After hearing many different opinions, I was wondering, “Can I clean my baby’s ears with Q-tips?” so I asked the experts at Q-tips for the truth. The short answer is “NO!” The longer answer is this: Q-tips can be used to clean the OUTER EAR only. They’re also good for cleaning baby toes and finger nails and any skin folds. Got that?
Ear wax — especially in waxy babies such as mine — builds up to protect the inner ear from dirt and germs. Over time, extra chunks ball up and fall out periodically. It is not harmful all by itself. When well-meaning parents use tools to “clean” the ear, they risk pushing stuff in further. So, if your babe’s ear looks yucky, take her to the pediatrician for a proper cleaning. Okay?
Other stuff to never put in baby ears: olive oil, fingers, ear candles, chemicals of any kind!
It is a good idea to wash the OUTER ear with a damp wash cloth. Also, get behind the ears because I don’t know WTH kind of goo ends up there, but I think it’s milk and food from sloppy eating. You can, on the other hand, clean baby’s toes with Q-tips.
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[25-day old baby ear image via flickr by jessicafm]
great tip!
I discovered early on that those flat “makeup applicator” q-tips worked well for cleaning out gunk/boogers in my baby’s nose. The jumbo baby q-tips are no good at that, but try the flat ones. Of course, now that my kid is two he wants to run the q-tip himself and I’m afraid he’s going to stick it all the way up into his brain… but when he was a baby it worked very well.
I learned this the hard way.