How to Treat a Baby’s Ear Infection Without Antibiotics

I had my yearly eye exam at the turn of the year and my optometrist noted that my vision has gotten sharper. He says that it may be due to pregnancy and motherhood hormones balancing out or something. I just thought it’s because I have morphed into a super-human specimen to listen and divert all possible catastrophes that occur in everyday babyhood. A quiet room with a non-slumbering baby is a dangerous risk to sit and check Facebook.

In addition to that delightful unexpected news, he says:

My, your eyes look very tired.

In other words, my doc thought I looked like shit that morning. He was right though – Humnoy had a fever and was up most of the night. Flash forward four days and Hum sees a doctor of his own just two days shy of his Mama’s birthday. Typical, right? Of course, a medical doctor prescribes medicine for a diagnosis of an ear infection in the five whole minutes of him being in the same room with us. I scramble to locate the information I’ve mentally stored from reading favorite natural parenting Facebook pages about using essential oils, herbs, and all sorts of kooky unconventional shit. I’m all for modern advances so here’s a bit of science for ya:

[…] treating infants who had infection in only one ear was ineffective — 40 percent of untreated children under 2 still had pain after three to seven days, and so did 35 percent of those who received antibiotics. In children older than 2, antibiotics were generally unhelpful. Twenty-six percent of untreated children still had pain or fever after three to seven days, and so did 19 percent of children who received treatment.

As I am held at gunpoint to fill the prescription for amoxicillin (ahem, my husband threatens me that my son will be deaf if I don’t), I run to Super Supplements as it’s being filled to grab a couple of things that were suggested for natural remedies.

Here’s how I didn’t have to use amoxicillin:

Warm ear oil drops
I did a double-boiler and warmed ear oil using an empty bowl with 2-4 drops of oil on top of a bowl filled with hot water. The warm oil is soothing and helped my baby nurse gently again. The garlic, mullein flowers, and St. John’s wort have antiseptic and antifungal properties, which help fight the infection itself. Before getting ready to nurse, I would drop 2-3 drops of warmed oil in the infected ear and leave it in for a couple minutes while entertaining him for a bit before laying him ear-side down to drain out the oil as he fed. I placed folded tissue on my forearm to catch the oil.

Colloidal silver
I have always noticed colloidal silver being mentioned and suggested from all the natural healing mamas. Silver was long-known for its natural antibiotic function to stop viruses in its tracks before the antibiotics industry was regulated. I picked up a bottle and expected to struggle to have my baby swallow some drops but the vertical spray makes it easy. I counted one by one with each spray and he loved it thinking it was a fun game! It’s also an immunity booster for the entire family and can be maintained by the adults with 20 sprays each and baby gets four or more.

Steam-filled bathroom and frequent baths
The steam helps with the cough that poor baby developed from the cold. I turned on the shower all the way to hot and shut the door while his bath tub filled. It also helped me relax with my baby and a great night cap. I also was prepared to do it in the middle of the night when his cough was particularly bad but he slept soundly after a steam session!

Photo courtesy http://www.deadpanexchange.com/images/artist_images/zachary-royer-scholz

Cold socks
I received some advice from a local herbal enthusiast/mama about cold socks drawing mucus down and out of the body. Before bedtime, I wet a pair of cotton socks and put those on his sick tootsies and put another pair of socks over the wet ones. Hydrotheraphy aids in relieving nasal congestion especially in the upper respiratory tract. It was very strange being so damn happy when my baby spit up stringy milk but I knew it was getting that nasty stuff outta my baby! I had to chase him down every time he sneezed or coughed to see the color of the phlegm – quite entertaining to be a fly on the wall for that.

Nurse, nurse, and nurse!
He needed much more mama lovins! It was a very nice excuse for me to get back some baby loves since he has been much more independent. I did lots of skin-to-skin to bring down his temperature and let his fever do what it’s meant to do – fight the infection on its own. Once his ear wasn’t bothersome anymore, he fed a lot and slept very well.

Would you believe me that he was better just in time for our weekend getaway for my birthday? He saw the doctor on Thursday and we left town Saturday, my birthday, January 7th. We had a follow-up/10-month-checkup on January 20th. With no mention of my kooky home remedies:

Mama: Did his ear clear up?

Doctor: Oh, yes.

Mama: Oh, good!

Doctor: I can tell he is not in a daycare; he is too healthy!

Even if medicine could have worked, I firmly believe in the amazing power of the human body. I carried for 41 weeks and birthed an almost-8-lb little human. My son has thrived off my milk to now be the brightest, most advanced little bubba who waves ‘bye-bye’ on command and is practically running at 10 1/2 months! My above methods were all natural with minimal to no side effects so I always ask myself, “Why not?” Why not do the least-invasive method possible and believe in the ability of oneself? My baby is strong, healthy, and smart and I have gotten this far with my favorite mantra: “When in doubt, go without.”