Well, I served my time in Ear Infection Hell, because my son had the tubes put in THREE times. The first time we were dealing with all the hassles of the Military Medical System, too. The Pediatrics clinic SOP was to just keep treating the infections, and you had to get a referral by Peds before you could see ENT. One of the doctors mistook "a temperature of 101 degrees with a forehead thermometer" as "a temperature of 104" and we got the referral to ENT. ENT wondered why the kid hadn't been referred long before then!
My son was 13 months old when he had the tubes put in. He had not walked by that age, although he WANTED to, desperately. I couldn't get the pediatricians to agree with me that the ear infections were screwing up his balance and thereby affecting his ability to walk. Well, guess what? THAT weekend he had the tubes put in, HE WALKED.
I don't know if I agree with "letting the infection run its course" if a child does NOT have the tubes in the ears. The infection and fluid in the middle ear builds up a terrible, painful pressure, and unless the body defense systems can attack the infection right away, the ear drum can burst. We're talking excruciating here! IF the tubes are in place, it might be possible to let the infection run its course, but only if the tubes remain open, and the nastiness can drain to the outside. However, tubes have a little trick of gettng plugged up, and then it's pain and pressure all over again.
The body also expels the tubes on its own, after a while.
My son had the tubes put in a total of three times.
The BEST thing for ear infections, unfortunately, is just waiting until the kid grows out of them.
Oh, my, I remember the semi-permanent stain on the refrigerator door shelf from the bottles of pink bubblegum medicine!!
Peace,
~VOW