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Originally Posted by PedOncoDoc

Regarding ear infections - there is a lot of evidence from Europe that many ear infections will resolve on their own if you wait 48-72 hours after the diagnosis of an ear infection. It is common practice in many areas to give a "provisional" prescription with orders only to fill the prescription if the fever and/or ear pain persists beyond the 2-3 day window after the appointment.

I have heard of this also but the main reason that parents seek Antibiotics is because the kid is in pain. Again, talking to my parents they said that the Drs. would puncture the ear drum and let the infection drain. This alleviated the pain and help clear the infection up. I understand why this couldnt be done on chronic infections, but if the kid only gets 1-2 a year what harm would be done in going back to this method?

The reason we treat ear infections is twofold: 1) on occasion they can erode into the skull and cause more severe/life threatening infections, and 2) Recurrent/chronic ear infections can lead to permanent hearing loss.

Regarding the notion of taking kids to the doc every time they sniffle - that would take a culture change. At least your wife is seeing their primary care provided and not misusing the emergency department.
With the rise of urgent care facilities, the need to go to the ER is almost nonexistent for us. Before Urgent care, if we had a problem after 5pm, there was no other option but the ER.

General rule of thumb: If fevers last less than 5 days, the kid is alert/arousable and eating/drinking, doesn't have a severe headache/stiff neck, and doesn't have difficuly breathing, it can probably wait until one of these criteria isn't met.
It doesnt help when I talk my wife into waiting a few days to go to the Drs. only to have the Med Professional admonish her for not bringing them in sooner.

Bolded is mine

Thank you Doc for addressing my post.