DCs w/ ear infections...anyone chose not to do tubes?

[wendibird22]

DD2 had her ENT consult this morning. She's on her 4th ear infection in her 12mos of life. This current one required 3 different abx but the ENT said it is clearing. He gave me info on tubes and said "there's risk to doing tubes and risks to not doing tubes. It's for you to decide what you'd like to do." We have quite a few friends who've had tubes done for their DCs. Just wondering if anyone out there has had an ENT consult and decided to not do tubes. The ENT said it's mostly a waiting game of the child's anatomy to correct itself.

[scrooks]

I had a friend whose DD had more ear infections that that in her first 18 or so months of life. She chose not to do tubes and is happy she didn't. Her DD is 3.5 now and really hasn't had many issues since.

[AnnieW625]

We opted for tubes, but at 2 yrs. old as DD1's ear infections were very bad from 21 mos. to 24 mos., almost constant. There were many benefits for doing tubes in DD1 at that time including helping with a speech delay that was due in large to the ear infections. I would've been a little leary doing them at 12 mos. old too, but honestly I still think that the benefits outweigh the cons. I don't want to hijack your post so if you (or anyone else) wants my full list of pros with explanations just send me a PM.

[erosenst]

In the FWIW category -

DD had 10 ear infections in 2 years. Nine were in one ear, one in the other. We briefly considered a tube for the ear that only had one.

Her ped at the time (we've since moved) was very good, but relatively conservative. His advice was to get tubes in the following situations:

* If the ear infections really bother the child (nope)
* If hearing is impaired (nope - always had very good receptive language, and talked early)
* If antibiotics didn't clear it (close call - had to use three on the 'one ear'.)

Had the 'one ear' gotten infected again, and not cleared until the third round, we would have gotten tubes. Instead, since she had just turned 2 and it was only 8 weeks til spring (fewer colds, usually fewer ear infections) she was on a low dose of Bactrim which kept the infections at bay and bought time for her ears to continue growing.

Having said all of that - if I had *any* concerns about her hearing, or if she were bothered by them, I would have insisted on tubes. Four of the eight kids in DD's infant room at daycare got them - all were much happier babies afterwards. In addition, it's difficult to make up for lost time if they're not hearing well because of the ear infections.

Lastly, be aware that DD may always be prone to ear infections. While DD has gone long stretches (12+ months) without them, at almost 7 she still gets them more frequently than most kids. It's really an anatomy issue.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1 and 2 both had a lot of EIs. With ds1 the one ped really pushed tubes but when we switched peds (for lots of reasons) she was in the "wait and see" camp. He started getting them less frequently and I'm glad we didn't do tubes.

Beth

[wimama]

My DS had ear infections from 6 months to 12 months old. They would clear up after antibiotics and then return within about 2 weeks. I had read a bunch a stuff online saying that ear infections don't cause speech delays. But, for our DS I believe they did cause a bit of a speech delay and they caused problems with his balance. We held off hoping they would resolve but now I regret not doing them sooner. He got his ear tubes at 12 months old.

Before the getting the tubes he called me "Va, va" and the only other words he spoke were Dada and ball. Within a week of having the tubes in he was calling me Mama. It was like he could hear the correct sounds of the word finally. Even more dramatic was the affect the infections had on his balance. DS hit all his milestones pretty much on time or early, was strong baby and was cruising for quite a while but would not try and walk without holding our hands. If we tried to get him to walk he would fall forward within 3 steps. After returning home from his ear tube surgery he was a little groggy. I nursed him and he took a short nap. Then he woke up and wanted to go down on the floor. Much to my and my DH's surprise he walked right across the room like there was nothing to it. His surgeon said his ear canals had puss in them at the time of surgery, despite being off antibiotics for less than two weeks. Once that pressure in his ears was gone, he was off and walking. No turning back.

