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.