Health Tip: Does Your Child Have an Ear Infection?
Ear infections are common in babies and young children. Unfortunately, youngsters who can't talk yet aren't able to tell you when something is wrong.
Here are signs, courtesy of the American College of Emergency Physicians Foundation, that your young child has an ear infection:
- Pain, which your baby may indicate by acting fussy, pulling on the ear, being irritable during feeding, or crying when lying down.
- A white or yellow drainage from the ear that may have an unpleasant odor.
- Difficulty hearing.
- A fever, usually between 100 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. (37.78 to 40 degrees Celsius).
Health Tip: Is Your Child More Prone to Ear Infections?
Ear infections are common in children, and may occur for a variety of reasons.
But certain factors -- both environmental and beyond anyone's control -- may increase your child's risk.
The American Academy of Family Physicians lists these common risk factors for ear infections in children:
- Being around cigarette smoking.
- Having had ear infections before, frequent colds, or having a family history of ear infections.
- Going to a day-care center.
- Being born premature or at low birth weight.
- Going to bed with a bottle or using a pacifier.
- Being male.
- Having allergies that cause congestion.
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