[carolinamama]

The main reason that DS1 got tubes was that I don't like my kids exposed to antibiotics if I can help it. He was having almost constant EIs and we were onto Omnicef (Amox and Augmentin were no longer working to clear them). Once he had tubes, we kept a supply of antibiotic ear drops on hand and used those the second an EI looked like it was coming on based on drainage. DS1's antibiotic usage went WAY down once he had the tubes since he wasn't getting constant EIs. Just another reason in my book to consider the risks of tubes worth it.

[wendibird22]

Thanks all for your experiences. I think 3 out of the 4 infections have required multiple rounds of abx to clear. EI #2 required the abx shot. The ones she had previously she showed signs of discomfort and fever. This current one has been asymptomatic and was only caught at her 1yr well baby visit. Each time the EI is in both ears. She's in full time daycare so I know she will continue to be frequently exposed to cold viruses and thus likely to have more EIs.

Speech and hearing are my biggest concerns. I don't *think* she has had any hearing impairments. She seems to hear us fine...although who knows if that hearing is muffled. At 1yo she is very verbal with all sorts of sounds and tones and will have quite long conversations but she doesn't really have many words...mama and that's about it. DD1 at this age had quite a few words. So I don't know if the EIs are causing any type of speech delay.

She's a happy playful kid and even when she's sick it's hard to tell...she's just not a kid that gets miserable when sick.

IIRC her EIs were April, May, Sept and now.

And Annie, it's ok to hijack...feel free to post your pros.

[lhafer]

DD2 had her ENT consult this morning. She's on her 4th ear infection in her 12mos of life. This current one required 3 different abx but the ENT said it is clearing. He gave me info on tubes and said "there's risk to doing tubes and risks to not doing tubes. It's for you to decide what you'd like to do." We have quite a few friends who've had tubes done for their DCs. Just wondering if anyone out there has had an ENT consult and decided to not do tubes. The ENT said it's mostly a waiting game of the child's anatomy to correct itself.

I am glad to hear she's getting better. She may just be prone to ear infections. I can't give you any advice about not getting tubes, because we chose to. All I can say is that as long as her hearing isn't being affected, and she's not really bothered by the infections, then it might be best to wait for a while.

4 infections in 12mo doesn't seem like a lot to me - or enough to warrant tubes I guess I should say. But my DD got her first ear infection at 4 months old, and pretty much had them continuously until we put tube in at 12mo (1 week after her first birthday). She had them at least monthly, and we did various abx treatments, sometime no medicine, etc. But her hearing was being affected. She literally had fluid behind both ear drums constantly, that no amount of abx would clear up. She got the tubes in both ears and I had to change her pillow cases for the next several days because of the bloody drainage that had been behind her ear drums. She never had to get new tubes placed. Her first pair fell out after a couple of years (I think - I'm not sure because they looked like they were in, but when the ENT cleaned the wax out of her ears to really look - the tubes came out with the ball of wax, and the holes had already healed up).

If I were you, I think I would wait a bit and see how it plays out. But if your daughter's hearing is affected, or she's really bothered by the infections then I would rethink that.

ETA: my daughter NEVER had fever with her EI's. Ever. Sometimes the only way I knew she had one was if she was getting a check up and the doctor told me. Sometimes she would pull at her ear. I also very much believe that her EI's were allergy related. To what, I'm not sure. I just know that since moving into a new house and not having furry animals anymore - she's stopped having to take Zyrtec and has not had any ear infections in a couple fo years.

[lhafer]

Thanks all for your experiences. I think 3 out of the 4 infections have required multiple rounds of abx to clear. EI #2 required the abx shot. The ones she had previously she showed signs of discomfort and fever. This current one has been asymptomatic and was only caught at her 1yr well baby visit. Each time the EI is in both ears. She's in full time daycare so I know she will continue to be frequently exposed to cold viruses and thus likely to have more EIs.

