How to Treat Baby Ear Infection At Home
Ear infection in infants is one of the most common complaints. This is because the baby's immune system is still weak so that the baby's ears are susceptible to infection. Usually, a baby's ear infection occurs in the middle ear (otitis media), due to a bacterial or viral infection. In addition to going through drugs, you can also do some things about how to treat baby ear infection at home to deal with them.
Baby Ear Infection Symptoms
You need to pay more attention to signs of infection in the baby's ear. Because the baby can't communicate like adults, so he can't tell if his ear hurts. For that you need to recognize some of the following baby ear infections symptoms.
- Being fussy and often tugging at his ears.
- Discharge from the baby's ear.
- Baby's ears smell.
- Fever.
- Decreased appetite and drinking.
- He looks sick and cries a lot.
How to Treat Baby Ear Infection At Home
Many baby ear infections can heal on their own within a few days, but to relieve the baby's earache complaints, there are several ways of handling that you need to do.
1. Compress baby's ear with warm water
To help relieve pain, you can compress the baby's ear with warm water for 10-15 minutes. Before using to compress, make sure you have squeezed a towel that has been soaked in warm water so that none of the water droplets enter the baby's ears.
2. Sufficient fluid needs
Make sure the baby's fluid needs are met by giving breast milk regularly. Swallowing liquid will help open the eustachian canal, so that fluid that has accumulated in the ear canal can drain. In addition, breast milk can also help the baby's body to be stronger to fight infection and prevent dehydration.
Most importantly, make sure you give him a drink while the baby is sitting. If you give him a drink in a lying position, this can actually make the baby choke so that the liquid he drinks can flow into the ear and can increase the risk of ear infection.
3. Position the baby's head a little higher
When the baby is lying down or sleeping, position the baby's head slightly higher than the body. You can place 1-2 baby pillows under his body, not directly under his head. The goal is to expedite the discharge of mucus and fluid that clogs the ear canal and sinus cavity.
4. If needed, give pain medication
If the baby is more than 6 months old, you can give pain relievers, such as paracetamol to reduce ear pain. However, you should consult a doctor first before giving any medicine to the baby.
Instead, avoid giving cough and cold medicines that contain antihistamines, decongestants and aspirin pain relievers, because they can cause dangerous side effects for the baby. In addition, avoid also giving antibiotics without the advice of a doctor.
5. Maintain air quality at home
As much as possible create clean air at home to support the recovery of the baby who is sick. Instead, keep the baby away from pollution, dust, cigarette smoke and motor vehicle fumes, because it can make the condition worse.
Also read articles about: How to Clean Baby's Ears Safely.
When to check your child's ear to the doctor?
If the baby's ear condition does not improve after 2-3 days or it gets worse, such as bleeding and pus from the ear, then you should immediately take your baby to the doctor for an examination to get the right treatment.
If not treated immediately by a doctor, it is feared that ear infections in babies will cause more serious problems and can even cause hearing loss.
As explained above, most cases of ear infections in babies can heal on their own without medication or antibiotics. Therefore, every time the baby has an ear infection, antibiotics should not always be given. However, the best treatment is to visit an ENT doctor to get the right solution.
That's the explanation we can write about how to treat baby ear infection at home. Hopefully the explanation that we have written here can be useful.
