7 week old has recurrent ear infections, rash, colic
by Ali
(Ohio)
Hello,
My 7 week old baby girl SCREAMED up to 9 hours/night from the day we brought her home from the hospital. At 1 week, she was given baby Zantac, which seemed to help some.
She also started reducing her bowel movements to 1 every 3 or 4 days, so I took her in and she was diagnosed with a double ear infection at 3 weeks. She was on antibiotics for a week, and upon her return to doctor, one ear was still pink, so we received a new antibiotic.
After 7 days we returned and she still had fluid in her ears, so we were to finish antibiotics. Meanwhile, she developed a scaly, pimply rash on her face/neck. I took her in at 6 weeks for rash (I'll explain THAT later....) and she had a double RED ear infection.. even though we'd continued antibiotics (her last dose had been that morning).
So now she is on heavy-duty antibiotics (and probiotics) now and we have another re-check tomorrow...question about ear infections is:
What in the world causes these infections in a mostly-breast fed baby (at most 1 formula bottle a day, now none)?
The doctor said it could be her catching different viruses, but I'm wondering if it could be allergies and if something can be done at such a young age. She occasionally coughs and sneezes, but has never been very congested and we've never had to wipe her nose or anything.
OK...on to the rash - Dr. suggested at 6-week visit that my daughter had baby eczema was reacting to the formula we were giving her - I'd already been advised to give up ALL dairy, and had done so at 4 days, so we were using Isomil Soy Advanced. Since the 6-week visit she's only received 1 bottle of Alimentum. The rash is considerably improved, but still on face and neck.
We stopped giving her Zantac at 5 weeks as her Upper GI Scan did not show reflux..although the doctor said that she could get reflux when sick. We are to be referred to a GI specialist at our local Children's Hospital, but apparently they won't take us until the ear issues are cleared up, because they could be causing the crying.
My daughter was up until 3:00am two nights last week, had 3 good nights in a row, and then cried for 9 hours yesterday (fortunately ended at 10 pm so we got some sleep).
So my questions are....
1) What could be going on with these ear infections?
2) I've tried eliminating other foods from my diet, still don't eat gassy vegetables, spicy foods, etc. but can't seem to find any pattern between food and crying - is it worth it to eliminate things like wheat? can they do allergy testing this early?
3) Does anything help? Nothing we've tried works... we suspect she has ear troubles plus colic. anyone have experience with this and when it might end? I also have a 2 1/2 yr. old that's difficult to take care of right now.
