Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group

Feeding your infant and ensuring they are getting enough nutrition is one of the most important aspects of parenting during that first year. This community is dedicated to those who are nurturing a baby, whether breastfed or formula-fed.

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/ Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group

Ear Pulling

Charity6262
Charity6262
My 3 month old son has been pulling on his ears for the past couple of days and I was wondering if anyone knows what this means. He has been to the doctor 4 times in the past week and everytime they said his ears looked fine (but this was before he started pulling on them). Any advice would be welcomed.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I was just at the ped yesterday for our 6 month check up so I had her take a good look at my son's ears because he has been pulling too. He got a clean bill of health. She said they looked good, not too much ear wax and he is probably just pulling on them because it is a pleasure zone like you will see when you rub a puppy or a kittens ears.
joleneLS
joleneLS
My daughter had ear infection after ear infection but during one of her visits her doc told me that tugging at the ears occurs during teething as well. Unfortunatley, that was never the case for her, but it could be the case for your LO!
WinniePoo
WinniePoo
on the flip side of this...my boy just got over an ear infection and he never pulled at his ears once.

he might just like to touch different parts of his body as he is discovering himself. trust me...for little boys the ears will be the least of your worries of things he will tug on.
deleted_user
deleted_user
My ped told me that tooth pain sometimes feels like ear pain. If it's not an ear infection it could be that.
roseBud23
roseBud23
My little one started doing this at an early age as well. Babies pull on ears for many reasons... The most common that aren't cause for alarm are one they just discovered them and two they are teething. I believe that after they're over 3 months of age if they con't to pull it could be due to ear infection.

If he seems content and no symptoms such as coughing, fever etc. are present then it could just be nothing :) especially if doc says there's nothing to worry about :)
Charity6262
Charity6262
He is acting like he is teething already so that could be part of it but I just wanted to see if yall had simular experiances with your LO's. I didn't expect him to be teething this early though ... but then again he was rolling over at 18 days old lol.
deleted_user
deleted_user
My son constantly pulls at his ear and my dad would hound me telling me i needed to take him to the doc and have him checked out...he never had an ear infection (knock on wood) he was just teething. A way to see if his ear is hurting, under his ear lobe where you can feel his jaw bone right next in the soft spot before feeling neck muscles is his ear canal, push on that area (not too hard) and if he doesnt squeal or cry then it is probly teething pain rather then ear infection...but if he looks or feels like hes in any kind of pain take him to the doc that is what they are there for!