Speech and hearing are my biggest concerns. I don't *think* she has had any hearing impairments. She seems to hear us fine...although who knows if that hearing is muffled. At 1yo she is very verbal with all sorts of sounds and tones and will have quite long conversations but she doesn't really have many words...mama and that's about it. DD1 at this age had quite a few words. So I don't know if the EIs are causing any type of speech delay.

She's a happy playful kid and even when she's sick it's hard to tell...she's just not a kid that gets miserable when sick.

IIRC her EIs were April, May, Sept and now.

And Annie, it's ok to hijack...feel free to post your pros.

They didn't test her hearing at the ENT's office? They did with my DD (at age 1 - a few weeks before she was 1 actually) and that's how I know her hearing was being affected.

[Cam&Clay]

Just walked in the door from the pediatrician with DS2. Another EI.

DS1 got tubes at 18 months. He had multiple infections in those first 18 months and ran high fevers and had lots of pain. The pain alone made me opt for tubes right away. It was heaven not to have to do antibiotics anymore. The surgery is sooooo quick and simple. If they want to do it to DS1, I'm all for it.

DS1 was one of the few kids whose tubes never fell out. He had to have them removed when he was 8 years old.

[WolfpackMom]

My DS had ear infections from 6 months to 12 months old. They would clear up after antibiotics and then return within about 2 weeks. I had read a bunch a stuff online saying that ear infections don't cause speech delays. But, for our DS I believe they did cause a bit of a speech delay and they caused problems with his balance. We held off hoping they would resolve but now I regret not doing them sooner. He got his ear tubes at 12 months old.

Before the getting the tubes he called me "Va, va" and the only other words he spoke were Dada and ball. Within a week of having the tubes in he was calling me Mama. It was like he could hear the correct sounds of the word finally. Even more dramatic was the affect the infections had on his balance. DS hit all his milestones pretty much on time or early, was strong baby and was cruising for quite a while but would not try and walk without holding our hands. If we tried to get him to walk he would fall forward within 3 steps. After returning home from his ear tube surgery he was a little groggy. I nursed him and he took a short nap. Then he woke up and wanted to go down on the floor. Much to my and my DH's surprise he walked right across the room like there was nothing to it. His surgeon said his ear canals had puss in them at the time of surgery, despite being off antibiotics for less than two weeks. Once that pressure in his ears was gone, he was off and walking. No turning back.

Oh goodness this has me wanting to call the DR today for an ENT referral rather than waiting until our next appointment in 2 weeks. All the pre-tube things you are saying describe DS perfectly.

[crl]

Ds had four ear infections the winter he was 15-20 months old or so. At my request we pursued allergy testing with an allergist. DS tested strongly positive for dust mites, among other things. We did all the environmental things (mattress encasements, etc) and put him on allergies meds. Never had another ear infection. So I would be inclined to consider the possibility of allergies before doing tubes.

Catherine

[HIU8]

DS had 5 EI's from birth to 9 months old. We were going to do tubes. The ENT wanted us to wait the season to see if DS got another infection. After the 5th he didn't get any more (he is 6 now and has only had 1 since age 9 months).

However, DD is 3 1/2. She has tubes. She has had one infection after the tubes and it cleared up quickly. Prior to the tubes she had thick fluid in her ears causing a hearing loss. For her tubes were necessary b/c her hearing and speech were already suffering (35% hearing loss and she was in speech therapy for about 8 months--once the fluid was drained and she could hear she caught up quickly).

So, I think it depends on the child and the circumstances. Would I do tubes again--YES, in a heartbeat. I also glad the ENT wanted to wait and see with DS. That was also the right decision. FWIW, same ENT for DD and DS.

