My daughter has ear tubes and started getting infections again. Help?

My daughter got ear tubes at five months. She has not had an ear infection until her 20th month. I noticed drainage and started ear drops. Two weeks later she had another fever. I took her to the doctor and she had infections in both ears. Since then she has been on two antibiotics. I noticed today that her ear was still draining and she has stains of yellowish fluid on her sheets. I will go back to the ENT but I am concerned if the drainage is a good thing and that the ear infections persist. It is impossible for me to administer the ear drops as she throws a fit. I try my best, but i thought the antibiotic would help clear. I am scared she is in pain and will impact her hearing. She is not yet speaking,

If she has tubes the drainage is a good thing. That means the infection is trying to get out rather than buildup behind the ear drum. The antibiotics are supposed to help clear, but sometimes they are ineffective against ear infections. Definitely go back to ENT. And if your daughter is not speaking yet at 20 months you need to start getting her tested. Likely she is just delayed in speech development due to the numerous ear infections, but better safe than sorry. Pretty much everytime she has an ear infections she has hearing loss so that delays speech development. Sometimes kids with these infections need speech therapy to get caught up with other kids so stay on top of it and good luck.

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My son's ENT specialist advised that the ear tubes only stay in place for a year or so and then they fall out on their own--very rarely do parents find the tubes (I found one of my son's-it was blue and about as big as the end of a ball point pen). My son ended up having to get a second set because his ears were still not draining properly.

Did you take your daugther to the specialist when you first noticed the drainage? I don't think that you should ever diagnose a problem and administer medicine based on your opinion (unless you are a doctor). My understanding is that some ear drops are safe only if the ear drum has not ruptured. I also would not take my child to the regular pediatrician or family doctor for any suspected ear problems--unless that was the only option. Those should be seen by the specialist. I continue to take my 5 year old to the ENT specialist every 6 months or so just to make sure that everything is working properly.

If there is as much drainage as you say, I would say that there is a good chance her ear drum has ruptured. If the ear drum has ruptured, she probably isn't in pain because the pressure has been released by the ear drum bursting. Be very careful that nothing contaminates her ear (like dirty bath water; dust; wind; etc).

In the future if you are given ear drops, it will help to warm them before putting them in the ear. They do not burn (I've used them myself) but even if they sit at room temperature, they feel cold. With my son, I would wait until he was sleeping and put them in at that time.

The ENT specialist can test your daughter for hearing problems. I was told my son was deaf because he continually failed the newborn hearing screenings and we had to wait months for ear tubes, but he is doing wonderfully and is in the top of his kindergarten class with language. Be sure to get the hearing evaluated--she does not have to be verbal in order to be tested.