both put out but it was done at a clinic and not a hospital. It was easy and they were both playing a couple of hours later. Be sure to bring a bottle or sippy cup of water for afterwards. That seemed to help them once they woke up.

My son had tubes put in, and Adnoids ( not sure on the spelling) out @ 11 months, and I wish we would have had them earlier. We were in the Dr. office every other weekend till he was 11 months old, with sinus infections and ear infections.my son's was done @ an outpaitient center.. they put him under, and it was the hardest watching him come out.. his second set went in last may.. he was 2 1/2.. the tubes started coming out 2 months later.. we are still waiting for the second tube to fall out. the first one was harder.. I have an amazing ENT but he is in Tulsa.. I have never question whether he was making the right decisions, and have always been able to call day or night. hope this helps..

In October of 2004 my daughter had tubes put in both of her ears, she was 11 months old. I wish it would have come sooner. She spent most of the first months of her life sick with ear infections. I begged for tubes. My husband and I both had them as children and ear problems are genetic. When the doctor finally said she needs tubes in both ears I almost cried. We want to the South Tulsa Ear Nose and Throat Specialist. She was put completly under for the surgery, it lasted about 45 minutes and we were able to take her home shortly after that. She recovered very fast and did very well. Since then she has not had one ear infection. It was a miracle. I say don't be nervouse, be happy that you have a doctor that cares enough to help your baby out this early.

My daughter had tubes put in when she was 7 1/2 mo. She has a soft cleft palate, which makes her more prone to ear infections, and she would eventually get tubes regardless when they repair her palate. Anyway she had ear infections for 2 continuous months before they put the tubes in and she too was on Omnicef for several tries. When she went in for the tubes, she went into the hospital, and the surgery itself took 10 min (the amount of time she was under anesthesia). Anyway the tubes really helped the infection drain out vs. pooling in her ears. She continued to have an infection in both ears even after the surgery but with the tubes it helped the infection drain out. We ended up going back 4 weeks later to her ENT (after continuing with the drops and a round of Omnicef) to have a culture done on the infection. Then he prescribed her different drops, Ciprodex, and a different antibiotic, Septra, which have cleared it up (Well, I should say hopefully it's cleared but we just stopped the antibiotic yesterday). I don't know why it took this long for them to do a culture on the infection vs. just randomly trying any antibiotic! I should have asked and maybe that is something you can ask before doing the tubes, if you don't want to have tubes put in this soon?
Good Luck...

My son also suffered from numerous ear infections he had his first set of tubes at that age 6 months. He did great! Although about a year later he had to have another set. My boys were both done through Springer Clinic in Tulsa and they have an outpatient surgery center in the basement and they did use a general anesthetic. I cannot imagine them doing the tubes without it.

We were in the same situation we were flying out forthe holidays and they said it needed to be done before we got on an airplane.

Hi V.,
My son had tubes put in at 14 months, and they did it in surgury at the hospital. I have never heard of then doing it in the doctors office. It only took about 10 minutes, and he never acted like he was in any pain. No ear infections since, its wonderful. I have heard of alot of babys under one getting tubes. I didnt let them take my sons adnoids, thats a much more seriouse surgury.
Hope this helps, J.

V.,

My son got tubes when he was just 10 weeks old. He was born with a cleft lip and palate and the doctor saw fluid sitting in his ears from just a few weeks old and so they opted to put the tubes in young since we *knew* he would get infections due to his cleft. As you know, it is a quick procedure and it was fine. I've never heard of doing tubes in the office. Though it would certainly be nice if babies never needed to go under general anesthesia, they do fine with it when necessary. I would think it would be pretty important for the baby to be 100% still and I don't see how that could be accomplished without general anesthesia. Our son had his first surgery at 19 days old and came out of anesthesia just fine. The surgery to get tubes was his second and was combined with a hernia repair---still very quick and easy, as surgery goes. Good luck to you! I have to say, the tubes were a huge relief to us, as I'm sure you've experienced with your older children. good luck!

