ear infection

my 7 month old has an ear infection, and a bad cough. how long do these last? any ideas on how i can soothe him? he doesn't seem to want to eat much, even the breast. help he also sometimes throws up.......i feel so bad for him.

Well typically he should start feeling better 2-4 days after his first antibiotic dosage. Other than giving him tempra (or whatever pain medication you give him) regularly for a few days, plenty of fluids there aint much more.

You said he isint interested in the breast but really its best for him with all your antibodies and such so try and get him to feed as often as possible.

Poor guy, hope hes feeling better soon, and you can get some rest.

thanks:)

I hope he feels better soon!  It's so hard to see your little one in pain.  I went through it with my boy.  He ended up having tonsils and adenoids out when he was 4.  He's 7 now and almost never sick beyond coughing with his asthma.  I would give him Tylenol for the pain and just hold him a lot.  Sleeping in his car seat helped, too, because it kept him more upright.  Good luck!

I dont have any children, but I've babysat young babies  with ear infections& I've have hundreds of ear infections throughout my life.  That being said, try using a hair dryer on the warm setting & blow it in his ear.  In my experience, 9 times out of 10, it will at least take the edge off for him.  I hope it helps.  I know first hand how painful it is.

Poor buddy! Sounds like you have some good advice already.

My daughter's ear infections always knock her down for different amounts of time. It just depends on how soon we catch it before getting her on antibiotics. My son just had his first ear infection at 12 months and we had no idea. We took him to the doctor because we thought he had a sinus infection. It got pretty bad for about 3-4 days afterward before getting better, probably because we caught it late.

Since your son is over 6 months old, he can have ibuprofen which I think works much better than acetaminophen and lasts longer (6-8 hours versus 4-6 hours). We also have some sort of ear oil that was given to us by a friend. She said it can be found in health food stores. Growing up, my mom used sweet oil in my ears for my constant ear infections. Sticking the bottle under some warm water before putting the drops in really helps.

I hope he feels better soon!

Thanks alot everyone, he was up all night witha stuffy nose adn a cough. He seem in good spirits today so far...

what a bout vics vapour rub???

Well, I'm not sure the specifics but I know they make an adult Vic's and Baby Vic's. It will certainly help the congestion and I've heard putting it on the bottom of feet and covering them with socks works wonders!