I've finally broke down and have agreed to have tubes put in Adrianes ears.  For all of you that have been through this- what can I expect?

Is she going to be in pain after the surgery?

Will she have any (yuck) coming from her ears?

Will her ears bleed occasionally after surgery?

Will she get more infections?

Does she need ear plugs for the bath?

Any and all (after surgery) info is appreciated..  The doctors have the same GENERIC answers for everyone.  I want answers from ppl who have experienced this..

Ok.. I grew up with tubes.. as did my little brother.. and I never remember a problem with tubes!  My Neice has had tubes and her little brother has just had them put in too (both had alot of ear infections and that was the main reason!)  Neice #2 has also gotten tubes..lol so they are as common as anything in our family!!

My neice (5) and nephew(2) have had them for years now and yes, they can fall out (child never noticed.. so small parents wouldn't either, at Dr check up he noticed it, so its normal to have several sets, as the child grows, they may need another set put in)    There is still the odd ear infection but, she can hear better, and her speach improved alot in just 3 months.. it was amazing!  As to gettin them wet.. its a matter of opinion.. but the ear canal is not big to allow alot of water in, but most parents like to play it safe and try to not get much under water time, but Dr assured us that they can get wet.. (did I mention that neice and nephew have pool, and go in ALOT over summer..and tubes did not make a difference..or did they fall out, and Dr said go ahead and swim and not worry.. they are not under long enough to make a difference.. maybe if they were scuba diving.. but bath, and pools are not enought to dislodge tubes)

So as to bleeding and after surgery, none.. its not a hard operation..and not invasive.. so no, there was no pain for either child.. and they were like a whole new child after, they went home the same day, they were at McDonalds the next morning.and nothing could slow them down, better than they were before!!

sorry for the long reply..but feel free to PM me if any more questions, and as for my own little guy, hes due to get tubes in about 2 months!

Got tubes for my eldest at like 18 mths  I think  , and scariest part of ordeal was watching em knock her out and take her thru those swinging doors away from me      When she came back and woke up  youd never now shed had anything  done  hehheh  She was  playful, and had no issues I can recall. She swam ,she virtually stopped having ear infections  ...I think  shes had 4 in her life after tubes  prior  she had em monthly....no bleedng  only one set  and out in drs office... Best thing ever for kids is my experience

None of my kids have tubes, but I had them as a child and I know my parents thought it was the best thing they had ever done. I can't give you any advice about handling post-surgery stuff, like cotton in the ears, etc.

I do know that I had far fewer ear infections afterwards and at four I  had some speech problems and as soon as I got the tubes, the speech corrected itself. I guess my hearing had gotten so bad, I wasn't learning words correctly. 

I also remember I found one on my pillow one night, many years later. They are just these itty bitty things and eventually I guess they just come right out. 

I've finally broke down and have agreed to have tubes put in Adrianes ears.  For all of you that have been through this- what can I expect?

Is she going to be in pain after the surgery? If my LO was in pain you would have never known it!  We did give her Tylenol, just in case.

Will she have any (yuck) coming from her ears? We noticed a bit of drainage, but nothing significant - that's the whole point of tubes though.  You want the fluid to drain out the tubes rather than sit in her ears.

Will her ears bleed occasionally after surgery? We had no bleeding.

Will she get more infections? It possible, but with tubes you can use antibiotic drops in the ears to treat rather than oral - or worse - shots!

Does she need ear plugs for the bath? Nope - the tubes they use now are designed to prevent water from entering through the tube.  As long as you aren't dumping water in her ears or submerging her, shouldn't be a problem.

Any and all (after surgery) info is appreciated..  The doctors have the same GENERIC answers for everyone.  I want answers from ppl who have experienced this.. I can honestly say this was the best decision we made for our LO.  The surgery is so fast - we barely had time to get to the recovery room and sit down and they were already bringing her out to us.  They will bring her to you as soon as she wakes from the anesthesia.  Our LO had a bit of difficulty waking up - meaning she cried for 20 minutes or so, but after that she was fine.  She took a nice long nap that afternoon, but was completely "normal" otherwise.  She played and was happy.

I was scared to do it as well, but for us, the worst part was not letting her eat for 12 hours!  She was only 9 months old at the time and was hungry by the time she went in.  Luckily, they schedule the babies early.

Good luck to you!

 

I agree - the hardest part is holding back food and then having your baby cry when they take her away and through the doors.

We went to Build-A-Bear that day after she woke-up. We had no infections until they fell out. It was the best thing for her, she finally was able to sleep through the night (this was good for me too)!!

 

I'm not sure if it is too late to give advice, but I thought I would give it anyway. My husband's best friend had tubes put in his ears as a child and as a result, he had no further problems. That is until he had them removed. His ears began to get infected again and now he has to go get surgery every few years or so, until he's old and grey, to remedy the problem that the tubes caused.

My MIL also told me a story of how doctors had told her to get tubes put in my husband's ears when he was a child, but she always said no, despite his constant ear infections. Long story short, my husband went in and out of ear infections and came out fine (although I swear, some of the things that tell him go in one ear and out the other :-p).

Of course these stories come from about 20 years ago, so the medical procedures may be a little outdated. But if you do not feel that this is the right thing to do, DO NOT let your pediatrician pressure you into this surgery. If it doesn't feel right, then don't do it. It's as simple as that.

I agree with anty the hardest thing was giving the doctor my baby.  I cried when they took him.  I could hear him cry going down the hall then the doctors/nurses talked to him and he stopped.  Then when he was all done his daddy went back with him.  but of course Elliott need his mommy!!! (WINK WINK!!) So I go to go back too.

Yes Elliott had some blood and drainage coming out of his ears right after surgery.  I was freaking out b/c they did say drainage but no one mentioned blood.  But he was o.k.  

once back in our room and he could eat he was fine!! he was playing and running around in a few hours.  And he did not have a single ear infection after that.  We did have to go back and have them removed b/c they didn't fall out no their own.  We have had maybe one ear infection since then and it was very mild compared to the ordeals we went through befored. 

Elliott only wore ear plugs when swimming.  And we had one of those little bands that went around his head to keep them in.  Actually we had a bit of a fight when we told him that he didn't have to use them anymore!!!

good luck!!