One of the most common illnesses in young babies is ear infections. Signs to look for include a fever (not always present though), irritability, excessive fussiness and of course the ear pulling and head slapping. My daughter had frequent ear infections as a baby so this game isn’t new to me when it comes to my 7 month old son. So over the last couple days while watching him tug on his right ear and bopping himself silly I made him an appointment as soon as possible. He just seemed so miserable and wasn’t eating like he normally does. That’s a red flag right there that something isn't right. This boy LOVES to eat!

Now this is the second time in his short little life that I have taken him in to have his ears looked at. Like the first visit, his ears checked out. No indication of an ear infection could be found. Next question for the doc… Why is he tugging at his ears and slapping himself in the head then? A simple answer, he’s teething. Yes, I did know that he was teething, but I didn’t think that would bother his ears so badly. Poor little guy.

When babies are teething they can show a lot of similar symptoms of an ear infection and a common cold. Low grade fevers and irritability are definitely at the top of the list. A runny nose and excess drooling can cause a cough and sore throat. Also, the extra saliva your baby swallows while drooling can cause their dirty diapers to be a bit more on the runny side so don’t panic if your little one starts having looser stools than what they normally do. When the drool supply slows down the diaper changes will go back to normal.

If your little one does have a fever, keep an eye on it. Check their temp several times during the day to make sure that it’s not getting out of control. Take them in right away if the fever reaches over 100 F or if their fever lasts more than a couple days. There is no way to diagnose an ear infection at home so if you suspect an ear infection, make an appointment as soon as you can. If it is an ear infection your little one needs to be on antibiotics and the sooner that happens, the sooner they can get back to being their happy selves again.