The symptoms commonly associated with earaches are:

• Ear pain, which can be identified by your baby pulling on their ear, covering it with their hand, or tugging at it and their hair.
• Fever over 100, you have to measure with a thermometer.
• Possible stomach upset, vomiting, and /or diarrhea can be related to earpain.
• Possibly fluid draining from ear, or lots of wax forming in the inner cavity of the ear, these two symptoms are most common after a cold or sinus infection.

If your child suffers from the above list of symptoms they probably have an ear infection.

Another type of earache is caused by water in the ear canal, or in other words, swimmer's ear. The following symptoms would indicate this type of earache.

Itching first, which you can identify by how the baby is responding to their ear, then ear pain and tenderness; pain may get worse when the baby chews or if you gently tug on the earlobe, you may want to try this out to test what type of earache the child has.

There may even be redness and scaling at entrance to ear.

Your child may have temporary hearing loss and a yellow, watery, or smelly discharge from the ear. Watch carefully for these tell-tale signs.

Another type of earache not common in infants, but certainly a problem in toddlers is ear pain caused by an object being lodged in the ear. To identify this problem look for the following symptoms:

• Ear pain or funny feeling in ear with no other symptoms.
• Another way to know is pretty simple, you may be able to see something stuck in the ear canal.
• If the object has been there long it may be smelly.
• This type of ear pain is most common in children under age 5.

PREVENT
Let's be honest, ear infections are not fun for baby or mom, so how can you prevent them? The following are some simple suggestions to help reduce the risks of ear infections.

• Try to stay as germ free as possible. Kids who go to daycare or playgroups with other children are more prone to getting ear infections because they are exposed to more germs. This doesn't mean you should keep your child home all the time. Instead, wash your hands and your child's hands often to lessen the chances of catching a cold (a common precursor to an ear infection.
• Keep up to date with your child's vaccines. Vaccines help prevent certain illnesses that can lead to an ear infection. For example, the Hib vaccine has helped tremendously in reducing ear infections in children. The recently introduced pneumococcal vaccine should cut ear infections as well.
• Make sure your child gets an annual flu vaccine. This is most important if your child has suffered repeated ear infections, especially after bouts of the flu.
• Limit your child's exposure to tobacco smoke. Even a weekend spent in a house with a smoker can significantly harm a child and increase the chances of getting an ear infection. Tobacco smoke seems to suppress the immune system, making it more difficult for your child to fight off infection.

TREAT
Treatment for earaches and ear infections vary depending on the physician and the cause or the infection. Your best bet is to consult a physician if your child suffers from ear pain. Not treating an earache properly could lead to loss of hearing and other significant problems.