Care For Your Kid’s Ear
We all want children to have a strong start to life. That’s why hearing is so important. When a child’s ears are healthy, they can:
• learn language and talking
• listen to family stories
• listen to music
• talk with family and friends
• be good at school
• feel good about themselves
Simple Daily Tips to Maintain Ear Hygiene:
Use drops, not buds, to remove wax. Ear wax is a good thing — in small amounts. This yellowish waxy substance protects the ear canal from bacteria, fungi, insects, and water. But too much wax can press against the eardrum or clog the auditory canal, which might impair your little one’s hearing. By trying to remove the wax by either using a cotton bud or your finger, you might push the wax farther in or even puncture your kid’s eardrum. A safer option is to instil a few drops of baby oil, olive oil or ear wax solvents to dilute the wax. Once a week should do the trick. If the canal is filled with wax, then please see a doctor to safely remove it.
Periodic checks. Before you clean the ears, give it a quick check with a torchlight. You might be surprised at what’s inside — a bead? a peanut? a bug? If you do spot a strange object lodged in there, don’t try to remove it or you might do more harm than good. Please get it removed by a trained doctor.
Cleaning the outer ear. Kids ears are a prime place for grit and grime to hide because there are so many little folds and crevices. Be gentle but thorough during bath time — use a soft cloth or cotton swab to remove any gunk around the outside and behind those t ears. If the ears are pierced, you'll also want to prevent infections in the newly pierced ears. Wash your hands before touching pierced ears. Applying rubbing alcohol also can help keep germs away, soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and apply it to both sides of the hole (with the earring still in the ear). Then twirl the earring several times to make sure the alcohol gets in and around the earring post.
Keep an eye out for infection. Symptoms of ear disease are kids pulling at the ears, complain of pain in ear associated with fever, runny fluid or pus from the ears, can't hear properly, poor appetite, diarrhoea or vomiting.
Swimming and Ears. Sometimes, swimming can lead to a case of swimmer's ear. That's when the ear canal gets infected, causing swelling and pain. This happens when water gets stuck in your ear canal, which can irritate the skin, making it easier for bacteria to invade the skin and cause an infection. To prevent swimmer's ear, dry your kids ears after swimming and shake out excess water.
Ear Infection in Children
Nearly all kids have had an ear infection by the time they begin school, these episodes may be more frequent if they attend daycare. An ear infection, also known as acute otitis media, occurs when mucus and bacteria travel up the Eustachian tube from the back of a child's nose into the normally dry middle-ear space. Kids are prone to these infections because of their anatomy: Their Eustachian tubes are "short, floppy, and horizontal." As kids grow older, these tubes get longer, firmer and a bit more vertical, making it more difficult for germs to flow up to the ear.
Some practices that can help reduce the risk of ear infections:
• Breast-feed for at least four months. Mixed feeds, such as half bottle, half breast, do not have a protective effect.
• Keep your child up to date on shots. The vaccine for pneumococcus, which protects against bacteria that can cause ear infections, reduces the risk of these infections by 8% and the flu shot reduces the risk of ear infections by 30%.
• Avoid secondhand smoke. "Passive smoke" in the home increases the risk of ear infections by 25%.
• Discourage pacifier use in children age 1 or older. Pacifiers after this age increase the risk of ear infections by 30%.
• If the child is in day care, see if any small-group options exist (fewer than six children).
We all want children to have a strong start to life. That’s why hearing is so important. When a child’s ears are healthy, they can:
• learn language and talking
• listen to family stories
• listen to music
• talk with family and friends
• be good at school
• feel good about themselves
Simple Daily Tips to Maintain Ear Hygiene:
Use drops, not buds, to remove wax. Ear wax is a good thing — in small amounts. This yellowish waxy substance protects the ear canal from bacteria, fungi, insects, and water. But too much wax can press against the eardrum or clog the auditory canal, which might impair your little one’s hearing. By trying to remove the wax by either using a cotton bud or your finger, you might push the wax farther in or even puncture your kid’s eardrum. A safer option is to instil a few drops of baby oil, olive oil or ear wax solvents to dilute the wax. Once a week should do the trick. If the canal is filled with wax, then please see a doctor to safely remove it.
Periodic checks. Before you clean the ears, give it a quick check with a torchlight. You might be surprised at what’s inside — a bead? a peanut? a bug? If you do spot a strange object lodged in there, don’t try to remove it or you might do more harm than good. Please get it removed by a trained doctor.
Cleaning the outer ear. Kids ears are a prime place for grit and grime to hide because there are so many little folds and crevices. Be gentle but thorough during bath time — use a soft cloth or cotton swab to remove any gunk around the outside and behind those t ears. If the ears are pierced, you'll also want to prevent infections in the newly pierced ears. Wash your hands before touching pierced ears. Applying rubbing alcohol also can help keep germs away, soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and apply it to both sides of the hole (with the earring still in the ear). Then twirl the earring several times to make sure the alcohol gets in and around the earring post.
Keep an eye out for infection. Symptoms of ear disease are kids pulling at the ears, complain of pain in ear associated with fever, runny fluid or pus from the ears, can't hear properly, poor appetite, diarrhoea or vomiting.
Swimming and Ears. Sometimes, swimming can lead to a case of swimmer's ear. That's when the ear canal gets infected, causing swelling and pain. This happens when water gets stuck in your ear canal, which can irritate the skin, making it easier for bacteria to invade the skin and cause an infection. To prevent swimmer's ear, dry your kids ears after swimming and shake out excess water.
Ear Infection in Children
Nearly all kids have had an ear infection by the time they begin school, these episodes may be more frequent if they attend daycare. An ear infection, also known as acute otitis media, occurs when mucus and bacteria travel up the Eustachian tube from the back of a child's nose into the normally dry middle-ear space. Kids are prone to these infections because of their anatomy: Their Eustachian tubes are "short, floppy, and horizontal." As kids grow older, these tubes get longer, firmer and a bit more vertical, making it more difficult for germs to flow up to the ear.
Some practices that can help reduce the risk of ear infections:
• Breast-feed for at least four months. Mixed feeds, such as half bottle, half breast, do not have a protective effect.
• Keep your child up to date on shots. The vaccine for pneumococcus, which protects against bacteria that can cause ear infections, reduces the risk of these infections by 8% and the flu shot reduces the risk of ear infections by 30%.
• Avoid secondhand smoke. "Passive smoke" in the home increases the risk of ear infections by 25%.
• Discourage pacifier use in children age 1 or older. Pacifiers after this age increase the risk of ear infections by 30%.
• If the child is in day care, see if any small-group options exist (fewer than six children).