Hi there! My son actually had tubes at 4 months. He did great and they did do anesthesia. He had constant infections and is also facing a major surgery in May so we could not have him on antibiotics for that long. I am sure she will do great. Have a geat trip. :)

They wanted to put tubes in my sons ears at six months, but nine months is the earliest they will do it. He had a constant ear infection from the time he was three months old until he had the tubes put in. It was done at the hospital as an outpatient surgery and he was put under. He was fine until the tubes fell out when he was about 2 and he underwent surgery a second time to put in tubes and also have his adnoids removed. He hasn't had an inner ear infection since and is now almost 8. Hope this helps.

My son had tubes put in at 9 months old too. It made all the difference in the world, and I am so glad we did it. We had no problems at all. Our ENT, Dr. Stanley Baker, is very experienced and specializes in children's ear problems. He told us that the trend is towards putting in tubes earlier rather than later when permanent problems come into play because of recurrent ear infections and antibiotic resistance. I'm not sure who your ENT is, but I would not recommend having tubes put in in the office. My son had a general anesthetic at a surgery center, and we had no problems or complications. I think babies thrash around too much to have it done in the office. You would probably have to restrain them without a general anesthetic and that would probably cause trauma. Hope this helps! Good luck!
L.

my son had his first set of tubes put in at 9 months and it was great. he had constant ear infections from 3 weeks until then and he even had one when they put them in. they normally don't like to do that but it was not going away. after the tubes were put in his ear infection went away for a while. he is on his second set of tubes and it has helped a lot.

My youngest was that old when she has to have hers done and she did just great. Hope your little one gets better. And yes mine was put under. I would not let them do it in the office if that is what they want to do then i would find another doctor to do the tubes.

CHIROPRACTOR!!! Prevented my son fronm having tubes. Dr. Eric Schluter in Tulsa is great.

Most children don't even need a general anesthetic when getting tubes. They go in prepared incase they need it, however usually the procedure takes all of 20 minutes and every child is given a dose of tylenol mixed with a drug called verset which acts similar to valium but knocks most children out. Another thing that these procedures are starting to include and your ENT may be one that uses it is they also add a hallucinogen that wipes their memory clean so they have no recollection of the prodecure. My oldest son was set to do surgery on his eye and we were prepared for the general anesthetic, but the procedure didn't last too long, the drug cocktail (which did not have the hallucinogen but just tylenol + verset) knocked him out and the procedure was done before an general was needed. The same was true of the baby getting tubes that shared the recovery room with us.

Aside from that, unless there is a natural defect in your childs eustachian tubes, you may want to consider figuring out what allergies are causing his ear infections. Most people never figure it out because it is not something taken seriously these days, but these kids still end up getting to go under the knife multiple times for tubes, removal of tonsils and adenoids just to prevent a symptom of an ear infection. Ear infections are no fun, but they can be prevented if the allergen is removed. Many times children will have allergic reactions to foods that go far beyond your basic hives, rashes and anaphylactic reactions. The majority of kids that get tubes these days have a food allergen (usually either cows milk including all foods that contain dairy, caseine and whey, or gluten is another biggie.) One way to know what food is effecting is to remove one of the most common ones. Your child is only 9 months so she perhaps hasn't been exposed to much if you have followed the american pediatrics association guidelines for feeding. If your child is breastfed, cut out dairy from your diet. If you child is eating yogurt and cheese, cut that out. Those things promote mucus build up anyway so even a person who isn't allergic can note a positive effect from removing dairy items. Next to try would be crackers and breads or even pasta. Many people these days think it is a good idea to give these things to infants despite guidelines that are there for a reason. These are just things to consider. The other thing, when my dr talked to us about possibly getting tubes for my son, one of the things she said was that tubes are great for removing the fluid. However, keep in mind they buy you a year to discover what allergen is causing the fluid to build up in the ear. Tubes usually fall out after a year. If the allergen was not fixed or removed, the tubes will need to be inserted again and many times tonsils and adenoids are on the list for removal. Good luck and I hope your little one gets relief soon! Ear infections and even fluid are a pain and I know it is absolutely no fun to have a constantly sick kid. I hope your little one gets better fast enough to make her trip to England comfortable and enjoyable.

