Tubes

Hey J. please dont be worried my son had tubes put in his ears back in 1988 he was only 9 months old then. He started walking the afternoon that we had the tubes put in his ears. You can give them a bath what the doctor suggested to us was use swimming ear plugs. The tubes will fall out when the time is right, Chris had one of his in for about 5 years the doctor pulled the other one out with no problems or pain.

Hi, my name is M. and both of my boys have had tubes. It is the best thing we ever did. My oldest is 6 and had his when he was about 2 1/2. He started talking after that and sleeping all night. My youngest is 2 and we had his done when he was 1. He still gets infections but it just drains out the ear which is right because of the tube. Both are fine and I am glad that we did this for them. I hope all goes well for you. They do fall out I can't remember how long my oldest first one fell out kinda of soon I think like 6 months but I believe they are good for 1 year.
M.

Just breath...my daughter suffered with chronic ear infections since she was born and at 10months they put tubes in her ears,it took all of 10mins...the longest 10mins mind you and I cried the whole time,but she is now almost 5 and hasn't had another ear infection since. The worst part is when they are waking up afterward,it can be scary because of the medicine they use to put them under makes them so groogy,but be patient it's worth it. Also I put ear plugs in everytime she could have gotten wet for the first 6months until another mom told me it wasnt needed unless her head would be completly submerged,I lisitened to her and my daughter did just fine. Good luck!!

hey J.,

I understand what you are going through. my daughter will have her tubes in for a year in apri. she was 4 1/2 when hers were done i was scared too!! the it only took about 15mins total and she was back in the room with me. she was a little gragie from the meds her ears had drainage for a few days but after that she was good. as far as the baths they should give u ear plugs for him and they work good too. feel free to email me if you have anymore questions my email is ____@____.com
daniielle

Hey Jesica,
I had tubes in my ears when I was 8yrs old. They did tubes, adnoids, and tonsils out all in one surgery(sorry 4 the spelling). But I do remember it didnt bother me at all. I had horrible ear aches, sore thoat, and bad snore. So really if his ears r bothering him they will feel so much better afterwards. U do need 2 keep water out with ear plugs. Clean his ears but I just wanted u 2 know they could come out by them selves. Mine did and it did not hurt at all. They came out when I was 10 or 11 so about 2-3 yrs. I do remember feeling afraid when I picked it out my ear one day, but since he is so young u may should watch for it. My other one came out when my mom got me down 2 clean my ears around the same time. Everything should be fine. Good Luck

My son was 11 months and I was terrified!! After they "took him away", I sat down. Not more than 2 minutes later, they told me he was done! I went back and held him. The "happy juice" made him very groggy and he did't like the drunk feeling at all (how the nurses described it). We went home, slept, and he woke up as if nothing happened at all!!! That night we gave him a bath and placed cotton with vaseline on it in his ears (moisture protection). We did that for 4 months, then I found out ear plugs were only 10 dollars. We use them now.
Don't worry! I know that sound crazy, but I worked myself up so much over such a simple and FAST procedure!

Hey, just wanted to let you know that I had tubes in my ears as a kid, and I turned out okay. Just be sure no water in the ears! They aren't kidding when they say that. My ears didn't heal quite properly because I got water in my ears. Nothing really bad, I can still hear all right, but I have scarring that acts up sometimes and still get the occasional earache.

Just thought I'd pass it on.
A.

My daughter got tubes at 11 mos. The surgery is pretty short and simple. The no water in the ears thing is accurate, you will need to use ear plugs. The very easiest thing is to take cotton balls and tear off a little bit and rub it in vaseline and tuck that down in the ear canal. I have tried all the other earplugs (my son has had tubes 3 times, daughter once) and this is the one that works best and is the cheapest to do on a regular basis. You have to keep the ears dry while he has the tubes, they generally stay in place for about a year but have the doctor check the placement of them every time you go so you know what you are dealing with. Good luck.

