Hellobee Boards

it’s actually easier to fly once the eardrum has burst and the pus/fluid is draining than before and all the pressure is built up. The cabin pressure won’t bother him at this point. I would just give a pain reliever an hour or 2 before the flight just in case, but you should be fine.

When my second was 18 months old, I was flying with both kids solo to my mom’s house in another state. She didn’t have a fever at all, but the night before she slept like crap and was up crying 5-6 times. I wondered if she was coming down with something, but with no fever and non refundable flights, I figured we were okay to fly. Literally on the way to the airport, I saw a massive trail of pus come sliding out her ear. I was FREAKED to say the least. I tried calling our doctor to get a nurse on the line but basically they said they couldn’t diagnose on the phone. I had about an hour and fifteen minutes before boarding, so I had to make a quick decision and after talking to my husband and my mom, I decided to find a random pharmacy and buy children’s Tylenol and load her up, then take the flight. I was so nervous she would scream the whole 2.5-3 hours, but I got lucky and as soon as the Tylenol kicked in, she passed out and slept almost the whole way. By the time we were touching down, my mom had gotten us an apointment at a pediatrican from her church, so we went directly there, and sure enough she had a double ear infection and her left eardrum had burst, which the doctor explained was actually the best case scenario for a flight because after it bursts the pressure is released and the pus comes out. I think she was feeling better about 48 hours after starting meds and totally normal within 3-4 days. Good luck!

We flew on the 1st and LO1 had terrible pain in his ear a few nights later and woke up in the morning with all kinds of drainage. Like your LO he has had tubes but they have been out for a long time. We were staying with family so we went to see the nurse practitioner at their practice who didn’t see redness or signs of infection but gave antibiotics as a precaution. He spent that day under the weather, but was much better after a day or two. He had no trouble with his ears on the return flight this week.