ears and bath

[lucyp]

Is it alright to submerge your babies ears in the bath? He is 5 months old and some of the other mums I meet with say they put them in so they get used to the water on their face etc for when they learn to swim and so on..... The nurses at the hosiptal told us to avoid dunking thier ears but I suppose bub was only new then. Any thoughts???? :)

[mumofethan]

i have always put my son's ears in the bath, he used to love laying in the bottom of the bath before he learnt to sit...

as for dunking in the swimming pool... i do this maybe once or twice per time i am at the pool, if you do it to many times, your young baby can close part of their throat as a reflex and sometimes they dont re-open it... this can cause "dry drowning" it is rare, and i believe has happened only when the baby is dunked lots of time but this was told to me by my MIL who is a centre manager of a swimming pool.

so i guess in conclusion i am saying bath is fine, pool maybe one or twice to get them used to water on their face!

:D

Michelle

[lucyp]

When lying bub in bath - do you put something under their head to stop them banging it - or do they generally stay still? I've never tried it - but from what I am hearing - I think he might like it. :)

[mumofethan]

i never did, he didnt try and lift his head up... he was happy to lay in the bath on his back in a few cm of water and splash!

[lucyp]

thanks for that! I think I'll give it go this evening and see how we fare :)

[sopolicha]

I have always let my son now 2 and a half have his head under the water in the bath if he wanted to. He recently had both middle ears infected to the point of where one of the eardrums burst.

The GP said to me that I should avoid letting water get in ears from now on, even after they had healed. He reckons ear infections are more common in boys because they have shorter tubes in their ears than girls, the water etc, takes longer and is harder to drain out, which leaves it in the ear for a longer time to get manky (my word) and infected.

Now, especially during the winter months, when everybody is more prone to colds and infections, I would be hesitant to let water in thier ears, after watching him with two infected ones. Not pretty.

[Lucybelle]

Hi Lucyp!

I folded up some facewashers and put them under ds's head. This raised his head enough to keep the water out and left my hands free to wash him, and him free to kick and splash. I put him in the big bath when he was about 3 months old with enough water to nearly cover his tummy.

This way you can kneel next to the bath and not kill your back keeping their ears pretty dry. Earache is a killer at any age, I'd like to try and avoid it . YUK!, I'd never dunk a baby in a public pool!

[mimi]

... He recently had both middle ears infected to the point of where one of the eardrums burst.

The GP said to me that I should avoid letting water get in ears from now on, even after they had healed. He reckons ear infections are more common in boys because they have shorter tubes in their ears than girls, the water etc, takes longer and is harder to drain out, which leaves it in the ear for a longer time to get manky (my word) and infected.
It is correct that if the ear drum/s have burst, then getting the ear wet should be avoided - the ear drum is what stops the water from getting from the outer ear canal into the inner ear.

However, the middle ear infection is different from the OUTER ear infection. If the ears are wet frequently and don't get dried well enough, sometimes because a plug of wax has 'trapped' some water in the canal, the canal can indeed become 'soggy' and get infected [this is commonly known as 'swimmer's ear'] and is an infection of the 'outer' ear canal. Wetting the healthy ears in normal bathing, showering, swimming etc should not usually cause a problem.

The tube that the doctor was referring to [I am guessing] is the eustachian tube coming off the MIDDLE ear.[see a picture of the ear at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/ear/ ]

The eustachian tube equalizes the air pressure in the middle ear and also allows for drainage of from the middle ear into the throat. Sometimes, when a child has a cold or an allergy affecting the nasal passages, the eustachian tube may become blocked. This blockage will allow fluid to build up within the normally air-filled middle ear. Bacteria or viruses that have entered the middle ear through the tube can get trapped as well, can multiply and eventually this leads to a MIDDLE ear infection.

So - all that babble is mainly to say that wetting 'healthy' ears should not cause a problem ... we have showered our kids from about 5-6 weeks of age onwards, and have had no problems!
:)

[sopolicha]

Thanks for that, it was the eustachian tube that the GP was referring to, I was only attempting to keep the matter in simple terms.

Naturally if you shower your child as opposed to putting them in the bath you are somewhat elimating the risk of water entering the outer ear. (Unless you held them sideways under the shower and let water enter the ear.) :)

Even with water entering the outer ear like mimi mentioned and getting trapped behind a wax plug, has anyone ever tried to get wax out of their kids ears? I would not touch the inside of their ears with anything like the old saying goes "smaller than an elbow".

No ear infection is fun for anyone and more often than not it is a dose of antibiotics which is what these more than likely lead to, and I reckon that is something to definately to be avoided.

Besides I was also told by a GP that if it turned out that my boy suffered more than 5 middle ear infections within a six month period, it would be recommended that he be seen by an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist with a view to having grommets fitted. And now there is another controversial topic!

[mimi]

.. a dose of antibiotics which is what these more than likely lead to...
... more than 5 middle ear infections within a six month period, it would be recommended that he be seen by an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist with a view to having grommets fitted. And now there is another controversial topic!
LOL! Yes, controversial - as are the antibiotics :D ... but we certainly won't get into THAT here either ;) LOL