Problems with Ear Tubes

I completely feel your pain with the ear plugs. My son had tubes put in and they told us to use plugs for bathtime etc. It was torture trying to get the darn things in and keep them in. I talked to our ped, and he told us it was only necessary to use them if his head would be submerged (swimming in a pool, etc) but in the bath it would be fine, if we were just pouring water over his head. Check with your doctor, but you may be able to avoid that little torture.
Good luck with the rest!

Our son got tubes a little over a year ago and did the same thing for a while. He had chronic ear infections for the first 10 months of his life. Since he's had the tubes, he's only had 2...and they were very minor in comparison. For almost 6 months after he had his surgery, he would pull on his ears, pat them, etc... We were sure they were bothering him, but the doctor would check them and tell us everything was in place and looked good. I think that they just become more sensitive with their ears after the surgery - not sound-wise, but touch-wise. Hayden is now 22 months and he doesn't pull on his ears anymore, but it is still impossible to keep his wax ear plugs in during bath time, and getting a haircut always gets a bit crazy when they cut around his ears.

When in doubt, just take him back to the doctor and ease your mind. Those little suckers (tubes) can slip out of place pretty easily from what I've heard. I've had about 8 false-alarm ear infection visits in the last year :)

That may not help much, but at least you know it's common. Hang in there!

I would call my dr. back and let him know about the screaming and yelling. good luck!

Poor little guy! It certainly sounds like something is going on and perhaps he needs to see a different doctor- is he going back to the ENT or to his pediatrician? Maybe fluid is still trapped back there. I'm sorry I can't offer any more adivce...my 20 month old is being evaluated Monday by a second doctor for ear tubes. The first said he needs the tubes and to have his adenoids removed..this is after just a 10 minute conversation after we waited for over an hour so I feel I need a second opinion. My son has not slept through the night in a month. They certainly know when something is wrong with their bodies. Can I ask what doctor you went to? Did the doc say what caused the post op infection?

My son got tubes put in at 1 yr. We were told that we didn't have to use the ear plugs at all. Our ear doctor did give us antibiotic drops that we put in his ears if he got water in them. We just were careful in the bathtub & thankfully he didn't get anymore ear infections & we did not see any problems after putting tubes in or the ear drops in. I would call the doctor back- maybe the infection is back again. Maybe try giving your son some motrin for the pain so he can get some sleep in the mean time. Good luck.

I would take him back to the ENT. My daughter had tubes put in and was still acting like they hurt, it ended up that her tubes were plugged, so not functioning at all. The had us put some drops of baby oil in her ear a few times a day. Once they finally got unplugged she was better. I hope this helps! Have a great day!

If he still has the infection it's most likely that. I'm assuming they have him on med's for the infection, if not they should. Once the infection is gone he should be okay. My daughter had her tubes in Dec. '06 (Dr. Bonacorsi) and she was fine within two/three days. We had to struggle getting her to let us put the plugs in at bath time but once she realized they didn't hurt she was fine. Good Luck to you.