Conference moira::parenting_v3

I always look for fever.  Once Markus had a SLIGHT fever in the morning, I'd
give him something, it would go away.  Nothing more till the next morning.
This happened three mornings and the fever was almost non existant with no
other symptoms.  I took him in and he had an ear infection.

Another time Dirk woke up with what was obviously an ear infection.  I brought
him for an hour in the morning to work with me until his appointment because
normally with an ear infection he was ok in the morning.  It was nights that
were bad.  He seemed VERY tired.  I got him to the doctor and not only did he
have an ear infection but also scarlet fever.  Ich.

Just three weeks ago he sprained (or so I hought) his finger for about the
fifth time in gym class.  I get tired of losing a half a day every time for
nothing but a sprain.  this time there was a small chip of bone broken off
and if I hadn't taken him it most certainly would have caused him problems
later in life (joint oversized and locking).  At 13 he is too young for that
kind of problem.

I guess the point is that I would rather err on the side of caution than worry
about upsetting the pediatrician's schedule.  And my pedi is never angry if
I bring them for nothing but very upset with me when I wait too long.

Cheryl

    My son Brad had chronic ear infections from about 4 weeks old.  After
    the first infection he never showed any symptoms.  I had to take him in
    to have his ears checked with every sneeze.  I was usually two days
    early and the infection would set in two day after the first doctors
    appointment.  There were many times I felt like a total idiot for
    bringing him in, but he always has such a good disposition I could
    never tell if he was sick or not.  They finally put tubes in his ears
    after about a year of this and he has not had one infection since then.  
    
    Always act on your instinct if you feel you need to take your baby to
    the doctor by all means take him in my doctor told me I am the only one
    who really knows my baby.
    
    Sasha  

    I am going throught this now with my 6 month old.  I had her in the
    doctors 2 times in one week.  She has an ear infection and a very bad
    cold.  My mother-in-law noticed she was running a fever, her body was
    as hot as fire.  I took her in and sure enough she had an ear
    infection.
    Now the cold is settling in her head, she is so congested.  I have to
    take her back tommorrow.
    I think the first sign is the fever and also fusiness.
    
    my two cents
    

    This is an area in which your mileage will DEFINITELY vary.
    
    James may have set the world record for ear infections when he was
    a baby.  He was always a sound sleeper, but when he had an ear
    infection, he'd be up every 40 minutes all night long.  We'd take
    him to the doctor, and sure enough, the eardrum would be "just a 
    little inflamed" and he'd be on Amoxicillin or Bactrim or Ceclor
    or Augmentin for 2 weeks.  This went on from the time he was
    6 months till he was 14 months...virtually every month.  Thank God
    for health insurance.
    
    I always call the doctor any time the kids *look* sick or *act* 
    differently than usual.  Some signs to watch for are fever, fussiness,
    marked change in sleeping patterns/appetite, or any behavior that makes
    you think, "Gee--should I call the doctor?"  I always err on the side
    of calling the doctor.  I would rather have the doctor think I'm a
    hypochondriac than have my kids suffer needlessly.
    

    Both of my boys had alot of ear infections (some were just labeled as
    "fluid in the ears" that could result in an infection).  I would say
    that 80% of the time I didn't know they had them because there was no
    marked change in habit/behaviour until they were VERY sick - which only
    happened twice for each kid.  Usually the doctors caught them when we
    took them in for shots or checkups or any other quick visit.  
    
    They are sometimes hard to diagnos for us parents.  Those little lites
    are sometimes the only way to know....
    
    -sandy
    

    Every ear infection with Jackie has been different.  Her first one a
    year ago (at 5 months) I had her to the dr's office once a week for
    about 4 weeks in a row with a cold, bronchitis, you name it.  I finally
    hit on the ear infection.  She did run a slight fever.  She just got
    over another one and I didn't even know it.  I was about a week after
    her MMR shot, she ran a temp for an afternoon/evening of 102.7 or so. 
    The next morning, 97.  That night and for the next 2.5 days, she ran a
    low temp of 100-101 or so.  On the third day (Sunday) I called the dr's
    office thinking the temp was from the shot.  The said that this wasn't
    the normal reaction and to bring her in.  Sure enough, I caught the
    very beginning of an ear infection.  There were no signs except for the
    low temp.  I've had her in to the dr's office I don't know how many
    times thinking she had one and she didn't.  Sometimes I got the feeling
    the dr's office thought I was paranoid and a hyperchondriac, but I got
    over that feeling.. after all, this is my daughter and her health is
    important.  And besides, as previous noted, thank God for insurance!
    
    Mary
    

    It was the question mark that always tipped me off when Alex had an ear
    infection.  She'd have every symptom of, say, a cold: runny nose,
    cough, bratty behavior (!)--BUT, she'd also have a fever.
    
    Or, she'd have every symptom of the flu (for her): no energy,
    apparently achy, not much appetite, very irritable.  BUT--*no* fever.
    
    So whenever there was one symptom that didn't fit (or one symptom
    markedly lacking) - bingo, it was the ear(s).  What she never did was
    to tug at her ears or complain about them!  Figures, huh?
    
