Hi, I have a l6 mo. old grandson, his Mom has heard if he drinks milk laying down,?

Question

somehow the milk can get into his ears, not coming out of mouth and running down into the ears, somehow thru the mouth to the ears. Has anyone ever heard of this?

Answer 1

Yes it is true, the milk can run down into the eustachian tube and get in the ear. It will cause ear infections, and over time, tubes would need to be placed in the heal to help with the natural draining of fluids from the ear. I know this from first hand experience, since it happened to my first daughter. In addition, laying the baby down to sleep with milk is not a good idea since it can create bottle rot, due to the sugars in the milk, which would decay baby teeth fast and cause them to fall out before they need to.

Answer 2

Yes it is true. Your mouth, nose and ears are ALL connected through your sinus passages. While sitting up and drinking a bottle the milk will go down the throat, but while laying down the milk will drain into the ear passages and most of the time will cause inner ear infections. If it is absolutely necessary to lay her baby down with a bottle then slightly elevate the baby's head so the milk won't run into the baby's ears. :)

Answer 3

its possible the milk can get into the Eustachian tubes that run to the ears and cause fluid to build up there. 9 chances out of 10 nothing will ever happen. It really depends on the child. The make up of the tubes and how they drink. You can try it and there is no problems then go for it. Its nice to be able to give the baby a bottle when they lay down to nap... That's the benefit of it completely.

Answer 4

Yes, it is possible. The milk can run into their ears which increases ear infections.

"It is true that drinking formula or juice while lying down can increase the risk of ear infections. This is because the liquid can enter the eustacian tube and introduce bacteria or viruses into the middle ear. The many germ-fighting ingredients in human milk keep harmful bacteria from bothering baby, so that stuffed-up noses and ears are less likely to become infected middle ears. Because breastfed babies are fed in a more upright position, they're less likely to experience milk backing up through the eustachian tube into their ears; if this does happen during a breastfeeding session, human milk is less irritating to the tissues of the middle ear than infant formula. Breastfed babies have fewer, or at least less severe, colds than formula-fed babies. Fewer colds means fewer ear infections. Breastfed babies have fewer respiratory allergies, another cause of fluid building up in the middle ear, which setts the stage for bacteria to grow."

Answer 5

If this was true, and this caused any serious complications with raising a happy, healthy child, everyone would have heard of it. It is just common sense that a child needs to lay back to drink from a bottle - it's been done for centuries, and I haven't heard of anyone dying from an ear infection - but from choking, yes.

Answer 6

they say that children that lay down and drink milk a very prone to getting ear infections,but its not from it running in their ears from the inside of the mouth,it's from leaking out the sides of the mouth and running to the ear

Answer 7

Yes, I have heard that. It does happen. The milk runs down his mouth into his ears.

Answer 8

The mouth and ears are NOT connected, so I don't see how this is possible. It's probably an old wives tale.
But still...he could get strangled lying down and drinking, so you should prop him up anyways.

Answer 9

I haven't but it seems very possible, the tubes in a baby's ears are slanted different than an adults ears, that is why they get more ear infections

Answer 10

Not true. It's the same with adults, we don't get milk in our ears if we drink it laying down.