I planned to go to bed early tonight.  I really did, but as usual it’s going to be a long sleepless night.  I finally got Ellie to bed at 11:40pm, but she’s woken up screaming and holding her ears (both of them but not at the same time) 3 times now.  I’ve been lying in bed with her next to me in the pack ‘n play waiting for her to scream out again in a few minutes.  I suspect she has an ear infection, if not a double ear infection.

About 3 days ago I noticed her rubbing her right ear.  She wasn’t tugging on it, it was more of a just touching it motion, so I wasn’t too concerned.  She seems to rediscover her ears every now and then, and she’ll play with them. 

The next day I noticed she seemed to be touching her right ear a lot more, and definitely more than usual, so I started paying more attention.  That night Hubby noticed it, too.  I started going through the symptoms of an ear infection, and really the ear touching was the only thing she was doing.  She hasn’t ran a fever, wasn’t cranky, and she definitely isn’t losing her appetite.  She’s actually doubled her food intake over the last few days.

Last night was a bit different.  She was in a great mood during the day, but last night she woke up a few times acting like she might be in pain.  I called my dad who was on third shift to ask for advice when she woke up at 3am and refused to go back to sleep (which I am now told is another sign of an ear infection).  He suggested I give her some Motrin, and keep an eye on her.  After all he agrees with my view on antibiotics.  I will not give them to her unless she absolutely needs them as I feel there is a total overuse of them.

She finally went back to sleep at 5am, and when she woke up at 9am all was well.  She was in a great mood most of the day, and she wasn’t tugging on her ears.  When her late afternoon nap rolled around she refused to go to sleep unless I was sitting on the couch with her on my chest.  I called the doctor anyway, and she also told me to just keep an eye on her for the next day or two, but it sounded like she might have a slight ear infection.  Her hopes were that it would clear up on it’s own without the need for medication.

At this point I have paused twice to tend to her as she’s woken up in pain and holding both ears.  She just fell back asleep with her hand on her right ear.

Where was I?  Oh yeah.  So around 7pm tonight Hubby and I noticed she was cupping her left ear with her hand as she strolled around in her walker.  She was still in a great mood, but she continued to cup her ear as she played.  Then she went back to holding the right ear.  She went down tonight just fine, but like I said she’s been waking up every few minutes holding one ear or the other. 

I feel like it is definitely time to get her to the doctor tomorrow.  Hubby needs the Blazer for work tomorrow, but my Dad has the day off, and I called him earlier in the evening to make sure he could give us a ride if she needed to be seen. 

She may not have a fever yet, but I want to get her seen before it possibly gets any worse.  I had an urge to call the on call doctor, but I know there’s really nothing that can be done until tomorrow morning.  I’d just be told to keep an eye on her and give her Motrin until I can get in touch with our doctor in the morning to have her seen, all the things I’m already doing.  If she keeps waking up every few minutes I may try a warm washcloth on whatever side she’s holding at the time.  If it were my own ears I would be using sweet oil or olive oil, but I’m not putting anything in her ears unless I have approval from the doctor that it’s safe to do so.

My poor baby.  I’m still learning to cope with seeing her in pain, and I know it’s one of those things that will always make me feel like my heart is ripping in half.

Tags: baby in pain, infant ear infection, infant ear pain, infant holding ear