[katydid1971]

I haven't read all the posts but I was so glad I got DS tubes. He is on his second set and he is a different boy because of them. His speech was quite behind and he is really catching up. He would be in so much pain and he was already starting to develop allergies to some of the antibiotics (runs in the family on both sides). FWIW there was almost no trauma/pain from the tubes (nothing compared to the EI themselves). He couldn't eat anything after midnight the night before and we went into the hospital at 6 am (this is the only part that bugged me because the operation wasn't until 8:30 and we had a hungry/bored little guy to deal with for 2.5 hours). They only gave him the gas, not the other cocktail to help relax him. He come out of it about 30 minutes later and we left around 9:30 and had breakfast at home. By noon that day he was 100% normal. He didn't get more EIs and he is so much healthier. Very happy we did it.

[Snow mom]

Not exactly what you asked but we saw the ENT and decided not to do tubes. We took away DDs paci and did other small things that are supposed to reduce EIs. I also thought that ear infection "season" was coming to a close so was hesitant to do it. Then she got another ear infection and her eardrum ruptured. Then we did tubes. FWIW, this was last April and she hasn't had an infection since. When she gets a cold her ears "run" like her nose which is kind of gross, but it's very revealing of what would be in her ears if it didn't have the drainage of tubes.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds2's PA (the ped was unavailable) and I were talking about ds2's speech troubles at his 3yo check up. I brought him his multiple ear infections. She said it was a wives' tale that it would hinder speech. She said that even if they missed a language burst b/c they had an EI then that once it was cleared up it would catch up. Not sure how much of that is true. She isn't my favorite care provider. But, I thought that was interesting.

Ds2 has had his hearing checked at multiple places and all is good there. He just has speech problems though.

Beth

[megs4413]

I think you should get the tubes based on what you've posted, but you could also have a hearing test done to give you more information before you make your decision.

before tubes DS was always happy, but had horrible balance problems and was hearing impaired. he signed almost exclusively until he was 18 mos old and then had his ear drainage problem corrrected. he dropped all of his signs within a month and started speaking in two word sentences. it was amazing to see.

Just for disclosure, DS has had 5 sets of tubes, but he has special anatomical issues that have made that necessary.

[wimama]

Ds2's PA (the ped was unavailable) and I were talking about ds2's speech troubles at his 3yo check up. I brought him his multiple ear infections. She said it was a wives' tale that it would hinder speech. She said that even if they missed a language burst b/c they had an EI then that once it was cleared up it would catch up. Not sure how much of that is true. She isn't my favorite care provider. But, I thought that was interesting.

Ds2 has had his hearing checked at multiple places and all is good there. He just has speech problems though.

Beth

I read that multiple places online and that was one of the reasons we held off on ear tubes as long as we did. I am pretty certain the chronic ear infections did have an affect on my son. I don't think he ever had a period where he didn't at least have some fluid in his ears, if not a full blown infection. But he speech did seem to take off after getting the tubes in.


Oh goodness this has me wanting to call the DR today for an ENT referral rather than waiting until our next appointment in 2 weeks. All the pre-tube things you are saying describe DS perfectly.

FWIW- My DS's earing tested within the normal range prior to his surgery. We did the surgery anyway because he was always either coming down with an infection or trying to get rid of one. He would often spike 102-103 degree or higher fevers. I was also worried about him being on antibiotics so often.

Our daycare kept a poster chart of all the words they heard the babies say. It was quite obvious to us by the time we got the ear tubes that DS was falling behind with his speech. It took him a long time to catch up to his friends.

[wendibird22]

They didn't test her hearing at the ENT's office? They did with my DD (at age 1 - a few weeks before she was 1 actually) and that's how I know her hearing was being affected.

No they didn't test her hearing. The doc asked if she had hearing loss and I said I wasn't sure but I didn't think so because she responds when we talk to her.

I do worry about the overuse of abx.

[HIU8]

Your ENT should have an audiologist in his office. I thought DD's hearing was fine. Turns out she could hear but heard muffled sounds (hence her 35% hearing loss which was the cause). I would have never known b/c DD spoke early and well and A LOT. Now she speaks more and much clearer. Her hearing is checked every 6 months now by the audiologist at the ENT.

