Ear Infection???

[adnama1]

My nine month old had been tugging at her ears on and off since she was about 3 months old.At that time we asked her doctor about it and the doctor didnt even look in my childs ears,she said it was probably just pain from teething.Well my child is still toothless at 9 months and has recently been tugging at the ears again,we also recently switched doctors so we asked her to take a look at them.She was reluctant at first and informed us that babies rarely ever get ear infections at this age because there ear cannals are just too small,but after looking in my childs ears her first question was "Does anyone in the house smoke?".Neither I nor my husband smoke,but we are most all of the time at my mothers house,and alot of the time my child and I spend the night,and my mother does smoke,almost always outside,but I know that smoke still gets trapped on her hair and clothes.The doctor said that nicotine is highly toxic to the ear drums and that my child did indeed have an ear infection,so she prescribed a low dose of anti-biotics.My mother simply does not believe that she could hurt my child unless she actually smokes around her.Which I and my husband both know simply isnt true.So my question is,since my child has been pulling at both ears for 6 months,does this mean my child has had an ear infection for 6 months,and what type of damage could it cause or have caused?And since my child has been pulling at both ears for so long,is this actually an ear infection?One more question..How common are ear infections actually,because our doctor made it sound like it was almost impossible for babies to get ear infections.

[deeyana]

My son had a few ear infections from birth until the age of 3 or 4. His DR. thought this was normal. At the age of 5 I took him to an ENT for sinus issues. When the DR. checked his ear he pulled out 2 Big dime size rock of harden waxs from both ear. We found out he had a lot of hearing loss and he was reading people's lips. Altough he was language and speech delayed he was very responsive and everyone thought it was developmenal. My son was even able to teach himself how to read at the age of 4. And he to pass many hearing  test done at school prior to the hearing test done in the sound proof room. I later found out many kids with hearingloss are able to pass this basic hearing test done at school . My son had tubes put into his ears and regained his hearing. The only advice I can give you is to continue to keep an eye on this and take him to an ENT DR. Look for signs of speech and language regression, when talking to the child do you find yourself talking louder than usual. Does the child like to watch t.v with the volume high. cover your mouth when specking to the child, can he understand what you are saying. Start writing down how many ear infections he is having.

[babygirl6152]

Those are pediatricians? Ear infections are pretty common- the first website I clicked on said this:

"This may be because children's eustachian tubes are shorter and more narrow than those of adults. More than 3 out of 4 children will have at least 1 ear infection by their third birthday."

You are a wonderful mom follow your instincts. I would get a new pediatrician.

My son had no kidding- counting both ears and checkups- 27 ear infections by age 8 months- it was the youngest baby our ENT had ever done ear surgery on and he had by age 17 which he is now, adenoidectomy, 5 sets of tubes, 2 permanent sets of ear tubes, 3 ear surgeries for cholestetoma and reconstruction and finally has 95% to 100% hearing back in both ears. This was with me staying on top of everything guided through the doctors. I can't imagine if I had been the one pressuring the doctors to even look at his ears. I'm not trying to scare you just give you the facts. What that Dr said is absurd!!!!

[Angelinthemorning]

I'm not sure statistically how common they are but, I've heard of plenty of babies getting them.(In fact my neighbors 6 month old just had one)  Another major cause of ear infections is letting babies sleep while nursing or with a bottle.
I have heard of babies going so long w/ear infections their eardrums burst.  In that case though, the doctor would have noticed it and your baby would never had stopped screaming from the pain. (You would have known if that happened)
Not sure if she would have had one the whole time...Both my girls never had ear infections but pulled ears when teething, sleepy, or upset.  It was a coping mechanism they had.  Oh and my first went through 4 months of teething symptoms b4 a tooth came through.