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What antibiotic is the best for treating my child?
When antibiotics are needed, amoxicillin is almost always the best choice. It is more effective, safer, and less expensive than any other oral antibiotic. However, like all antibiotics, it would be expected to “fail” 10-20% of the time. It is unclear why this is, but probably many of the ear infections that do not respond to amoxicillin were caused by viruses. If your child still has symptoms 48 hours after starting amoxicillin, your doctor will want to check your child again to make sure that the symptoms are actually caused by the ear infection. Your doctor might then change your child to a different antibiotic. Even in these cases amoxicillin should still be the first antibiotic chosen for future episodes of AOM. If your child gets a diaper rash after taking antibiotics, you can treat it with an antifungal cream such as clotrimazole or miconazole (ask your pharmacist). It is probably a good idea to feed your child yogurt with active cultures during and after treatment with antibiotics.
What happens after the symptoms go away?
Once the acute symptoms are gone, the name we use for the ear fluid changes from AOM to OME. Sometimes middle ear fluid can occur without any known AOM. In most cases, this fluid goes away within 3 months. Your doctor might want to recheck your child to make sure the fluid is gone. Usually this fluid does not cause problems, but it can cause a mild hearing loss. If your child seems to not be hearing well or seems to be ignoring you, you can help by doing some of the following things:
1. Reduce distracting background noise (the TV or radio) when you are talking to him or her.
2. Speak directly to your child using a louder voice than usual. Use good eye contact and make sure your child understands what you are saying. Use gestures to help explain what you mean.
3. Spend at least 15 minutes each night sitting with your child reading a book.
If you have any questions about your child’s hearing or speech development, ask your doctor or call 1-800-EARLY ON to get a free developmental evaluation.