[ruthann8]

Ellamae hadn’t nursed in about 2 days I thought she was done, and then this weekend she got sick. When she wouldn’t nap Sunday unless she was nursing I had a feeling it was an ear infection. Then when she began pulling at her ears saying “owe” I thought I should take her to urgent car.


I have a friend that is a chiropractor that specialized in pediatrics and pregnancy. A while back she had mentioned to me about using breast milk for ear infections. She said to put a few drops of breast milk in each ear every few hours and it will clear up in about 24-48 hours. She said it’s safer than antibiotics. I love the idea of it being over in 1-2 days! And of course no doctor visit is another plus.


But I’m too chicken to try it. Have any of you tried that? It seems weird to put milk in your ear, wouldn’t the milk get yucky? So I took her to urgent care, paid the co-pay & for the prescriptions. And of course wasted my time waiting for a doctor to tell me what I already knew.

[purelegance]

i really don't put much past the power of breastmilk. i remember one of val's blogs saying she used it to treat pink eye.

[twinzplus3]

Yes, you can certainly do that. Breast milk has amazing anti-bacterial properties. . .it can be left out without growing bacteria, I did use it to treat pink eye (and yes, it worked better than the meds), and I probably would've tried it in an ear if the infection showed up over the weekend.

HOWEVER, in my own kids, ear infections were accompanied by high fever, and a slew of other symptoms. On top of that, one of my children was actually speech delayed because he had a series of bad ear infections that we didn't catch in time.

With pink eye, it was immediately apparent after 12 hours of treatment whether or not it was working (and it did always work). I would be inclined to try the breastmilk in the ear if my pedi's office was closed but if I had an option to take her to a doctor, that's what I'd do.

[tedgar]

I've used breastmilk for pinkeye, but I didn't notice any major difference. I have not used it for ear infections. Do you think that Ellamae might have stopped nursing because it made her ears hurt? Nursing involves swallowing, and swallowing hurts when you have an ear infection. Just a thought!