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Is there anything more stressful than seeing your baby yelling due to an ear infection? Undoubtedly, nothing. But this becomes more painful and pitiful when parents can’t find their baby in this condition.
If your baby is still unable to tell you that he is screaming due to ear pain, you can find out by examining specific acts of your baby. Like if your baby is continuously tugging at the ear, showing trouble sleeping, or not correctly responding to the sounds.
These are the main signs you can say your baby has an ear infection.
Do you agree that a baby ear infection is more painful than that of this infection in adults? You must agree because the babies cannot let you know about their pain, and they keep on crying.
Once you have diagnosed your baby with an ear infection, you will surely want to know the causes behind it, its effect on the baby and the parents, and ways to get rid of it. Isn’t it so?
If you are also having the same problem with your baby, stop fretting as we will present you with all the necessary information in this regard. So have a glance at the information given below.
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What Is An Ear Infection?
Most of the peeps think that an ear infection is something that causes pain in the ear. But they are not fully aware of the thing that causes it.
Not just the pain but the inflammation in the middle ear due to the fluid building behind the eardrum causes an infection in the ear.
This infection is also called otitis media. Babies are more likely to get this infection than adults.
Causes of Ear Infection in Babies:
When it comes to the causes of ear infections in your little angels, bacteria, and viruses are the leading causes. Both of these can trap the fluid in the middle ear causing severe pain.
The middle ear is usually connected through the eustachian tube. When a baby falls victim to a cold, sore throat, or other respiratory infections, there are 80% chances that bacteria can also attack and result in an ear infection.
Do you know why most babies get this infection? That’s so because babies have short and horizontal eustachian tubes. Bacteria prevents the tube from adequately draining and results in blockage. Some other causes of this infection in babies include:
• Underdeveloped Immune System
• Less Immunity to fight the bacteria
Signs And Symptoms:
If your baby has an ear infection but cannot tell you about it, do you know what to do? Indeed you can never sit calmly if your baby is feeling uncomfortable.
You will try to understand the signs your baby is showing. To help you understand your baby with an ear infection, we have presented you with some of the significant signs and symptoms.
If you find some of these in your children, consult the ear specialist.
• Tweaking the ear
• Troublesome Sleep
• Difficulty in feeding
• Fever
• Ear Drainage
Tweaking the Ear:
One of the significant signs of ear infection is when your child continuously tweaks your ear. Babies do tweaking when they have pain in their ear, and they can’t do anything except tug their ear and rub it.
When you see your child doing this, your baby is in dire need of your attention and care.
Troublesome Sleep:
A relaxed sleep is proportional to good health. So if your baby is not sleeping properly or having a troublesome sleep, it means your baby is in pain. And that pain could be due to an infection in the ear.
Fever:
Not just the visual signs, but the baby may get a fever when having an ear infection. And it occurs in more than 50% of the cases.
Ear Drainage:
Where there is an ear infection, there is drainage of the ear as well. Here you must know that ear drainage is not like the regular ear wax.
So don’t confuse the ear drainage with ear wax. The drainage of ear infections is usually green, yellow, or even white with a foul smell.
So these are the main symptoms of ear infection.
If you find any of these in your baby, don’t ignore them. Otherwise, your baby has to pay for it in the form of severe ear problems. And if left untreated, it can affect the hearing power as well.
How does an Ear Infection Affect the Baby and Parents?
When a baby has an ear infection, he may face some other related problems simultaneously.
But here, you will surely agree that a baby’s ear infection is not just limited to the baby, but the parents suffer the same seeing their baby in pain.
So it is painful both for the baby and the parents. Ear infection can lead your child towards the below-mentioned problems.
Temporary Hearing Problems:
Undoubtedly, an ear infection can cause hearing problems. When the fluid builds up in the ear, the blockage of the ear tube causes blockage in the hearing of sounds.
Irritability:
An ear infection can cause your baby to become irritated. The little souls feel exhausted and start to get irritated from all the things around them. The only thing that the baby needs in this condition is silence and peace.
Regularly Cry:
The only thing that the babies can do is to show the pain in the form of crying. And how pitiable is it to express the pain just in the form of tears and screams? But yes, your baby keeps on crying no matter whether his favorite toy is in front of him.
Trouble Sleeping:
If your baby is suffering from an ear infection, he will also suffer from a restless sleep. Not just the restless nights, but your baby has to face hectic days as well. And seeing your baby restless will undoubtedly make you tired and restless as well.
Diarrhea:
After reading the word diarrhea, you will think about the connection of this word with an ear infection. Isn’t it so? There is a strong connection between diarrhea with the ear infection of your babies.
- The bridge between this connection is antibiotics. Yes, it’s right.
- When you treat your baby’s ear infection with antibiotics, the infection-causing bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.
- The baby feels discomfort and indigestion, and thus he gets diarrhea. And it is common in almost 15% of babies.
Some Ways to Help Your Baby Having Ear Infection:
Apart from consulting an ear specialist, we have mentioned a few things that you can do on your own to treat the ear infection. Have a glance at these and follow these ways in hard times.
• Keep the Baby in Crib and Avoid Movements
• Warm Oil
• Elevating the Head
• Warm Compress
Keep the Baby in Crib and Avoid Movements:
There is nothing more painful than continuous movements for a baby infected with an ear infection. So please try to keep your baby in the crib most of the time and avoid unnecessary baby movements.
The more the movement of the body, the more pain in the ear. So better to use a separate crib rather than a bed ordinary for other family members.
Warm Oil:
If your baby’s ear is blocked and nothing is found suitable, then try using warm oil. Warm sesame oil has the power to open the blocked ear and start draining.
Once the ear starts draining, it will kick out the bacterial infection as well. So if your baby ever passes through such painful conditions, consider using warm oil. Both sesame and olive oil are effective.
Elevating the Head:
Elevating the baby’s head when he has an ear infection is not a joke. But it is suitable as doing this can help sinus drainage.
An important thing to note here is, that don’t elevate the head by putting pillows under your child’s head. But use pillows under the mattress. And give a turn to your baby’s body towards the direction of the infected ear. Doing this will also ease drainage.
Warm Moist Compress:
What is more pleasing for a mother than finding a warm moist helpful compress to lessen the ear pain? Yes, a moist and warm compress can help you a lot in this regard.
Place the compress on the baby’s ear and leave it there for about 10 to 15 minutes. Doing this will lessen the pain to a great level.
Bottom Line:
Don’t forget that a mother is the first physician of the babies. So for the treatment of infection, initially follow the ways mentioned above. If you don’t find them compelling, consult an ear specialist as soon as possible.
That’s so because there is nothing more precious than your baby’s health. If your baby is healthy and happy, you can also enjoy your life with joy and rapture.
We have presented you with all the necessary information regarding the baby’s ear infection. Its causes, symptoms, and ways of treatment are all discussed comprehensively.
So you can now quickly answer, “how to tell your baby has an ear infection?” Keep the symptoms in consideration, and don’t let your loving little angel stay in pain for more time.
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