tubes in ears.... (couple of questions for BTDT moms)

dd is 2.5 and this is her first winter in daycare. before daycare she had the occasional cold etc. nothing big. anyway.
this winter has been rough on her, i just got back from the ped and looks like another ear infection and her 4th pink eye.
This is her 4th or 5th ear infection.
(double)
and she got antibiotics; her ped said to come in 2-3 weeks to see if it cleared if not to go see an ear nose and throat specialist.
are they going to recommend tubes in her ears?
if your DC had tubes in their ears how many ear infections did they have it? how old were they ?

Re: tubes in ears.... (couple of questions for BTDT moms)

My DS sees Dr. Mendelsohn and he takes a "wait and see" approach. My DS had double ear infections from Jan-June (I think it was six) and he ended up getting tubes 2 weeks after his first bday. This was 1.5 years ago and he's only had 1 ear infection since then that cleared up with antibiotics and never came back! *knock on wood* We go back every 3 months for check ups and it's been great!

Re: tubes in ears.... (couple of questions for BTDT moms)

DS has been getting ear infections since about 5 months. They started off in just one ear at a time. At Thanksgiving he got his first double and has had all double infections since. He was getting atleast two a month up until about two months ago, he would be on an antibiotic for an infection and be off it for a few days and need another, they are very frequent now. It has just spiraled down hill, getting worse and worse. He is going in next wednesday for tubes, he just turned one this past Saturday. My ped did not refer us to an ENT until DS had double infections. Since DS's infections were getting worse and more frequent they did not want to wait and opted to go right for the tubes.

ETA- DS's hearing test showed mild hearing loss.

Message edited 2/20/2012 9:57:30 PM.

Re: tubes in ears.... (couple of questions for BTDT moms)

My DD is 21 months old. She just had her 14th ear infection. Took her to an ENT a year ago and they have not wanted to put tubes because she talks like a parrot and it seems that it has not affected her hearing (timpanogram? was normal). With this said, we have decided on tubes and she will be getting them next Thursday since she has had fluid in her ears for 1 1/2 months after her last ear infections. :(

Re: tubes in ears.... (couple of questions for BTDT moms)

My 19 month old is on his second set of tubes. This was after careful watching and waiting. He had an ear infection for almost 3 months straight. He got his first set of tubes at 10 months after the infection wouldn't clear and he had hearing loss. The tubes didn't work for long and he just had another set put in earlier this month. The doctor was reluctant to do it but he needed them. I liked that it wasn't rushed. NO matter what, ask a lot of questions and feel free to voice any concerns.

Re: tubes in ears.... (couple of questions for BTDT moms)

My dd had chronic ear infections. She had continuous ear infections from (6 months old) Feb 2011-June 2011. We were never able to get get rid of the ear infections during that time. She was on 6 different antibiotics between feb-june. In June we took her to see an ent at that time she was only 10 months old and the ENT wanted to see how she would do over the summer. While she had no ear infections during the summer months she had sterile fluid that never went away. In Sept 2011 ear infections returned. We decided in Nov after 3 more rounds of antibiotics to do tubes. However than my dd was diagnosed with asthma and the ENT was not comfortable putting her under while she was on steriods and the nebulizer.

Finally this past Jan. we had the tubes done. Its only been a little over a month but its the first month in over a year she doesn't have fluid or an ear infection. She just started to sleep through the night for the first time ever. She also doesn't scream and hold her ears.

The reasons we choose to do tubes besdies the chronic ear infections and fluid were
1)she had 40% hearing loss
2) she vomits when she has very bad ear infections. It was becoming a nightly event that she was vomiting from screaming so much with the pain
3) She was always crying and wasn't sleeping though the night
4)her speech which was clear was becoming more muffled.

I was really afriad to have the tubes put in but it was one of the best choices we ever made.

Re: tubes in ears.... (couple of questions for BTDT moms)

Chronic Ear infections here too. She got them at 17m and has had two ear infections since then she's now 3.5. One was just after (literally during) the surgery. The second was actually after one had started to fall out no less.

She has both fallen out, one has completely cleared and the other is still 'in there'.

Best. Thing. Ever.