    Leslie 

    We used to have a hard time telling with Jason as well, and everytime I
    thought he was fine, he'd have an ear infection, and every time I
    thought he had an infection, he was fine.  What finally saved us was...
    a method a friend of mine used on her kids.  If you blow a short strong
    poof of air into their ear, and they wince from it, it's there.  Not that I
    particularly like to make my kid wince, but it was accurate EVERY time!
    It might tickle and make them rub it if there's not a problem, but with
    J., when we blew and he had an infection, there was a very definite
    reaction of pain.  
    
    Maybe worth a try - I'm sure it doesn't work for all kids!
    
    GOOD LUCK!
    Patty

    
    My daughter is 16 months and has had 1 ear infection.  The pedi caught
    it a checkup, she had no fever or fussiness and was sleeping well.  I'm
    sort of paranoid now that I'll miss one and she'll have permanent
    damage.  After a visit to the weekend clinic that proved all my
    instincts were wrong {she didn't have an infection, even though she was
    tugging at both ears}!  I asked the pedi how I could be sure, he said 
    her ears would be infected ONLY after a cold or flu when she has some
    congestion. 
    
    Luckily, I have a good friend who is a nurse-practitioner with one of
    those scopes {can't remember the name of it} that the doctors check
    the ear canal with.  She is as overcautious as I am, and I don't feel
    guilty about false alarms. 
    
    
    Rochelle
      
    

With Matt, he always got a high fever and seemed very sick when he had an
ear infection.  Everytime he appeared the slightest bit sick or feverish
I always brought him in to have his ears checked.  I'd say it was a false
alarm about 1/3 of the time. 

So we bought a Dr. Dedo's ear scope. We can now check his ears ourselves.  It
came with a booklet describing how to use it and what to look for.  It cost
$29.95.

With Scott, our baby, he's had 2 ear infections and didn't have any symptoms
other than difficulty sleeping at night.  It's hard to use the ear scope on
him because he is so small and he won't hold still for it.  He hasn't had an
ear infection (that I know of) in quite awile, so hopefully he's not prone to
them like Matt was.

� �ori �

    Every time Alyssa was getting a new tooth, she would get an ear
    infection.  If a tooth was coming in on the right side, her right ear
    would be infected.  I went to the doctor 14 times in 6 months, and
    after a while, I was so good at diagnosing her, all I had to do was
    call the doctor and he would call in a prescription.
    
    Every child is so different from the next one.  If you have any doubts,
    take your child to the doctor.  Better safe than sorry.  And some
    children won't show any signs of anything being wrong until their ears
    are so infected it's pathetic.
    
    

    I found out my son had a slight ear infection when I took him for his 1
    year checkup.  I didn't have a clue that there was anything wrong, he
    seemed fine.  He hadn't had the flu or a cold before hand either.  The
    doctor thought maybe he had gotten some water in his ear.  Now, I
    wonder how many others he has had that I didn't know about.
    
    Kathy 

    For us it was, and still is 4-3/4 years later, an either/or thing.  If
    there are symptoms, the best description I can give is that his speech
    sounds "mucousy", like he's trying to talk but it's all coming out his
    nose, and just miserably thick.  He very seldom ran a notable fever,
    and funny thing is if he had a fever, very seldom was it ears.
    
    The "either/or" thing comes from if it isn't an ear infection it was
    strep throat, or if I thought it was the throat it ended up being the
    ears.  Sometime both but more ofen one or the other.
    
    We had an incident about a month ago, he started running a pretty high
    fever at school, so I stopped by the pedi's office on the way home, I
    just sort of assumed it was the ears again. the doctor looked first at 
    his ears, noted some fluid but said NOT infected, then routinely checked 
    his throat and said even though it didn't look at all bad he would culture
    it "on pricipals", and came back a few minutes later red in the face and 
    announcing the quick-strep test was a positive!  This kid never complains,
    and if he hadn't met me at school with a big hug, I'd have never know how 
    feverish he was.
    
    In that case they were leaning *against* the ears and throat, and
    towards the possibility of a UTI.  Surprise mom!!
    
    Lyn

    Hi,
       My daughter is now 30 months old, but you sound like me when she
    was younger.  She was the same way, I could not tell when she had an
    ear infection and several times I would go into the pedi and find out
    lo and behold she had a double ear infection.  I finally figured out
    the only way I could tell was one : experience, they sometimes seem to
    act a little bit off, and then my daughter is very fair skinned and
    she has tendancy to get "circles" under he eyes making her look
    exceptionally tired, and everytime I took her in after that she had an
    ear infection.  That was the only sign her little self ever gave
    me,until she got older and could actually say to me "my ear".
    
    I guess I just want to say that it does get better after they turn 2, it
    seems like from 3 months to 2 years it is constant with all kinds of
    things, and ear infections are usually part of that.   Try not to feel
    too guilty as by the time they are on the antibiotics for 24 hours they 
    are already feeling better, and you are not alone.  
    
    Hope all goes well.
    100% better.