Question about ear infections

[mandye]

Hailey has been pulling at her ear lately. She doesn't seem to be in pain, though. She mainly just pulls at the top like she is going to rip her ear off. She really isn't cranky except in the afternoon/early evening, but when she is cranky she cries like she is in pain. Could she have an ear infection?

Note: she isn't crying when she pulls at her ear and she doesn't pull at her ear when she cries.

Mandy

[momtoemma]

My DD had several ear infections last year, and every time I suspected she might have one, it turned out that she did. My DD didn't always pull at her ear when she was diagnosed with an ear infection and she also didn't always seem to be in a great deal of pain with her ear infections, so I'd say it's a possibility that she might have an infection. Has she also had a cold or runny nose? Usually kids get ear infections in conjunction with having other fluids build up elsewhere causing the fluid in the ear tubes to not be able to drain. Good luck with the diagnosis!

[lizajane]

schuyler sucks his left thumb and pulls his right ear when he is tired. never had an ear infection.

[josephmama]

Joseph is a normally happy baby but when he had an ear infection he would cry when he was getting tired later in the day- probably noticed the pain at that point. He also didn't cry when pulling his ears- just in the evening. He also would have cold symptoms, though.

[hellokitty1]

Mandy-

Has Hailey had a cold recently? If she has and you've never seen this type of behavior or gone in for an ear infection check, I would go in this time just to check it out. Sydney's had a few bouts and never displays the more common symptoms like fever, crankiness, etc. And she just randomly pulls at her ear so we never use that as a sign. In fact, the most reliable sign we've seen is a lingering "wet" cough that won't go away and is more active at night. This is a common symptom too but not talked about much in your typical publication.

HTH.

[amp]

My understanding (I think I read it on askdrsears.com) is that pulling on the ears alone, is not an indication of an ear infection. I looked this up because DS pulls at his ears a lot when he is tired or out of sorts. But he's not crying in pain when it happens, nor does he have any other symptoms indicative of an ear infection.