Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Haven't experienced this myself but a friend had a little girl with
    tubes and she had special plugs made to prevent water in the ears.
    This was done through the doctor that implanted the tubes and the
    plugs looked almost like hearing aids--very secure, no chance of
    water getting in unless the little girl pulled out the plugs.
    Check with your doctor.  
    
    Pam

    Darlene,
    
    My daughter is having tubes put in on July 9th, and one of my 
    concerns was swimming  (we are headed for Maine 2 weeks later).
    Dr. Smith in Concord suggested that we have customized ear plugs
    made for Alexandra (17 months).  I forgot the name of the doctor 
    that makes them, but if you are in the Greater Maynard area I will
    be happy to get his name for you.  Lexi is a real water bug and I
    can not see keeping her out of the water all summer.
    
    Good luck,
    Penny
    

	Katie just had tubes in right before Memorial day.

	The Ear doctor said to use putty for baths, but that if she was going 
to be swimming, we should invest in a pair of ear plugs.

Tracey

I had a friend several years ago whose daughter (a real fish!) had tubes
in her ears.  The girl wore special plugs for swimming, but also wore a
swim cap (you remember those awful things :-P ).  I don't know if this
was suggested by the doctor, or just their way of being certain that the
plugs would not come out under any circumstances, like diving.  It
probably wouldn't be necessary with a toddler.

Sarah

Our neice has tubes in her ears, and the doctor recommended "customized" ears 
plugs of silly putty.  For those of you not old enough to know what "silly 
putty" is, it's a very pliable stuff kind of like play dough, but more 
plastic, and it tends to stay in one piece.  It's kind of hard to find, 
thought.  It worked just fine for her; I thought it sounded kind of strange 
so, if either our children had tubes, we'd probably opt for customized plugs.  
In any case, I'd check with my ped before I put anything in my kid's ears.

Clay

    Thank you for the suggestions -
    
    I did call her doctor and they refered me to Milford (MA) Audiology.
    I called them and they said it would only take about 5 minutes to
    do and I could bring Erica in anytime, they are open 9:00 - 5:00.
    I will be bringing her in this afternoon.  The plugs take 1 week
    to come in, just in time for vacation!  The cost is $30.00 for those
    who are interested.  Phone is (508)478-0723.
    
    Thanks again!
    Darlene

    RE: Silly Putty...

    Our daughter, Amber had tubes put in when she was 10 months old.
    That summer we had a heck of a time keeping those white, waxy,
    pliable ear plugs in. We always took a scuba mask down with us
    to the pool to find the darn plugs when they fell out.  Then 
    someone suggested Silly Putty.  Wow, I thought, that sounds great.
    I borrowed some from the next door neighbor kid, rolled it up and
    stuck it in Amber's ears.  It was a hot 4th of July day and about 
    noon I decided to check to see if the putty stayed in.  Oh, it stayed
    in alright.  Unfortunately, it also crawled deep into the ear canal.
    Luckily the next door neighbor kids' father is a doctor and had an
    ear loop at home. He spent the better part of an hour digging Silly
    Putty out of Amber's ears.  We never did that again.

    The next week I called the ENT and mentioned what a hassle it was to
    keep the ears dry and he told me to stop worrying about it.  He call-
    ed in a prescription for antibiotic eye drops (yes, eye drops) and 
    told me to put a couple of drops in each ear every day or so.  Amber
    had her tubes for about 18 months and she did a lot of swimming and
    never developed another infection.  The antibiotic drops are the only 
    way to go!

    Jodi-
    

    When my 18-year old son (it doesn't seem he should be that old) was
    younger (6 - 10 years old) he also had tubes.  Three pairs to be exact.  
    Chris also swam on a swim team.  Wearing a bathing cap was no problem.  
    Everyone worn the nylon type for greater speed.
    
    We solve the problem of water in the ears with the custom-made ear
    plugs and then put vasoline over the entrance to the ear. This worked
    great.  As a matter of fact, Chris was responsible for putting on the
    vasoline before he left the locker room.  There was no problem with
    cleanup.

    I mentioned this in an earlier note, but here goes again.  AJ had tubes
    put in last Thanksgiving week he was almost 3.  We first went out and
    bought earplugs made of this silly putty type material.  Suposidly it
    was three sets, but with his size it made 6 sets using 1/2 for each
    ear.  They still work well, we bought them for a few dollars at Brooks
    Drug.  I have been told not to worry about swimming water, unless it's
    LAKE water.  Pool and bath water shouldn't cause any problem.  My proof
    is that we did lots of pool swimming this past summer without plugs, and 
    the ONLY problem we encountered was after a swim in the lake.  All the
    other times in the pool no problem occured.  He saw his pedi ENT last
    week who said if he continues this well he should be without tubes by
    the begining of next year. (not sure if that meant they'll fall out or
    be taken out)
    
    I too looked into the custom plugs, and discovered that throug Umass
    Medical Center they charge $50, which is NOT covered by insurance, and
    may have to be refitted as often as every 6 weeks.  So I use the putty
    plugs for lake swimming, and he automatically puts his fingers in his
    ears when we wash his hair.  It works for us, just my .02 worth!