Do not worry at all. I was scared too. But the doctor was done in what seemed like 5 minutes. My little boy woke up, criend for a minute, and was fine the rest of the day. He has had one ear infection and since and that was around 2 years ago. It is well worth it.

Hi J. my name is Rebecca Paulsen and I have two beautiful daughters ages 4 and 5 they were both born premature and both had to get tubes put in their ears actually 2 sets. (ages 1&3)I totally understand that you are so very nervous of your little boy going under however I will tell you it's very quick and painless for them. I do need to tell you when they come out of the anthestisia they are very crabby, restless, and uncomfortable, and least my children were but as they say every child is different. By the next day they are just fine the tubes fall out on there one in fact you probably won't even know. As far as not getting any water in their ears that is very important because that will cause ear infections. My girls used a head band that was made for tubes and everytime they went into any water (bathtub, pool, ocean, etc) they had to wear this, I have to warn you it does take them sometime to get use to it but it is a definate must!!! Your doctor will probably offer you ear plugs for you child which I did try but they were more problems than they were worth they always fell out and I could never find them. If you would like I can give you the e-mail address of the place were I got the girls their head bands for the bathtub. They now have no problems with their ears, it is well worth it!!

Take care
R.. Paulsen

Hi J.:
I totally understand your concern. My youngest son was almost 3 when he had to have tubes put in his ears. I was scared about him being put to sleep, but everything went off without a hitch. The tubes did an amazing job of keeping the ear infections to a minimum. As far as afterward, there's not really anything different (other than less ear and sinus infections in my son's case) except keeping water out of his ears. I found that Mac's wax ear plugs worked the best or any kind of wax ear plugs. It's a pliable wax that seals off the opening to the ear to prevent water from entering the ear canal. You'll just have to figure out how much to pinch off to fit his ear. You may also run into him wanting to remove the ear plugs just because it's different at first. After 2-3 weeks of using them, my son got used to them. Also...in an emergency, if you don't have any wax ear plugs handy. You can use a small cotton ball with some vaseline on it to do the same thing. Just make sure you wipe the vaseline from his ears after removing the cotton ball. Good luck with all of this. My son is 16 now, so if I can be of any other help, just let me know.
~~C.

My son is three and we are on our second set of tubes. The water issue is one that lasts until the tubes fall out naturally. Your ENT should have had him fitted for a set of ear plugs that are specially designed for small children. They work great in the bath tube, not so much in a pool but then again a pool is really not that big of a deal as long as it is clean and chlorinated. If he gets any water in his ears, you should be able to use the drops that they gave you for post op. Some people even swear by covering the ears with silly puddy but I was advised by my son's ENT not to do that because it can break down and small pieces can get into the ear canal (the doctor will have to dig it out) There is one that is something like silly puddy that is made for children with tubes that you should be able to purchase from you son's ENT. Hope all is going well.

my daughter had tubes in her ears a week after she turned a yr old. We was in Ohio and hers was done at the surgery center. They carried her to the OR, gave her the gas to go to sleep, about a half hr later they brought her back to us, let us hold her while she was waking up, she was disoriented, but they wanted us holding her so she would have a familiar face to see when she woke up. So you can ask them if they will let you hold him while he wakes up.
We was told it is hard not to get water in the ears, but try to avoid it as much as possible for a week.

She was back to her normal self the next day

I have also had tubes in my ears 4 times as a kid.

Ok J.. Calm down. I too had the same thoughts. My little one had tubes put in her ears two weeks ago and also had her adenoids out. First you go for the consultation with the ENT doctor as you already know. They schedule the surgery then you go early in the morning to the place where they do it, ours was an outpatient surgery clinic. As soon as we got back there, they gave my daughter some "happy juice" which was just Versed, a sedative. She was completely loopy after that. They took her back and the operation for the tubes and adenoids took a whole 10 minutes maybe less if you are just having tubes. When she woke up from anesthesia she was screaming. Expect screaming, all the babies were screaming. She calmed down after a shot of Demerol and slept. After they go back to sleep and get a nap they wake up as little angels. They usually won't let you leave until they drink a whole thing of water, juice or something liquid, I guess to make sure they can tolerate it. We got home and Cali slept for a while and woke up and was her normal self. Over the first week, she gradually improved and is a new little girl. For the baths, i use cotton for her ears when washing her hair. I know tubes seem scary but you will notice a 100% turn around of your little one.

