my baby diedre is 16 months old today! wow, time sure has flown by.
diedre has her 3rd ear infection. this one started quite different from the others; she had a very high fever but slept longer than usual.
she is on antibiotics and is pretty fussy most of the day and just wants to watch videos, not tv, but baby einstein videos...i haven't listened to this much classical music since i was pregnant with diedre!
it is so hot these days, its pretty crazy. i think we will get an air conditioner this evening because the heat really seems to settle in the house by 4pm. hopefully we can get one installed and working by 5 :D
i'm feeling pretty hot and tired from taking care of my sick child (since she wants to be held most of the time and its sooo hot). my belly has grown more and i will post a picture on wednesday, when i'm 20 weeks! craziness :D
5 comments:
Ella has had a lot of ear infections too :( It's so hard on them and so painful. The only good thing is that the antibiotics seem to work quickly.
P.S. We bought two air conditioners a couple of summers ago when I was pregnant with Ella. The heat is so excrutiating when you're pregnant!
Do they drink cow's milk? It can cause ear infections in some children. Dairy is the number one contributor to ear infections in children.
anonymous:
yes. diedre drinks cows milk and eats cheese and yogurt.
i know there are schools of thought that are anti-milk so i wanted to do a little research:
http://babysvc.consumerreports.org/baby/
Choose: Health & Safety
Choose: Milk: Is it healthy?
also, if someone does not recommend dairy, they usually recommend soy, so i looked up something on that too:
http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bnutrition/0,,4570,00.html
and re: goats milk: "goat's milk is discouraged for children under age 12 months because it lacks iron, folate and Vitamin B12..." according to pediatrics.about.com
anyway, my understanding about ear infections is that they are caused by the pooling of fluids (usually brought on by a head cold) because the child's ear tubes are not developed enough for proper drainage. some children's tubes develop slower and therefore have chronic ear infections. if its really bad, then there is an operation to help until their tubes develop.
but, after all my reading, my curiosity has been piqued, and i will ask my doctor about it. one emerg doctor suggested that it might be our pets she could be allergic to, but no one has mentioned milk yet.
From Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child (by Janet Zand)
*while antibiotics are a common treatment for ear infections, parents should be aware that a study done in the Netherlands compared children with ear infections who were treated with anitbiotics to a control group who where given a placebo. although the antibiotic group improved somewhat faster, it is intersting to note that there was little difference between the two groups in long-term outcome. as a result of these studies, many experts now question the necessity of using any antibiotics for treating an uncomplicated ear infection. in fact, some think that using antibiotics sets the stage for the development of resistant bacteria, which can lead to recurrent infections that are resistant to standard antibiotcs.
*if your doctor recommends antibiotics for your child's ear infection, ask him or her to explain why he/she feels justified in this particular situation, particuarly in light of the recent studies indicating that watchful waiting often yields just as successful an outcome.
*eliminate dairy foods. they thicken and increase mucus, making it moare difficult for an infected ear to drain
*consider the possibility that food allergies may be involved (Although an individual could be allergic to any food, there are eight foods that account for 90% of all food-allergic reactions: milk, egg, peanuts, tree nut (walnut, cashew, etc.), fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. err, that was from www.foodallergy.org/allergens/index.html)
*probiotics, such as acidophilus or bifidus, are valuable for a child who is taking antibiotics, or recurrent ear infections. in addition to killing the infectious bacteria, antibiotics strip the body of necessary friendly bacteria in the intestioanal tract. replace the friendly bacterial by giving your childd acidophilius or bifidus (either 1/4 tsp powder, 1 tsp liquid, or half the contents of a capsule) (good to mix into smoothies, applesauce, other soft foods), 2 hours after administering antibiotics
other remedies for ear infections:
www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/child_health/earache-remedies.html
from a "ask a doctor" online:
My 2 year old has frequent ear infections. As soon as he gets a cold, it goes right into his ears. It seems that he is constantly on antibiotics. Is there anything else that I can do?
Whenever there is chronic ear infections the first thing I do is eliminate cow's milk from the diet. Many children suffer from milk allergy and this can be the easiest first response. blah blah blah
and this is just me: you're right about the structural reasons for ear infections.. as kids get older, the tubes do angle down more, helping drainage. but, if you do decide to eliminate dairy (just to see if it helps), it takes 6 weeks to completely get all traces of milk out of her system. often, it's not the lactose (that's the milk sugar that some people can't tolerate) that is causing the problems, but rather *casein* (the milk protien). if you try, then you can't even give her a little bit of dairy, and no prepared foods that contain dairy. also, you don't have to replace with soy if you don't want to, we rotate using: soy, rice, oat, almond milks, and just plain water too. you'll just have to make sure that she's getting good fats in other parts of her diet, as these milks are lower in fat than cow's milk. avocados and extra virgin olive oil are good choices. if you don't eat alot of other soy foods, i would not worry about soy intake (again, that's just me).
whoever your anonymous poster is (again, not me! i'm not the anonymous type), they are right, dairy is the #1 contributor to ear infections in children. if that doesn't seem to help, it may be another one of the top 8 allergens, or any combination of them. there is also a worrisome link between recurrent (3+) ear infections and asthma and wheezing :( http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/5/1685?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=ear+infection&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT
oh, and i'm not trying to debate the nutrition of giving cow's milk or whether or not you should... i just wanted to show you what i found on ear infections as it relates to cow's milk and antibiotics.
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