Tubes for toddler ear infections?

[Jessica]

DS1 will be 2 in June. He started getting ear infections last fall after we put him in day care two days a week. He was 15m at the time. He has had at least seven ear infections and multiple rounds of antibiotics and our pediatrician sent us to an ENT for an evaluation.

She is recommending tubes. I know this is a simple procedure but it is scary to think of your child undergoing even minor surgery and I wondered if any moms or dads here had experience with this procedure.

I don't want to do it, frankly, but the poor kid is sick all the time and I know all those antibiotics aren't good for him.

[Abby]

You won't regret doing it. Sure, it's hard to think of your kids going under general anestesia, but by the time you get to the waiting room after leaving your ds's side, the nurse will be there telling you he's already awake and doing fine. Both of my children have had them, and they were a lifesaver in terms of no more sleepless nights, missed work, countless rounds of antibiotics, etc.

[Robyn1007]

Well, I'm not a parent who's been through it but the kid who's now grown up and went through MANY sets of tubes, tonsils and adnoids removed and now have scar tissue in the ear as a result of the numerous ear infections. And, up until just a few years ago still got at least 1 a year. Let me tell you that the pain of an ear infection is excruciating. I grew up ski racing/jumping and took many crashes some quite hard, I don't remember the pain from a single one of those crashes but I vividly remember waking up screaming in pain from ear infections. As a parent I would do anything I could to avoid that for my child.

[clairea]

You won't regret it. Both of my children had tubes (DD had them twice) and it made a tremendous difference for them. The procedure is minor and, at least where my children had it done, there wasn't even "full" anesthesia -- just gas. I remember with DS's procedure he was back in the room by the time DH went to get us a cup of coffee. When DD had hers done, I took her to the hospital and DH was going to take DS to daycare and then meet us. He never made it -- we were on our way home within 1 1/2 hours from the time we got there.

[Kyra]

Also not a parent, and also the now-grown up kid who had chronic ear infections as a child. My mother didn't want me to have surgery, but she finally gave in, and the tubes made a huge difference for me. (My mother still tells this story: when I woke up from the anesthesia in the hospital room after having the tubes inserted, my five-year old self said, "Mommy, my ears feel funny." My mother, hastening to comfort me, asked what I did mean by funny? I replied, "They don't hurt. Mommy, why don't my ears hurt anymore?" I had been in constant pain from the chronic infections!)

I ended up with scar tissue and hearing damage (hearing loss and tinnitus) from all those ear infections. I'm not saying this will happen to your child--it's just what happened to me. 30-plus years ago, general anesthesia and overnight hospital stays for the tubes were standard. I understand it's now an outpatient procedure, and some ENTs even do them in their offices. I hope you'll seriously consider it, and discuss your concerns with your pediatrician and your ENT.

[aprilbride]

Hi Jessica,
Elliott had tubes put in the week before his 1st birthday, and it turned out to be the best decision...it seemed like we were at the pediatricians office every other week for yet another round of antibiotics, which were not good for his little body either. He has not had an ear infection since the tubes were put in, and he just turned 3 last week.....The actual procedure was super quick and other than being a little tired afterwards we didn't notice any side effects....

Good luck!

[Gecko]

After mulitple ear infections and indications that it was affecting their hearing my older two DD's both had tubes in their ears and it was the best thing I did. We did not have any problems after that. It was scary as they let me go all the way to the operating theater with them to help keep them calm, and I was pretty upset as they put them under, but then I left and they came through fine. A few days after the operation they were fitted for plugs that went in their ears when they went in water.

[LA98]

Absolutely the best decision we ever made for DS. In fact, I wish he had gotten the tubes earlier than he did (18 months). He's now 4.5 and we just started speech therapy (again) to correct some sounds he's not making correctly -- the therapist gave me a chart that showed these sounds are heard at the highest frequency, which DS did not hear during his first 18 months... I know the idea of general anesthesia is scary, I've watched my boys go under 4 times total now and it was so hard to do each time, but as others have said, the procedure is so quick it'll be over before you get a chance to worry much. :) You really won't regret it.

[slknight]

It *is* very stressful to see your child go under anesthesia. But I don't regret it. We waited until DS was 14 months and after we did it, we wondered why we hadn't done it earlier. Not sure if you know this, but the tubes will eventually fall out and some children need a second set. We just had Alex's second set put it (and his adenoids removed) in January (when he was about 4 years 9 months). I actually think it was more stressful this time around because he was older and more aware of what was going to happen to him, kwim? When they come out of anesthesia, they are usually really irritable, screaming, and confused. It sucks for an hour or two, but then it's over. They're back to new generally by that afternoon. Let me know if you have any other questions since we've done it twice.

[hrk]

Jessica-
I think you have heard lots of positive responses from parents and all I can do is add to those. Logan had tubes put in when he was about 18 months cause he wasn't fearing hardly at all and it was affecting his speech. As others have said, I accompanied him to the surgery room, held him as he was put under (which was very strange and scary for me), but he was done before we made it to the waiting room. The doctor told us the fluid he pulled out was so thick, there was no way antibiotics would have helped and he did warn us that Logan might need another set. Sure enough those tubes fell out within 6 weeks and he had to have a second set put in, which were little bigger, but those did the trick and we have never looked back. And (knock on wood) he has been infection free for almost 3 years now and the tubes fell out long ago so in his case he outgrew the "plumbing Problems" as our ENT used to call them.
I can certainly identify with the scary side for mom, but I think once you see all the benefits for your child and truly how short and sweet the procedure is you will be so glad you did it.
Heather

[potato_moose]

You should know that there are risks. My brother had this procedure done (admittedly, this was 20 years ago) and wound up with a hole in one eardrum. It damaged his hearing a bit in that ear, and when he applied to the Air Force, he was denied because of it.

Sometimes these things are definitely worth the risks, but I felt like I should post anyway.

[Jessica]

Thank you for all the responses. We had additional conversations with his ped and the ENT and decided to go with the tubes.