My daughter is now six she was two the first time she had tubes in her ears. The procedure was outpatient, did not take very long and she was ready to play once the anesthesia wore off. She had the tubes put back in when she was three. The doctor told us we did not have to worry about her bathing or even swimming with the tubes. The day of the surgery we kept her very low key and on mild foods just to be on the safe side and avoid nausea. She was back to normal the next day full of energy and ready to go. Best of luck.

my 5 year old had tubes put in twice. both times he was a little groggy afterwards. when you give him a bath for a couple days just sponge bathe him. just be prepared for him to be a little cranky a couple days. i found that motrim worked better then tylenol for mine.

hi hun my name is mrs S. vernon , and if i were you i wpould not have this done. my brother had his daughters done and they fell out. i was suppose to have my sons done and i told them NO . i went and had it some little ear pluggs mad so he wouldn;t get water in his ears and has been doing fine. my brother did the same thing for his daughter too. the ear pluggs is the best way to go you;ll see. and they don't work either. my grandsons doctor says that its a waste of time and money. and it dosen't do one bit of good for the childs ears. if i were you i would ask another doctor before i had that done, being a retired nurse i'am telling you ,you have to watch out for these doctors today any thing to make money. your friend in christ . mrs S. vernon

My son had tubes put in last year. His doctor fitted him for ear plugs in the office (only 10 dollars) and they stay put. The whole procedure took 30 min and that included being put under and waking up (he also had adnoids removed). As long as the staff is good, your son should suffer little to no discomfort. Also the best thing to get is a head wrap for the warm weather. It goes over the ears to keep the child from pulling theplugs out when he is in the water.

Hi J.,
My son had tubes put in when he was about the same age and I was scared, too. Everyone kept saying it was a simple procedure but it is still scary when you are the mommy. I don't know about your doctor (I'm in Clarksville and he had it done at Premier) but they do not put them completely under. They gas them into a deep sleep, no tubes down throat, and put the tubes in. It took them longer to get him to sleep than actually putting in the tubes. Sometimes they wake up and scream and cry b/c they are disoriented. Usually, they are allowed some apple juice (so bring a sippy with you).
He was groggy and sleepy the rest of the day and back to his ornery self the next day. We gave him children's tylenol for discomfort but he never seemed in pain at all. You do have to be careful about the water but normal bathing was not an issue. Just be sure he does not put his ears under water all the way. He also enjoyed the kiddie pool in the summer time but, again, no ears all the way in the water.
His tubes fell out (they are supposed to)within a year. I actually saw one of them and it is about the size of a grain of rice!! The tubes made a huge diffence. He had ear infections all the time before and only got one the whole year he had the tubes. He can hear a lot better, too.
Hope that helps!

Hi J.!
Boy does your story sound like mine...my daughter had tubes in her ears at about 15 months and I too didn't know what to expect and didn't like the idea of them putting her under but honestly it was not that bad! The hardest part was letting her go w/the nurses and my hubby and I stayed back and waited in the room for her...I cried a little but we prayed and was reassured everything would be okay, and it was! She was really fussy when she came back and was a little groggy but we changed her back into her clothes and then left and she was better...just knowing she was back w/us I think that was all she needed at the time..So I would def. have someone go w/me for support-that type of thing.
As far as baths, etc. I really can't remember that being too big an issue,,,it is just like w/anything else (if your kid has a boo boo) you just compromise and maybe for a few baths give a sponge bath or something not so 'wet,' ya know? Well, I hope this helps. Best of Wishes, I know everything will go fine. Oh, and tubes were the BEST thing for my daughter, she has had NO probs. and NO infections since!

