We are on Week 2 of yet another round of antibiotics for Charlie. The nasty summer cold he sported during our beach week turned into a horrific ear infection last week. Poor baby, I didn't catch on that he was still ill until he a) had a 103 degree fever one afternoon and then b) was up for 3 hours in the middle of the night, crying. This child slept through the night (9 hours) at 5 weeks and has continued to sleep 16 hours a day since then. I'd estimate that he has been awake in the wee hours about 4 times since he was 6 weeks old. So I definitely knew something was wrong. We went to the doctor last Tuesday (as in a week and 2 days ago) and left with a diagnosis of an ear infection, soar throat and sinus infection. After a day on his medicine, he rallied and we enjoyed a few days in Savannah while Ryan was in AZ, studying for his upcoming Pulmonary boards. And then this week...more sickness. Charlie has refused to nap, refused to play and so finally, back to the doctor today for us...the ear infection is back in full force. So he received an antibiotic shot and a prescription for yet another week's worth of antibiotics. :( AND an appointment with an ENT surgeon for a tubes consultation, this being his 10th ear infection or something like that. So...this is a request for info. Anyone out there dealt with tubes? Do they help? Are they a pain to care for? Is the procedure to insert them just awful? Three straight weeks of antibiotics and a shot is certainly not a walk in the park so I'm ready to explore alternatives. :)
Also, anyone have any tips for the awkward 18-month stage / dropping the morning nap? It's not going so well for us!
5 comments:
Hey Emily- sorry to hear that Charlie's been so sick- that's never fun :) I know several friends who's kids have had tubes and the surgery was quick, easy and had minimal recovery. As for the morning nap, the transition was rough for us too....some days he may need one and some days he may not....you just have to play it by ear- put him down early on the days he doesn't get one. It took a month or two to get rid of it completely. Hope this helps!
Oh Em-
I'm so sorry,
Em. That really stinks. The transition. tough. I worked toward being out in the morning, to combat the grouchies, then home after lunch for mag-nap...then outside before dinner to tire out before bed.
This is sorta our family pattern
Hope it lifts
:)
Tubes were an absolute lifesaver with us!!! My son was about Charlie's age when he got his and we never saw another ear infection. I wished they had put them in earlier. It would have saved an enormous number of doctor appointments and rounds of antibiotics. The surgery was super quick. The only hiccup we had in the whole process was that for some reason one of my son's tubes wasn't inserted well or something because at his 2-week recheck it was not there. So... back we went to do it again. No big deal. I was concerned about having to use the plugs and things like that like they did when I was a kid. Our ENT assured me that they had found that unless you were going to be swimming under at least 10ft of water, there was not enough water pressure to get through the tube. Bathing and normal swimming were not enough to hurt. Ian's tubes just fell out on their own a few months ago at age six. Hope everything goes well!
Emily--My brother had tubes when he was younger & my mom claims they were an absolute lifesaver. As for the napping, Will gave up his morning nap around 13 months & I just put him to bed at night incredibly early for awhile until his afternoon nap got a little longer... I'm still impressed he sleeps so many hours! Hopefully Charlie can teach #2 how to do that :)
Thanks for the tips, everyone! I REALLY appreciate it!
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