Ear infections and speech development...

Does anyone have a child whose speech development was delayed because of recurring ear infections? How did you finally sort the infection out? How delayed was their speech, and when they finally started to say words, did they pick it up pretty quickly?

Emma Rose has been battling the same ear infection in her right ear for the last five months or so. The infection comes and goes and comes back again. We thought we'd finally conquered it about a month ago, but this morning she woke up a Snotmonster and our GP says the dreaded infection is back. Sigh...

We've been to the specialist quite a few times, and it's looking like grommets are the next step, as her speech development seems to be delayed. Our GP suggested we try the new pneumococcal vaccine and see if that helps before we go to the lengths of scheduling the grommet surgery. It's all making my head feel like it wants to explode... Hence the above questions!

I think it's the stuff my mom said that has been freaking me out the most -- I have been pretty chilled out until now, despite the dire predictions of the Plunket nurse, specialist, and GP. I've been taking a "wait and see" approach to the whole thing, and have been content to just take the ear infections as they come, treat them cautiously but appropriately for the circumstances, and not jump to conclusions.

Mostly, I'm just naive because I've never had personal experience with a child who was language-delayed. You're right, Emma, I totally agree -- she'll learn to talk eventually, and I'm not in a hurry for it to happen. It's more that I don't know how to handle the persistent and aggressive questions from friends and relatives (who themselves haven't experienced children with language delays) so I feel the need to beef up my knowledge in order to understand what's going on better, and be able to fend them off effectively.

The pneumococcal vaccine is two jabs, $150 each, so that's a BIG chunk of change for us. I've just dusted off the three-year-old bottle of duty-free Absolut and poured myself a shot! L'Chaim!

I haven't read the other replys but for Andrew it did. He had constant ear infections through out 2005 about 1 every 3 weeks - it drive me nuts having to give him antiboitics for 1 week at a time every few weeks. His language was getting behind the rest of his development. I finally had had enough and demanded to see a specialist (this was at xmas time 2005) and told my GP I had health insurance I want to see a particuar specialist and see him before xmas. We saw him on the 22nd of December 2005 and he told me that he should of had grommets about 6 months ago. Andrew was booked for surgery in Feb in the public hospital (it would of been March private as he was booked up with adult ops privately). Once he had them in his language took off and now is saying words almost perfectly. Andrew has lost a grommet (had his ears checked by the public health nurse at preschool) so we may have to go back in to have it replaced as fluid is in his ear, i'm just waiting for him to say it hurts.

I had them put in me and had no issues (that my mum has told me) other than climbing out of my cot and stealing the milk from the fridge  (that was in an Aussie hospital).