DS has a swollen lymph node

[stcelia]

He is 6 months and I have noticed a swollen lymph node behind his ear for at least a week and a half, now. He has been cranky, but I have attributed it to teething (the drool factor is through the roof!), but I'm beginning to wonder if he should see a ped.

Any thoughts? Could it be an ear infection, or can teething make the lymph nodes swell? It seems like I should know this type of stuff, but I'm not pediatric nurse! TIA, Jenn

[August Mom]

I'm mainly bumping this up for you. Hopefully someone will actually know. However, my practice is to call the ped if there is something that is concerning you. I don't call all that often, but if I'm sitting around being concerned about something, then I call. Often they will tell you to come in, but sometimes you just get an answer.

[SummerBaby]

My DD has had a swollen lymph node in her neck for about 6 months now (she's a year old) and we've been back and forth to the ped quite a bit. Swollen glands indicate that there's an inflammation somewhere in the body. Initially, my DD was fussy, and she had several other swollen glands behinds her ears. I took her to the ped and she had no ear infection, but she has eczema, and the ped felt she could have a skin infection from scratching. The ped also said swollen glands can be caused by cradle cap (which DD had a very bad case of). They gave her an antibiotic and the fussiness ended, but she still had swollen glands. At that point, the ped said it was likely the cradle cap. The glands got smaller, but by 10 months the one on the side of her neck was still visible so the ped ordered an ultrasound and blood work. After spending a miserable day getting that done, the results were normal. The gland is barely swollen now, and DD's cradle cap is mostly cleared up, so I think that's what it was in our case.

I would definitely check with your ped just to make sure your DS isn't sick. HTH!

Val
Mom to Madeline
7/28/04

[smomom]

I would definitely get it checked. My oldest DS had swelling on one side of his lymph nodes when he was around 6 months old. The ped placed him on a round of antibiotics that did nothing. At that point he checked for swelling in his other glands and ordered extensive blood work and a CT scan. Thankfully the blood work was fine. The CT scan, however, revealed a hemangioma in his saliva glands. A hemangioma is basically a vascular tumor. Since his was in his saliva glands, it gave the appearance of swollen lymph nodes. We had to see an ENT for treatment, but it has since almost completely involuted on its own.

Best of luck to you and please keep us posted on his diagnosis.