Ear Infection, URI and Croup?

I took my 4 year old daughter into my local hospital last night. She had been complaining of her ear hurting and she had a horrible cough. The doctor came in and looked at both ears and said he didnt see anything. He then proceeded to look at her nose and throat. Listened to her lungs then said "okay" and left the room. About 30 minutes later, the nurse came in with discharge instructions. They diagnosed her with a right ear infection and a respiratory infection. He gave her amoxicillian. She sounds no better today. I am beginning to believe he didnt find anything and he only gave me something to pacify me, as a mother, so I wouldnt continue to ask questions, as most mothers would do. I do not think she has an ear infection nor a respiratory infection. Her peditrician is out of town and the next hospital is 45 minutes away. I dont want to give her any uncessary antibiotics, but I dont wanto to stop them not knowing if something is up. I think it is just croup, antibiotics dont help it.

Okay, first off what does the cough sound like. Croup will sound like a loud, seal-like bark. Croup will also usually will be improved with exposure to warm humid air. ((Also cool humid air can be helpful) Secondly it is usually accompanied by an infection. While the infection can be bacterial, it is much more commonly accompanied with a viral infection. Croup is caused by inflamation of the upper airway. In other words, croup is usually kind of a side effect of an infection in a child. I think the doctor why he may not of seen anything obvious, he decided to prescribe a antibiotic just in case, because you were concerned. Also if you have started giving her the antibiotics then have her finish them, as if she did have an infection it would help, and if she didn't have an infection, it would not hurt.
So what I would do is wait it out, and treat the symptoms, and talk to her pediatrician when he gets back in town.
If she wakes up at night with bad croup, this is what I would recommend doing, based on my education, as well as my experiances with croup as a child (I would have bouts of it up to about 9 years old!!)

Go in the bathroom with her and turn the shower on with the "Hot" knob turned all the way. In other words the shower running with only hot water. Then just sit in the bathroom with her in your lap; talking to her and comforting her. (Waking up in the middle of the night with Croup can be scary to a child :-\ ) The croup should improve after about 5-10 minutes of breathing the warm steam. However if it doesn't improve or if it gets worse don't hesitate to call 911. Difficulty breathing is nothing to play around with.

Oh yeah feel free to call the hospital back and discuss your concerns with them... I mean hey, you or your insurance company are paying them good money for their services; you should be able to leave the hospital with a feeling that its staff provided your daugher with compatent, quality care.
I hope your daughter gets well soon!