My now 33 yr old daughter was very prone to ear infections in her first year
in spite of being exclusively breastfed for the first 6 mo (and she had the
infections before that also).  Fortunately, her tubes did develop a better
angle as she grew and the infections stopped without surgery.  In several
instances, I was totally unaware of an infection until she had a routine
baby checkup at the doc's.  She did, however wean abruptly at 5 PM on a
Tuesday afternoon March 1st at the age of 11 months!  (I remember so
specifically because our Baha'i Fast starts on March 2nd and since she was
no longer nursing, I was no longer exempt-I still kid her about that to this
day.)  No matter what I tried, she would reject the breast in tears.  We did
discover another ear infection a couple days later.  I strongly suspect that
sucking made the ears hurt more, so she didn't want to nurse and
"discovered" that she could live without it, so wouldn't go back.

 

My point is that, yes, nursing babies CAN get ear infections, although
certainly nowhere as often as those not nursing.  And, nursing can be
uncomfortable with an earache which can seem like a "nursing strike".  Any
time I see a baby with sudden breast refusal along with increased fussiness,
ruling out an ear infection is one of the actions I recommend.  In a couple
cases, there was one.

 

Winnie


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