[wendibird22]

Your ENT should have an audiologist in his office. I thought DD's hearing was fine. Turns out she could hear but heard muffled sounds (hence her 35% hearing loss which was the cause). I would have never known b/c DD spoke early and well and A LOT. Now she speaks more and much clearer. Her hearing is checked every 6 months now by the audiologist at the ENT.

Now I'm upset that they didn't test her hearing. Maybe it was because her ears were clear at today's visit and therefore no fluid would mean no hearing loss??? Wonder if our ped's office could test her hearing?

[cvanbrunt]

I do worry about the overuse of abx.

This is why we went with tubes for DD#1.

[Snow mom]

Now I'm upset that they didn't test her hearing. Maybe it was because her ears were clear at today's visit and therefore no fluid would mean no hearing loss??? Wonder if our ped's office could test her hearing?

They didn't test my DDs hearing when we went for a consult either. The ENT said because she had fluid in her ears there was no point. He actually waited until they were cleared and she didn't have a cold (our second follow-up visit) to test her hearing. I think with babies it's hard to get good info on their hearing and he seemed to be more concerned with long-term hearing loss than whether she was hearing okay with all that fluid in her ears (which I think is obviously not the case to an ENT.)

[srhs]

We got em, but Ds was truly miserable, up screaming and writhing at night. And his were basically infected one right top of another Dec-June. Once they stuck around after cold and flu season, pedis were saying GO, and we just had to wait to get in. I agonized over it, but it was so worth it FOR HIM, and I wish I could have gotten them for him that first month.

Our ENT did not test hearing; maybe because of the frequency, I don't know.

I actually take DS to a chiro, and they are typically pretty anti-rx and anti-tubes. He said DS had particularly horizontal canals, and that yes, he would outgrow the infections in time as they became more vertical. Until they did, though, if they couldn't drain, they would continue to be infected. He finally said, yes, even he would consider them in DS' case.

I apologize if any of my layman understanding skews the story. That's how I understood it all anyway. ;) I was sick with worry about the procedure, and basically the only challenge of the whole day was distracting DS2 from seeing DS1 eat some breakfast.

[edurnemk]

Ds had four ear infections the winter he was 15-20 months old or so. At my request we pursued allergy testing with an allergist. DS tested strongly positive for dust mites, among other things. We did all the environmental things (mattress encasements, etc) and put him on allergies meds. Never had another ear infection. So I would be inclined to consider the possibility of allergies before doing tubes.

Catherine

This is what we're doing, I decided to consult a Ped. Allergist. I went through the same thing as a kid: allergies and many EI's (with a lot of pain, I still remember even though I was 3 yo), one time my eardrum ruptured. I got the tubes and never had an EI again. After reading a lot about allergies vs. colds I felt DS's case could be allergies and not just frequent colds. It seems I'm right. Since both me and DH have allergies, the Dr. says our DC's have a 70% chance of being allergic.

DS's right ear still had a lot of thick fluid today, although no infection (he had 3 shots of rocephin less than a month ago). The Ped Allergist thinks he surely has allergic rhinitis and maybe sinusitis (he had a CT scan of his sinuses taken today) and all this causes the EI's. I'd rather go after the cause if possible, than to keep giving him abx. If the EI's continue, and his Dr. thinks it necessary we'd seriously consider tubes.

[smilequeen]

I know you want people who didn't, but we did get tubes for DS2 at 11 months and I am still SO glad we did it.

Now, our ENT DID test his hearing and it was affected at the time. He got constant EIs from 6 months old on. He was fine during the day but he was miserable at night. This was a kid who sttn at 3 months old and started waking every 2 hours screaming and needing to nurse when he started getting EIs. He was still a happy baby, but there was a change in him from having less sleep.

Pretty much immediately after the tubes he started sleeping well again and he was much happier. He started trying to talk more. And he never had another EI again. He has an articulation issue with his speech that his speech therapist thinks could partially be due to his impaired hearing in those 6 months.