Anytime one of our little ones has to be put under for any reason it is really scary. One of my twins had to have tubes when she was about 10 months old. I was scared to death, but honestly it was over so quickly, the buildup was worse than the actual event or the recovery. From the time we kissed her goodbye, it couldn't have been more than 10-15 minutes that they came out and told us she was done and in recovery, and then we were with her and holding her. By late that afternoon she was acting her old self, and the next day it was like nothing had happened. So take heart. It really is very simple and very very quick. And he'll be so much better afterwards.

It's not a big deal at all. My son is 21 months old now and had tubes put in last may. They just gave him a little medicine they called giggle juice and they took him back and the doctor came out less than 10 minutes later to tell us it was over. They brought him to me about 15 mintues later when he was waking up b/c he was crying. They can't really be consoled when they are waking up b/c of the gas that they give them. I had to stay for about 30 more minutes and then I got to go home. Once I got him home I got him to sleep and he slept for several hours until the gas wore off and when he woke up he ate a full lunch and started playing. The gave him plugs to wear in his ears for bath time and now he tells me that he needs his plugs. They have to wear the plugs until they tubes fall out.

Hi J.,

My son is 8 and has had 2 tube surgeries, and has been under anesthesia many times. He has autism and unfortunately we have to knock him out to do several proceedures that otherwise he should be able to handle, i.e. dental work, hearing test (coming up next month), adenoid removal, tubes (twice), hernia surgery.
So you can talk to the anethesiologist (sp?) prior to the surgery and tell him any concerns and ask any questions you need to. They will give him a mild sedative in pre-op with you there with him (a liguid medicine, a shot, or a nasal spray). Then when he gets really druggie acting they will take him from you and he will go back to surgery. Ask to be notified when he is in recovery so that he can wake up and see your face first, it helps both of you. He will be upset (You will too probably, just talk to him and reassure him).
When he is alert enough they will move him to a room and will monitor him for a while, want him to drink and pee and then send him home with you. He will sleep alot, maybe nautious, and quite fussy when awake.
As far as baths, good luck... no water in the ears, ask his ent about "special ear plugs" or try the over the counter ones (not as good). It's not easy, but no water in the ears! My son again has autism and refuses to wear any earplugs so I used cotton balls and vaseline (take a small pinch of cotton ball and mix with a blob of vaseline until it makes a nice plug), the vaseline with cotton makes a nice plug to keep out the water.

FYI: I am also a single mom, have been the whole time. My son's father has nothing to do with him either. So I know your plight, don't be afraid to ask for help! Let me know if you need anything else and good luck! Hope this helps.

C. D.
age 36
single mom and autism advocate

p.s. Make sure that he is completely healthy and recovered before you let them touch your child with a vaccine. And ask if any of them contain Thimerasol (Mercury which is toxic)... If they do... my advise is ask for Thimerasol Free Vaccines and for them to wait at least 6 weeks after illness/surgery to give vaccine. Just a word of caution from someone who wishes she had known then what I know now. Good luck!

MY daughter is 6 and has had tube twice. The pocedure only takes about 30-45 minutes. The only effects from the anesthesia she had was drowsyness. She was quiet for a little while but by the next day she was back to her normal self. There may be a small amount of discomfort but Tyenol will take care of that. Not getting water in the ears is to prevent infections and your dr should advise you as to what to do about that. C.

Hi J.,
I have 2 year old twins, identical boys, they both got tubes when they were 6 months old. From what I can remember it wasn't pain for them, as a matter of fact they rarely get ear infections now. This is going to sound really silly, but at bath time, they were little enough that I sponge washed there head, but as they got a little older and were able to sit up and splash around, I would take a little piece of silly puddy and roll it up in a ball and place it in their ears. Small enough so they couldn't really pull it out, yet big enough not to get into the ear canal. Your probably thinking "Oh my God
but with 2 babies at the same time, I was willing to try anything and trust me this worked great. Ear plugs didn't work for me,
hope this helps atleast a little.
R.