B. :)

The following taken from: http://www.just-for-you-homeremedies.com/home-remedy-for-...

An ear infection is a painful experience. Find a home remedy for ear infection or earache here. It is expecially tough when it is a child you are caring for. You just want them to feel better. I was fortunate when my kids were small, they hardly ever got sick. When I saw them tugging on their ears I immediately started a home remedy for ear infection or earache.

You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair. Chinese Proverb

There are a few different kinds of ear infections. Otis media, middle ear, is the most common. It affects about two thirds of American children by the age of two. The cause is normally an upper-respiratory infection or allergy. If you breast fed your baby and he or she starts getting ear infections when you stop, the cause could very well be allergies.

Whether the person is a child or adult and an allergy is suspected, these are the foods most commonly allergic to.

-Cow's milk-

-Wheat-

-Egg white-

-Peanut-

-Soy-

-Corn-

-Tomato-

-Chicken-

-Apple-

The common symptoms include: stabbing pain in the ear, swelling, imflammation, slight fever, some temporary hearing loss, and fussiness in a child.

Otis externa is the medical name for

a swimmer's ear, or an outer ear infection. Just like the name says, you get it from swimming. A home remedy for ear infection may work very well on this type. Inner ear infection is not as common. It is caused by a upper-respiratory infection that spreads to the inner ear. Symptoms can be quite dramatic in this kind of infection. They can include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes you can't see straight. You should see your doctor and make sure this is the problem.

My recommended home remedy for ear infection or earache.

-Use ice packs to relieve pain.

-Press out and strain onion juice-put the juice on a cotton ball and place in the ear. This helps with the pain and fights infection.

-Warm vegetable glycerine and witch hazel-soak a cotton ball and place it in the ear to draw out the infection.

-Warm olive oil or castor oil-put a few drops down the ear and plug with a cotton ball. Lay on the other side of the head for half and hour or so. Then turn over and let drain. This draws out the infection. This is a great home remedy for ear infection.

-Garlic oil-pop a gel cap and put a few drops in the ear.

-Mullein flower oil (highly recommended)-put a few drops down the ear and then put a cotton ball in. This really helps the pain.

-St. John's Wort Oil-put a few drops in the ear.

-Calendula oil-put a few drops in the ear.

-Echinacea-depending on the age and size of the paitent, use the appropriate dose. If you are allergic to the aster family or ragweed, you may be allergic to echinacea. This helps the immune system.

-Astragalus- it is said you can take this herb long term if you have recurring infections. It is a great immune system booster. Again ranging in age and size will determine the dose.

-Lemon balm-this herb is anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and calming. Adjust dose to size and age.

You may want to read up on tubes and even the medicines your child is on (antibiotics especially) if you havent all ready.

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/ear-infection.htm

You will find a lot of useful information in the above link regarding what you may be going through with you child.

Hope I could help. Please let me know if you need any other information or links.

My son is deaf. My advice is get several "second" opinions. Get a specialist, in your case a ENT. I'm sure your peditrician is great but she/he is not a specialist. Go to every ENT within your area and get all their opinions and then go with the one you decide cares the most about your child's well being. If you are treated like a "number" or a "symptom" go to the next doctor. If there are ANY ear problems go directly to the ENT and bypass the peditrician altogether. Doctors are human and they make mistakes when they are overloaded so try to get one that doesn't have too many patients. Don't wait. Also, ask the ENT about flying that soon after tubes. Your daughter's hearing is more important than a trip. You may want to postpone your trip if it will cause her ears any stress. Trust me you don't want her to lose her hearing. Nothing is worth it. Don't get me wrong, I learned so much from my son and the life we have lead since he lost his hearing, and I wouldn't change him for anything, but it's still hard as a mother to watch your child go through that.

My son had tubes put in at nine months also. He did great, he is turning 6 in two days and he hasn't had an ear infection since we put the tubes in.