[mom2binsd]

As an SLP who's worked with school aged kids, the high rate of ear infections in childhood, esp during those crucial first few years when children are acquiring sounds, is so important. Yes, they may be responding when you talk to them, but they may not be able to differentiate between sounds, they may not hear the higher pitched sounds, or word endings.

I have to disagree with the statement that a PA told one PP that it was an old wives tale, after working 14 years with young children there is a correlation.

When there is fluid in the years it truly muffles the sounds, to really know if there is hearing loss an audiological eval in a booth is required, like others have said, that is the only way to know if hearing is impacted, not just an observation by a parent or ped.

We almost did tubes with DD, but her ear infections finally stopped right before we had planned to see an ENT.

From my work experience, most parents are glad they did tubes, and the anxiety regarding the procedure for placement is much worse than the actual procedure itself.

[wendibird22]

As an SLP who's worked with school aged kids, the high rate of ear infections in childhood, esp during those crucial first few years when children are acquiring sounds, is so important. Yes, they may be responding when you talk to them, but they may not be able to differentiate between sounds, they may not hear the higher pitched sounds, or word endings.

I have to disagree with the statement that a PA told one PP that it was an old wives tale, after working 14 years with young children there is a correlation.

When there is fluid in the years it truly muffles the sounds, to really know if there is hearing loss an audiological eval in a booth is required, like others have said, that is the only way to know if hearing is impacted, not just an observation by a parent or ped.

We almost did tubes with DD, but her ear infections finally stopped right before we had planned to see an ENT.

From my work experience, most parents are glad they did tubes, and the anxiety regarding the procedure for placement is much worse than the actual procedure itself.

Thank you for your post. DH and I discussed it last night and were pretty certain we wanted to go ahead and do it and this post confirmed that we've reached a good decision. You are right, you rarely hear anyone say they regret it. We try to do the least amount of intervention for any given illness but in this case the risk of abx resistance, speech delay, hearing loss, a miserable child, time off from work, etc. outweigh any procedural risk IMO.

[kerridean]

Thank you for your post. DH and I discussed it last night and were pretty certain we wanted to go ahead and do it and this post confirmed that we've reached a good decision. You are right, you rarely hear anyone say they regret it. We try to do the least amount of intervention for any given illness but in this case the risk of abx resistance, speech delay, hearing loss, a miserable child, time off from work, etc. out way and procedural risk IMO.

:yeahthat:

As an audiologist, I cannot agree more with the above post. I highly recommend the placement on tubes in the OP's case.

[HIU8]

My DD had seen the ENT since birth for repeat sinus infections. By the time we got to the hearing loss portion and the audiologist, DD was 2 1/2. The ENT wanted/said we needed to wait until cold and flu season was over to see how she truly was (sans illness). So our consult with the ENT was way back when DD was a baby (no ear issues when we went in for the sinus infection). So, I guess they did the hearing tests right away b/c we were repeat customers already for other issues.

[MaiseyDog]

We are also in the "got tubes" camp, but not for EI's. DD2 never had a ear infection, not a single one, but had language delays due to fluid. We had her hearing checked at 12 months because she wasn't babbling. Hearing was impaired and they also detected fluid behind her ear drum. They told us to wait 3 months and check again. At that check she also had hearing impairment and fluid in her ears. We waited another 3 months and same thing. ENT then decided to do tubes for chronic fluid. Before the surgery she had about 5 words that she used only rarely. She babbled alot, but no words. 1 week after the surgery she had about 20 words and took off from there. It was astounding. There is not a doubt in my mind that she couldn't hear us correctly and that it was affecting her language developement. So for us, tubes were the right decision.

