Ear, Nose & Throat Community

Think of middle ear fluid as a stagnant pond waiting to become contaminated (a middle ear infection). Most middle ear infections start as a simple cold, so when you travel...or see different people who may hug and kiss your little girl, she is likely to get a cold, and this cold will find a welcome environment for a painful ear infection in that stagnant fluid.

Any child who had their first middle ear infection prior to age six months is likely to be a "frequent flyer" with frequent ear infections for the next six years, Whether she gets tubes now...or later....is really up to you, but my guess would be that she will need them.

Tubes are not inserted to prevent infection, but to prevent hearing loss as a result of this fluid. The longer the fluid remains in the middle ear space, the worse it can become. Left alone, this fluid will likely damage her ability to hear, and she is in a critical pre-verbal states....just learning how to talk.

I can't examine her ears to tell you if it is safe for her to fly, so you will need to get this "okay" from the ENT -- someone who knows her case and has examined her.

Since middle ear infections are less common in the summer months, parents get a bit complacent. If you are planning on putting her in child-care in the fall with other children, she is likely to start this seeminly endless dance of ear infections starting in the fall again.

No parent wants to put her child through this procedure, but it is safe and quick and highly effective. If she does get tubes, she will likely need more than one set over the next several years, since they tend to extricate (fall out) in six to 12 months.