A New Addition to Isaac's Morning Routine

Yesterday afternoon found Isaac, Kathryn and I back at the pediatrician's office for a suspected double ear infection.  Isaac has had a runny nose for 7-10 days and on Sunday, began complaining of his right ear hurting.  By Monday late morning, he informed me that "all my ears hurt, Mommy".  So during a non-productive nap time (we are still adjusting to the time change), I called the pediatrician's office to schedule an appointment.

Isaac greeted the pediatrician (uncoaxed) with a loud, "Hi, Dr. S-------!"  Which brought a huge grin to her face, that then faded into concern when she realized that Isaac has only been off his last round of antibiotic for roughly 10-14 days.  (And I still am trying to decide whether it is a good thing that my two and a half year old son knows our secondary pediatrician by name...)

After listening to his chest and pronouncing it all clear, she took a peak at his nose and then his ears. Sure enough...we are at the beginning of another double ear infection.  Dr. S and I discussed how I treat runny noses (basically I let them run their course and use saline spray when needed) and whether that was the right plan of attack for our two, especially Isaac.  I'm not a fan of dosing Benadryl for all types of runny noses, because if it is a green runny nose, the germs simply dry up in the sinus passages and can lead to a sinus infection.  But at this point, decongestants (which I feel are appropriate for green runny noses) aren't recommended for toddlers.  So we are trying something new.

In addition to a ten day antibiotic, Isaac will begin taking Nasonex in the morning and Benadryl morning and night until mid-June.  His runny noses may not be due to colds only...he may have allergies.  The Benadryl will handle the drainage, the Nasonex will handle any swelling/congestion of the sinus passages.  We were given a sample of Nasonex to try for two weeks with instructions to call for more if we feel Isaac benefits from taking it.  If this plan of attack doesn't work, meeting with an ENT is next...