Ear infection in baby

Nicki

My poor little baby has the most dreadful ear infection and is in agony.

He has been seen by the hospital as he got very poorly on Friday afternoon, and they discovered this was why. He's on antibiotics 3x daily and we are alternating calpol and ibuprofen every 2 hours but he is screaming and writhing in agony constantly and this has been going on since Friday.

I know we can't ask medical advice, but does anyone have any ideas how to comfort him. He doesn't want to be held or even touched. At the moment he is lying on the floor by my feet howling and c beebies is on to distract him, and the other kids are being kept well away but he gets even worse if I try to engage with him at all, or touch him in any way. I feel very helpless.

Hospital kept him overnight on Friday and gave him antibiotics via a nasal gastric tube and OH took him back in at 4.30 this morning but they said there was nothing more medically to do, so just looking for ideas to help make him more comfortable

McKneff

I have no suggestions for the poor little lamb, especially when distraction doesnt work.
I feel for you, Im sure as a parent you would rather be going through the pain yourself.

Perhaps a warm bath.

Its just a case of waiting for the medication to work really.
If it goes on too long though I would ring up NHS direct.

Molly41

Take him back! There is more they can do for him x

msb5262

I think you should ring your GP out of hours service or call the hospital again and seek further advice.
Your poor baby shouldn't still be in so much pain if the antibiotics are taking effect.
All the best
MsB

DueMarch11

Ah poor baby, and poor you!

No real words of advice really, just administer cuddles when theyre wanted and wait for the medicine to kick in. If it goes on for longer than you think it should then go back/call NHS direct. Im told it takes around 3 days for anti b's to start properly fighting the infect so you will probably start to see a difference in him tomorrow.

Can anyone come and watch him for an hour so that you can go and get a breath of fresh air or something? It sounds horrible leaving him when he is poorly but its only for an hour and you'll feel so much better for it!

Hugs x

Caroline_a

Is he eating and drinking anything? Fluid loss can be dangerous, i would take him back and make a fuss if they try to send you home with no treatment.

alwayspuzzled

I would take him back to A&E but try to time it so that he's due his next dose of painkillers so they can see how he really is. This is what someone recommended to me as when my dd was poorly I went back and forth between docs, a&E, out of hrs etc but non of them seemed to think it was anything and I'm sure that this was because typically at the point they called us the meds had kicked in and her temp was down and she was calmer.

(she ended up being admitted to the childrens ward or 2 weeks and having an operation so I really wish I'd took her in screaming earlier)

magoogy

being a recurrant sufferer of earache since a baby i really feel for your little mite.......

.one thing my mum used to do for me which really did help was to warm a wooly hat and let me wear that as the warmth was nice and soothing - i still do this sometimes when its really bad and it does help.......

.with earache its all about keeping the ear warm so dont let him eat anything or drink anything cold - warm soup, meals or cups of tea, etc are best........

keep any windows shut to prevent draughts too.........

hopefully his pain will ease soon...x

pigpen

hot water bottle/wheatbag on the sore ear and if he will lay him on the painful side.

Take him back to hospital.. they can double the dose of paracetamol or change the AB's or give IV ones.. refuse to leave until they do something!!! Take him back just before his next meds are due!! They can't stand noisy children

Is there a different A&E you could take him too?

Ear infections can be awful.. poor babe..

bananadog

When my little one needed grommits he used to scream non-stop with earache, I once took him to the hospital in desperation (we were on the waiting list for a while for the grommits) and they said to put a nice warm cloth against his ear to soothe it.
I'm afraid that is all the advice i have really...don't know how much it will help but if your little one is no better after that I would also take him back to make sure there is no more damage being done ((hugs))

anguk

I have always used a warm bottle or something against my head when I've had earache but apparently you're not supposed to do that because warmth/heat can make the infection worse, I think you're not meant to with a tooth abscess either.

I agree with the others to take baby back to A&E, poor little mite, earache is awful.