Is It An Ear Infection?

If your child is prone to ear infections, you might worry about her ears every time she gets a cold and seems cranky—especially if she's too young to tell you that they hurt.  Should you take her to the doctor? I was impressed when I met with the makers of EarCheck ($59), a brand new easy-to-use device that looks like an ear thermometer. You put it in your child's ear and it emits safe sound waves that detect fluid in the middle ear—a key sign of infection. It’s very similar to a device that pediatricians have been using for the last ten years. If it registers in the red zone, you should take your child to the doctor—otherwise, you can relax and assume that her crankiness has nothing to do with her ears.

Comments

[Amanda]

This seems really useful. As an adult who's prone to ear infections, is it weird if I want one? :)

[Thrifty Karen]

Wow. They're just coming out with all kinds of cool stuff. I wish they would have had these a few years ago when mine were babies.

[Nancy]

Ok, forget winning the Dora video...I want to win this!! They should give these away to new moms at the hospital. I hate taking my kids to the doctor because my son is pulling his ears just to find out he's teething (Again...or still???)

[Mandy]

This is great just for piece of mind. Last year I was taking my son the doctor every 3 weeks for ear infections. He since got tubes but I always have "ear infection" in the back of my mind when he gets cranky or sick...

[snarflemarfle]

Sounds like a great idea in theory. But I'm pretty sure my son would never let it stay in his ears long enough to properly register. I'm sure that comes from having so many ear infections starting around 4 months old!

[Amber]

I'm on my way to getting one! Costs me $60 just to go to the Dr and have them tell me...nope she looks fine. WHAT?!! Do you know how many 60 I have spent?