Infant baby cannot explain any trouble in his body and just cries to inform his mother that something is wrong and I am not feeling well. For any mother it is very difficult to identify physical problem of baby especially when it is not visible such as ear infection. In such case she just makes some guesses and tries to identify reason of crying from symptoms of her child’s physical problem. Ear infection in children is very common problem and there are some symptoms that you can understand that your baby have ear infection.

Symptoms of Ear Infection in Children
If you notice some of following symptoms in your child, then your baby may have ear infection.

• Mostly ear infection occurs after cold. If your baby has cold and, then fever for four- five days then it might be ear infection. In beginning clear running nose that will change in yellow or green color fluid that may be sign of ear infection
• Your baby complains for ear pain or small baby pull his ear and not feel better.
• He cannot walk with balance if your baby is on his feet.
• For breastfeeding or bottle feeding baby, he finds problem in sucking while feeding and he cannot suck continuously because of ear pain. He takes his mouth away from feeding if he has ear pain.
• Your baby cannot sleep at night and wake up frequently in the night
• He cannot lie flat while sleeping.
• Your baby feel weak and you found unexpected increase in fussiness when he suffers from cold.
• Due to ear infection, some babies suffer from diarrhea and also no desire for food. In ear infection sometimes virus cause stomach problem in your baby.
• You can also find foul smell from baby’s ear which might be due to pus or whitish yellow fluid come from ear.

• Ear is separated in three parts such as the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. Normally ear infection occurs in the middle ear. Membranous eardrum divides the outer and middle ear and middle ear space is connected through the Eustachian tube with the back of the nose. In children Eustachian tube is very short and slanted that cause bacteria to enter into the middle ear space very easily through nose and throat and result in ear infection. With growth of children this tube also gets vertical and it is difficult for bacteria to reach the middle ear easily. Therefore, ear infection problem reduces with increasing age of child.
• Cold is another reason for ear infection. Due to cold the nasal path gets enlarged and mucus gathers in the back side of the nose that cause more bacteria develops in that area that can easily enter in the middle ear space. Bacteria enter through the Eustachian tube in the middle ear space where they grow within the mucus that is jammed there. It causes to form pus and that cause stuff of bacteria, pus and thick mucus in the middle ear space.
• Ear pain in baby is caused by pus due to the eardrum swelling. It is red colored and can check by doctor with torch by looking in the ear canal.
• During ear infection your child’s body attempt to fight with the bacteria that causes fever in your child.

Risk of Ear Infection in Child
There are various reasons that increases risk in children for ear infection.

• Breastfed baby is at the lesser risk of ear infection than bottle fed or formula fed baby.
• If parent smokes cigarette that also increase risk in child.
• If your baby go to nursery when he becomes less than two years old, then he might get infected with cold from other children in the class that cause ear infection due to cold.
• If your baby feed bottle in lie down position.

Prevent Your Child from Ear Infection
You can prevent your child from ear infection by taking some precautions as follows

• Breastfeeding for minimum six months and better for a year if possible that increases chances to prevent your baby from ear infection.
• Wipe your baby’s ear after bath and keep it dry.
• If your child is going to nursery and he suffers from cold, then don’t send him to nursery for few days and try to cure his cold as early as possible.
• Prevent your child from getting infected from cold especially in cold season.
• You should not wait for your child’s illness, if you find any unusual symptoms in your child; you must immediately contact your pediatrician. Taking immediate action will cure your baby quickly.