Poor little girl! And poor Mum, too!! Ear infections are horrible, the poor little kids that get them feel really rotten with earache. If her eardrum perforates, it will hurt very much and will possibly ooze thick pussey fluid for many days, depending on the severity of the infection.
Some children are more prone to ear infections than others. As a Mum, not a health professional, my understanding is that it has something to do with the angle of the eustacian tubes. When children are little, the tubes are quite horizontal and don't allow for good drainage of any fluid in the ears. As children grow and mature, the tubes become more angled and the problem often resolves itself. I have three children, all of whom were exclusively breastfed for 6 months, then continued to be breastfed for 20 months or longer. My eldest son, Evan, fed for 20 months. He has had dreadful problems with ear infections and perforated eardrums since he was a very young baby. He had his first set of grommets in at 10 months, then his second set in and adenoids removed at 2 years, and just had his third (please let it be the last!) just before Christmas last year at age 7 years. The other 2 kids have barely even had an ear infection in their whole life, and they're now 5 years. Their father remembers lying awake at night as a child with dreadful earache, and having an infection so bad that an abscess formed on his eardrum. Perhaps there is some genetic link here, that has only affected Evan? I don't know. I also don't know if the actions we've taken with his ears over the years have been the right thing or not, but we went on the best advice we had at the times. I was not willing to put his speech and learning at risk due to poor hearing, and he has performed badly at hearing tests periodically due to blocked ears. Hope this helps, and hope Evan's experiences don't recur in your house! Brenda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Macha McDonald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "ozmidwifery" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2002 10:20 PM Subject: ear infections > Hi. I need some advice..again!! My 15.5 month old daughter is suffering > from her second ear infection in 3 weeks. The doctor she saw mentioned > referring her to a specialist to have grommets put in! (after 2 > infections!...I suspect that they are the same infection). She has 2 > bottles of cows milk a day, and she suffers from a bit of excema. I know I > should lose the bottles, but apart from that, I have been told that cows > milk and dairy products, being mucolitic can cause the build up of mucousy > fluids in ears, particularly if the child has an atopic reaction to cows > milk (like excema). Our problem is, our daughter will not drink milk from > anything other than a bottle, making it hard to wean her from them, and we > find it almost impossible to make up the reccomended 600mls of dairy in her > diet if shes not having bottles. And what about the mucous thing? Have any > of you experianced ppl out there heard of this, and does it have any > credibility? If I did take her off dairy, how on EARTH would I adjust her > diet to make sure that she was receiving adequate nutrition? The doctor she > saw told me to give her formula instead of cows milk (????WHY?????). Im > just so confused! What do you reccomend I do? > Thanks a million, Macha. > > -- > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