My daughter is 2 and has had them done 2 times and also had her adenoids out. It was the best thing ever. The anesthesia is not bad at all they will probably give him something to drink first which will make him silly and relaxed. It is pretty funny actually. Then they will go right to the nurse when it is time. My ENT just gave her some gas to put her to sleep no intubation required on the tubes . Afterwards he may cry for like 45 minutes and be mad, there is nothing you can do to stop it. But after that he should be fine. They say it is just a normal reaction. As far as the water in the ears they give you plugs for there ears which I used for a while and then you will just figure out how to wash there hair and stuff without getting the water in. Just do not lay them down in the tub. My daughter never complained about pain afterwards and I just gave her Tylenol the first day, just in case. Good Luck!!!

Tubes are not a bad thing. My son had to have tubes in his ears when he was 10 months old. He is now 2 and doing wonderful. He never had an ear infection again. As far as water in his ears. . . no lake water. Bath water and "clean" water is fine. The whole procedure. . . .honestly take maybe 20 minutes from the time you give him to the nurses to the time that they bring him back to you. It seems to take forever, but it actually goes by very fast. Kids are resilliant. He will be fine. He might be more cranky then normal, but otherwise he will be fine. I hope this helps.

My son was was about the same age when he got tubes in his ears. He is nine now and his ears are extremely sesitive. Did you try benadryl? It dries up the liquid behind the ear. A lot of doctors do not mention it to patients parents. I think they just want the money surgery will bring in.

But....
After the surgery he may have some discomfort. The doctors will tell you what to do. When giving him a bath, you could put cotton balls in his ears, I did that. But, I thought that the doctors gave me some specialy made ear plugs for my son. They were green.

I think they left the tubes in for maybe a year? All I know is that my son felt way better after they took them out then when they put them in. I do not reccomend putting tubes in if there is something else that can be done. That is from my experience anyway.

F.

My son is two days older than yours! Ethan got his tubes put in the week before Christmas. My older son has had tubes as well, so I pretty much knew what to expect. The hardest part of the whole day will be the anticipation/waiting for your turn for surgery. Once they take him back, he will only be gone for about 45 minutes (to do the surgery and wake back up). Ethan cried hysterically for the next hour, as I guess the whole thing had a weird, scary feeling to it. The doctor came by to release him, and he fell asleep in the car. After a very long nap, he was back to normal. He needed ear drops twice a day for three days afterwards. He has had one long ear infection since birth. I took him to the pediatrician yesterday for some congestion, fully expecting another ear infection, and the tubes are working perfectly. How nice to leave the doctor with the diagnosis of a "cold" rather than an ear infection that requires antibiotics! My oldest son is five, and one of his tubes is still in place. He had his surgery when he was about 14 months old too. He's probably only had one or two ear infections since the surgery, if that. It is really a great thing. Plus, you don't want them to have hearing problems later. Your son will need to wear ear plugs in the bathtub, as getting water in the ear could lead to an ear infection. We got ours from the hospital pharmacy. You can also get them from your doctor or a Walgreens type place.

Good luck!

When my daughter was 6 months old she also had to have tubes put in. Our dr told us that the new kind of tubes didn't matter if we got a lil water in the ear. You may want to consult w/the dr or nurses about aftercare.

Hi J.,
My son was about the same age when he got his tubes..i was terrified but it was the easiest experience i have had as of yet with medical conditions...it took less than 15 min and he did well..no problems afterwards at all and after some lunch and a nap he was as good as new..as for no water in the ears they should give you some sort of putty type earplugs to use whenever you bathe him or he swims or anything like that!! It was a very easy procedure...I hope you have the best luck and it goes as easy for you!! Good luck and let me know how it turns out!!