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Ear infection in a baby or child: what helps, and when to call
For anyone looking after a baby or child whose ear hurts, or who may have an ear infection: a parent, a grandparent, a sitter. This page passes on, by name, what MedlinePlus and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) say: the signs in a child too young to talk, why a baby under 6 months is different, easing the pain at home, why a doctor may wait before giving an antibiotic, what happens when ear infections keep coming back, and the signs that mean a call. It builds the questions to ask. Take only what you need today.
Right now
- A baby younger than 6 months with a fever? MedlinePlus says to let your provider know right away, even if the child doesn’t have other symptoms. It also says all children younger than 6 months with a fever or symptoms of an ear infection should see their provider.
- Contact your provider if there is swelling behind the ear; a high fever or severe pain; symptoms that get worse, even with treatment; or new symptoms, especially severe headache, dizziness, swelling around the ear, or twitching of the face muscles. That list is MedlinePlus’s.
- Severe pain that suddenly stops, or sudden drainage of yellow or green fluid from the ear, may mean the eardrum has ruptured. MedlinePlus lists the first as a reason to contact your provider.
- Nothing in a draining ear before you ask. MedlinePlus says over-the-counter ear drops can be used as long as the eardrum has not ruptured. The first sentence is ours.
- Do not give aspirin to children. Both MedlinePlus pages say so. NIDCD says a child who has a fever or other flu-like symptoms should not be given aspirin unless instructed to by your doctor.
- The pages we read give no list of signs for 911 for an ear infection. MedlinePlus says that most often, an ear infection is a minor problem that gets better.
If you cannot reach a provider and you are frightened for your child, go to an emergency room or call 911. That line is ours. This page is not for emergencies.
More help
- A fever with it: Fever in a baby or child: when to call, and what helps.
- A baby who will not stop crying: Crying baby: when the crying won’t stop.
- Throwing up or diarrhea: Vomiting and diarrhea in a baby or child: fluids, and when to call. Constipation: Constipation in a baby or child.
- Writing down what happened and when: Symptom diary. Feeds, diapers and sleep: Baby log.
- Hearing: When it gets hard to hear. Smoke at home: When you want to quit smoking.
- For a visit: Get ready for your appointment. No insurance: When you need a doctor and can’t pay.
- A newborn at home: Pregnant, or with a new baby.
- All our free tools.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor, nurse or pharmacist has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 9, 2026 on two government websites, every page in English and in Spanish. On MedlinePlus, from the National Library of Medicine, two pages of its Medical Encyclopedia: Ear infection - acute (reviewed January 1, 2025) and Earache (reviewed January 17, 2025). On nidcd.nih.gov, one page: Ear Infections in Children; its text is dated March 2013 and the page says it was last updated March 16, 2022, so it is older than the MedlinePlus pages. The page says whose words it is passing on, and what is marked “ours” is our own. The pages give no signs for calling 911 for an ear infection, and this page does not make any up; the one 911 line is ours and says so. Where the sources differ, the page gives each: NIDCD puts tugging at the ear first on its list of signs, and MedlinePlus says it is not always a sign; one MedlinePlus page says a warm cloth and the other a cold pack; NIDCD says many doctors will prescribe an antibiotic, and MedlinePlus says most providers don’t prescribe one for every ear infection; NIDCD says fluid usually disappears within three to six weeks, and MedlinePlus says it can stay for weeks or even months; and MedlinePlus says to avoid pacifiers, where the safe-sleep pages passed on by our crying-baby guide say to offer one at sleep times. Numbers: the 102°F (38.9°C) line, the hours (24 to 48, and 48 to 72), the counts of ear infections for ear tubes, and “five out of six children” are the named page’s own. What we left out or did not read: the name of every medicine but aspirin (the pages name two pain relievers and one antibiotic) and the name of the vaccine version on NIDCD’s page; a nasal spray that MedlinePlus’s earache page says to try; the amount of any medicine; MedlinePlus’s count of ear infections for ear tubes in babies under 6 months; NIDCD’s paragraphs on research and on which groups of children get more ear infections; what MedlinePlus’s earache page says about adults; swimmer’s ear and other infections of the outer ear, except one line; and MedlinePlus’s page of questions about ear tube surgery, which we did not read. We called no number. It saves nothing and loads no tracking.