Considering Tubes...

Most kids get ear infections due to their diets. All of my friends who have taken their kids off dairy and sugar, don't have ear infections anymore.

Antibiotics, according to research, increase the risk of another otitis media event by 33%. Why? Because after an antibiotic, they get more candida or yeast.

My oldest son has been the only one who got ear infections, and he's the only one we gave dairy to on a a daily basis. We stopped that and he never got another ear infection. We started giving him PB8, a really complete probiotic and got him adjusted by our pediatric chiropractor, so everything could drain...and she even adjusted his ears. Our other 3 kids have never had milk, very little cheese and ice cream maybe 3 times each year...NO EAR INFECTIONS.

Your ped will disagree, but I tell you, everyone who has done this, it's worked. It takes about 3-4 weeks for dairy to get out of the system...so be patient....but it's cheaper than tubes and WAY safer and than anesthesia.

It scared the heck out of me, too. With my oldest, however, it was a necessity - his hearing (like your daughter) was being compromised. Now, on a side note - he had to have an undescended testical taken down at the same time, so we doubled up.
What shocked me was the emotion of watching this little baby getting wheeled down to the operating room. It was not cold and clinical - it was a very smooth and easy process with a light sleeping agent while mommy read a book, then after about 5 min when the sleeping agent started to take effect they put him on the gurney and took him to surgery.
My son had a hard time waking up. he was scared and disoriented, but they let me come back early and snuggle him.
His hearing immediately improved - seriously. He called every color orange. eating a popsicle upon waking we were talking about color and he repeated every single color correctly Red - red, green - green.
It is a journey, but a good one for you and your daughter.

I agree that you need to have a general discussion at this visit about tubes. I also agree that changing diet and visiting a chiropractor can help but this type of therapy can take a while. If you are already seeing and experiencing speech delays and hearing issues with your little one then tubes are definitely the route to go. Left for an extended amount of time can end up in permenant hearing loss. My daughter had 6 ear infections over the span of 5 months from the time she was 4 months old to the time she was 9 months old. She had tubes put in when she was 9 months old and it was the best decision we could have made. She was tested and while there was some immediate hearing loss noted right after surgery she was hearing better than I was at her 6 month follow up. I'm glad we did this early in order to avoid speech delays. It was super easy and the procedure only took about 10 minutes. We were out of the hospital in less than 3 hours. She took a nap and was raring to play by lunch time. Easier than taking her to the pediatrician.

If you want to do whats best for her, get the tubes. It seems like you have tried everyhting else and it has not worked. When my youngest was 2, she was showing speech delay, I took her to the ENT, where they told me she was basically deaf! That was all I needed to hear to have tubes put in. Immediatly, as in right when she woke up, she could hear. It actually scared her and she needed things to be quiet for a few days while she adjusted. We continued to work with speech people to make sure she was caught up. She has had maybe 1 or 2 ear infections and her hearing is right on now. I know its scary, but its very quick, painless, and the recovery is really nothing. It is very much worth it for your daughter. The sooner the better!! Good Luck!!

I know it's scary to think of your child going under anesthesia, but in my opinion, it sounds like tubes are exactly what she needs.

My son had an almost constant ear infection for 7 months last year. He was on pretty much every antibiotic and as soon as he would finish them, bam, the ear infection was right back. He was put on allergy meds to dry to help dry up the fluid but it just wouldn't go away. His ENT finally said, ok, we have done everything else, now it's time for tubes. I was sooo happy because I had already made up my mind that I was going to push him for the tubes on that visit. My son had a 40% hearing loss by the time he had the tubes put in, so he definitely needed them.

Boy, oh boy! What a difference. He can hear normally now. He is so much happier and healthier. He sleeps a lot better (the pressure from the fluid when he would lay down kept him from sleeping more than a couple hours at a time). And, yes her speech will likley improve too.

I won't lie to you--it sucks to watch them come out of the anethesia, but it is only for a little while. Think of all the good it will do her in the long run. I got my happy little boy back and that was totally worth it!

GL and hope you get a game plan next week at her doctor.

Tubes were the best thing that ever happened for our daughter. She got them at 1 year, 6 months, and was like a new baby afterwards. The procedure is quick - we had barely sat down by the time they came and found us in the waiting room and told us it was over. BEST THING EVER!!!
Good Luck!!!

Do it!!!!! Do not put it off if they suggest it.

Our daughter really suffered for too long. My husband HATES hospitals and just refused.. Finally when I took her for a hearing test and we realized she had lost a significant amount of the hearing
in one ear (70% +)and some in the other. I scheduled it and told my husband to "deal with it."

His mother came to the hospital with a couple of Valium for my husband and held his hand.

Our daughter went through it with flying colors. It changed our lives.
FYI, She recovered all of her hearing.

Tubes were great for both children - my son was hardly talking just before age 2 as he had chronic ear infections and all of the hearing tests were inconclusive due to the fluid - the afternoon after his procedure it was like he was in a new world = all of a sudden the things he couldn't hear before he was amazed with! Best of luck!

My daughter had her first ear tubes at 15 months, then 1.5 years and again at 3 years, when she also had her adenoids out. She started Speech when she was 3 years old and still has speech in the 6th grade. I'm glad I advocated so strongly for her and was able to get her ear tubes and into speech in the school district as early as I possibly could. My daughter didn't have any issues or trouble at all any of the times she "went under."

It's good that you have your daughter off cow dairy (my daughter had an allergy to it as well when she was 6 months old). However, I do want to caution you on using soy milk, especially for a girl. Soy has a lot of estrogen and, if I had the ability to go back in time and NOT put my daughter on soy, I would. She has issues with her weight and developing early, and I directly attribute that to her drinking soy formula/soy milk (my husband and I have since discovered we have a soy intolerance and there is no more soy in our house). I would encourage goat milk and/or any of the other alternative milks, like coconut, rice, hemp, hazelnut, almond, flax, etc.

Try chiropractic first! I've seen it work for all but one kid out of ten or so!

get the tubes!!!!!!!! trust me, if you dont do something to stop the ear infections it will result in permanant hearing loss. I have a 30% hearing loss in both of my ears due to cronic ear infections as a small child. I finally get tubes in my ears when I was 6. I went from a 75% hearing loss before the tubes to all of a sudden being able to hear it was great. But I did suffer the permanent hearing loss. The whole procedure from start to finish takes about 15 minutes or less. It is a very easy and simple procedure. My oldest son had tubes put in when he was 6 months old. It was amazing, we got home and I could tell a big difference right away. He heard the refrigirator kick on for the first time, he turned and was looking all around at sounds he wasnt able to hear before. It is such an easy thing to have done, you will be home an hour or two after the procedure. Please do this for your child, dont let your fears become something she will have to suffer from her entire life.

My son had ear infections every single month for a year when he was 5. When he was 6 we had his adenoids removed and tubes put in, and he hasn't had an ear infections since (knock wood). He had a terrible time with recovery, but I still maintain that it was the best decision we could have made. He is so much healthier now (he's 7.5 now). Good luck with your decision. :)