Lack of Sleep - Ear Infections

Last night was rough in our house. Our 4 year old son had an ear infection and was up pretty much all night long. He started complaining about his ear hurting on Friday which I probably should have paid more attention to considering he rarely complains and does not have a history of being sick. On Saturday, he seemed uncomfortable at times but at other times he was a typical 4 year old boy, very busy and all over the place. He doesn't take naps but fell asleep late in the afternoon and continued to complain about his ear hurting. I was hoping to get through the weekend so we could set an appointment with his regular doctor so we gave him Tylenol (he was running a low grade fever) and that seemed to work for about 3 hours or so.

He went to bed at his regular time (around 8:30) and was up the first time at about 11:00. We got him back to bed fairly quickly and he went back to sleep for about 2 hours. This went on for the entire night. I slept in 2 hour increments in between running up and down stairs getting water, Tylenol, or just sitting with him while he went back to sleep. By early morning I had already determined that we would need to visit the Urgent Care Clinic as soon as we could get there.

We went to a clinic near Rex Hospital that is open on Sunday. They were very efficient and the staff was extremely nice. The Physician Assistant (PAC) that we saw was great with children. He explained what the American Association for Pediatrics says about treating ear infections and offered me choices. We were in and out in an hour. It was a great experience considering some of the horror stories I have heard from others about "off hours" doctor visits.

By the time I am writing this at 10:00 pm, all is good and our son is sleeping peacefully.