How old were your littles when they had ear tubes put in? And how many ear infections did they have before that choice was made? My daughter is 6 months and on ear infection number 3. We’re headed to ENT next week. We’ve known since the first one she’d most likely need them at 6 months as it’s hereditary and I had them. Mine were so bad they affected my hearing and I had to take speech classes in elementary school and I Don’t want that for my daughter. However my MIL thinks we need to wait because “ they’ve been in different ears” and “ it’s about to be summer and she won’t be able to swim”. Thoughts?
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My friend was just talking to me about how her son had ear infections the first 18 months of his life so bad he lost hearing in one ear. So she decided to get ear tubes. She said lots of speech therapy but he is sooo much better
Following due to my son is almost 5 months and is on his second ear infection.
Chiropractor helps a lot also if your trying to avoid surgery.
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My son had them at 11 months and they helped him tremendously. Ear problems affected his walking, talking and everything it was the best decision we made. She can swim with them just wont be able to go under water without ear plugs
My son was 7 months and had probably 6 ear infections by then. It was summer. At 6 months she’s not going to be going under water so she will be fine
My son just had them done end of March (he’s 18 months now) his ENT said as long as his ears aren’t actively draining, he can go under water if he wanted to.
My oldest had them for 6 months before she got tubes. It was the best thing for her!!
My son is 10 months & he’s had 3 already. I’m thinking he will need them too.
I have known several people who have had tubes in their ears. Best thing for them. They are new and clean and have never been used by others before and as for swimming I doubt she’s going under water
My son has had 6 since October 2018 and June 12th he’s getting tubes put in he’s 2
She can still swim as long as it’s a pool. No creeks, rivers or lakes. My son has had to have them twice. And it would be a lot easier getting them done now instead of waiting
Follow the doctor’s decision. Mil has no say on what you do and isn’t medically trained either. My youngest had tubes put in around 18mths (he’s 9 now and doesn’t have them anymore) His speech was awful. He always had ear infections. Once the tubes went in, his speech improved tremendously and we used ear plugs in his ears while swimming or in the bath. Talk to your doctor and see what they recommend. Mine only had tubes for about 2 years, then never again.
At 6 months old i think i would wait a little bit.
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My 5 yo had tubes put in at 4yo after 5 infections, my 2.5 yo had tubes 2 months ago do to hearing loss only had 3 infections. Their ENT said they came swim and play in water as long as its clean(pool, bath) he said to put ear plugs in if they go in a lake, river or ocean.
My brother had tubes X3 and then patches… you can always get really good ear plugs to swim. Hes used ear plugs since he was 3 and hes 26. No big deal
My twins are 6 and they have had 6 sets of tubes. Once a year. They had to take speech. I know for their first set they were around 9months to a year the dr wanted to wait till the age
swimming is the least of your concerns
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My son had his put in right after his first birthday last month…ENT wouldn’t see us until 6 reoccurring ear infections within the first year… don’t know if all doctors are the same I don’t have to have a referral through my insurance but I think they wait to do this until at least a 6-12months Bc they use anesthesia (not the same kind as you get when you get put completely under but it’s like laughing gas)… I had to go through how many and the span of time between each infection… when we did my sons he had two within a month. I don’t think it matters regarding if it’s one ear or both… I had issues with my ears growing up as well… I would look into it especially if you or your husband have ear nose or throat issues or had to have tubes. I can say my son hasn’t had a ear infection since and he CAN go swimming and bathe normally just can’t be submerged underwater (but to me a baby or even a young toddler shouldn’t be submerged anyways- just my opinion) and if you’re concerned about water there’s plugs or Vaseline with a cotton ball trick… what it comes down to it… it’s your child do what you think is best and if your gut says she needs them Bc of chronic ear infections then get them
My daughter had her first and only set at 9 months. They worked great. I dont recall swimming in clear water being an issue. Good luck!
My daughter had ear aches when 5, 6 years. Doc suggested remove her tonsils
The ear aches stopped.
My daughter was 15 months lots of infections and shes deaf so they wanted to get the fluid off before her cochlear implants surgery
Just because of ear infections doesnt mean that they need tubes
I’ve never heard of a doctor doing the procedure until at least 12-18 months old, so you should be good to not have to do it during summer.