[luckytwenty]

My son got tubes at 2 1/2 years because he'd had 6 ear infections within 12 months and was speech delayed (ped suspected the fluid in his ear was a cause). He immediately caught up with expressive language the week after his surgery. He is 7 1/2 now and has not had a single ear infection since the tubes. I am positive we made the right decision.

[AnnieW625]

And Annie, it's ok to hijack...feel free to post your pros.

Thanks. I never know how one will feel if I start posting pros when clearly I did the opposite of what the poster wanted to know.


No they didn't test her hearing. The doc asked if she had hearing loss and I said I wasn't sure but I didn't think so because she responds when we talk to her.

You really should ask for a hearing test, if you have done so already. It was one of the things they did before we even met with the ENT the first time. We had previously thought that DD1 could hear us fine, but after sitting with her in the room and noticing she couldn't hear the drum beat or the little bears symbols at all I realized wow she really can't hear us well at all.

DD1 was never one to complain about her ears hurting, she never pulled at them, so it wasn't until the fever, runny nose, and overall sick looking that we realized it's an ear infection. DD2 who does pull at her ears often has never had an ear infection, just a chest infection. So really signs can be different for every child.


I do worry about the overuse of abx.
I hear you on that too. I was soo tired of going back to the drs. office every three weeks I think it was because something wasn't working ABX wise. However now when DD1 gets an infection; it's been almost a year since the last one :boogie: we've gone straight to the strongest stuff.


Thank you for your post. DH and I discussed it last night and were pretty certain we wanted to go ahead and do it and this post confirmed that we've reached a good decision. You are right, you rarely hear anyone say they regret it. We try to do the least amount of intervention for any given illness but in this case the risk of abx resistance, speech delay, hearing loss, a miserable child, time off from work, etc. out way and procedural risk IMO.

Glad you were able to make a decision. The surgery in itself is done in 15 minutes. DH went to Starbucks to get coffee and was not back in time. The hardest part of the surgery was having them wheel DD1 on the gurney and have her crying, and then have her crying after coming out of anethesia. I just held her for a long time.

Prior to tubes DD1 said five words, ma ma, da da, duck, dog, and car. She was 25 mos. old when she had her surgery. A month later she had added a few more words to her vocabulary, but she still tested at only 13 mos. old so we got her into speech therapy. We waited for four months and by that four month mark she was saying probably 30 words and hearing so much better. I almost didn't put her in speech therapy, but I am so glad I did. By the end of speech therapy she probably knew 100 to 200 words (honestly I am bad at estimating the number) and talked maybe only a few months behind her actual age of 3. Now at 4/1/2+ you would never guess that she ever had a speech delay.

2008 was a hard year for us; we went to the dr. with DD1 18 times (including one opthamology visit), but honestly the visits to the ENT, and her getting the tubes, and the revisit to the audiologist where she was cleared to have normal hearing was all worth it.

Looking ahead, we loved these products, Ear Bandits (http://www.earbandit.com/go2/earbandit.cfm), and Putty Buddies (http://www.earbandit.com/go2/puttybuddies.cfm)

[catsnkid]

We did tubes at 13 mos. We had already had a consult with an allergist due to asthma issues as well. We had at least 5 ear infections from 4 or 5 months old on. It got to the point where he was on maintanance amoxicillin and developed ear infections. The lack of diaper rash now alone made it worth it. My ped recomended the tubes and made ref to the ENT doc, the ENT doc said that my ped was not one to push the tubes if they weren't really needed. We have had colds since but no ear infections at all. His hearing did not seem to be affected, however I think DH has speech issues from having his hearing affected by not having tubes until he was 3. I only wish we did the tubes a few months earlier.
BTW the ENT did a pressure test but not a hearing test. DS seemed to hear okay. The pressure test was abnormal.

[wendibird22]

Again, thank you everyone for sharing. This thread has been so helpful. We have an appoint for tubes for 3/17, which was the earliest we could get in, which is good. That'll give us 2mos to see how the rest of the winter goes and whether we have more EIs.