My son was 11 months old when he got tubes put in. He had 8 ear infections before they would finally do it. As far as swimming goes, I had asked the doctor who put them in about swimming because we were in the middle of swim lessons and he said swimming is fine as long as they aren’t submerged for long periods of time. If you are still nervous (like I was), you can buy some baby ear plugs. They don’t hurt the baby and it gives us mamas a peace of mind!
She will be able to swim they make ear plugs 
My daughter was thirteen months. What a blessing
I got mine in at 10 months. I think because of fluid. I couldnt walk. I was trying so hard for months. Got them in and haven’t stopped since. I dont know how many ear infections I had had, but I know I do still get them. Often.
They made us wait until our son was 2, Countless ear infections, complete hearing loss. It’s been almost two years since tubes and lots of speech therapy but he’s finally in the right track
My son got evaluated for tubes at 2, I wish someone pointed out the fluid in his ears all the time at his appointments but it wasn’t infected so they never did or I would have done it sooner. He was so behind on speech. Thankfully our speech therapist said to check his adenoids and they were so big his ears couldn’t drain so we removed those rather than tubes and it fixed everything, he hasn’t needed tubes and he’s caught up on speech at 3.5 now
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My son was 10 months old when he had tubes put in. He had 56 ear infections from the time he was 4 weeks - 3. I’m sure there were more that we didn’t count. Even after the tubes, he got infections. At 5, he had a second surgery (tympanoplasty not sure if I spelled it right), they had to go in a repair a gaping hole in his ear caused from all the infections. He has had multiple hearing test and hears 100%, which is surprising. The ENT told us to start taking things out of his diet to see if something was causing him to get infections. We found out he had a milk allergy. Once we cut out all dairy products the infections stopped. My other son also had a milk allergy, but he got hives instead of infections.
My son was 10 months old when he had tubes put in. He had 56 ear infections from the time he was 4 weeks - 3. I’m sure there were more that we didn’t count. Even after the tubes, he got infections. At 5, he had a second surgery (tympanoplasty not sure if I spelled it right), they had to go in a repair a gaping hole in his ear caused from all the infections. He has had multiple hearing test and hears 100%, which is surprising. The ENT told us to start taking things out of his diet to see if something was causing him to get infections. We found out he had a milk allergy. Once we cut out all dairy products the infections stopped. My other son also had a milk allergy, but he got hives instead of infections.
I think a doctor would be the best to ask. Not opinions on Facebook
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My son had them put in at 8 months. Best thing I did. Only had the one set. No issues with swimming or bathing. You can get earplugs. Its better to get them and not have your kid continually get sick
My son never once had ear infections but his inner ear did not drain and was filled with a caulk like substance. The ent called it “glue ear”. He suffered hearing loss and watched your mouth when you talked to decipher what you said. He had his adenoids removed and tubes in at 3 years old and with speech therapy caught up. He has grown up swimming at the Y since I teach water aerobics and he has plugs put in if we aren’t in “clean” water (lake, ocean, etc) with no issues. I would suggest the sooner the better to avoid hearing loss like you experienced.
Oldest was almost 4 and had 6 ear infections in 6 months. Younger was just past his second birthday, had no ear infections but a significant speech delay and tons of retained fluid. My kids both swim with no problem, chlorinated water is fine. Plugs are required for live water (lake, ocean, etc) and they can’t get bath water in their ears.
I was nervous about it but it was a super easy procedure (we did both kids at the same time) and it literally changed my baby’s life!
I used garlic oil 
gone overnight
My son was 19 months old. He’d had about 5 ear infections and fluid in his ears for months.
My son is 17 months old and goes in June 7th to get tubes, he has had 13 ear infections in total.
my daughter was 4 months old when she got her tubes in her ears. she never had ear infections but couldn’t hear well nor pass the hearing tests givin to her after birth, afterwords she was great! room less than 20 minutes to put them in. she has a check ups every 3-6months. to make sure they are still in place. yes they recommend getting ear plugs for first 2 months, if they go swimming (No big deal) they sell them at the store.
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Victoria I know you had tubes at a younger age maybe you can help
My son was 1 and a half he had 13 before they did his.
Swimming shouldn’t come before hearing…
I had tubes at 7,8, and 16-18.
I’d get them done sooner then later, if you have to repeat have her adniods checked.