Go for grommets or trr alternatives?

My 14month old has had five ear infections in four months - they started a month after I stopped bfing and he started daycare for 12hours a week.   He has had antibiotics each time which has cleared them up , but they seem to be back within a fortnight. At the latest visit, the Dr said that if the antibiotics did not work she would refer him to specialist for grommets. I am not keen on this as general anaeshetic seems just too scary and wondered if anyone had had a similar experience or success with alternative treatments.

I am also wondering whether the constant ear infections would affect his balance as he is not yet walking and doesn't appear to be making much progress in that direction either?

With things like ears, they damage fairly easy and are very very hard to fix if they do get damaged. Keeping that in mind I'd go with the grommets. It's such a common procedure these days.

Breanna also had many ear infections when she was very little and still does now from time to time. When the doctor first threatened grommets I decided to try au-natural first (not a big fan of medical intervention).

So what I did was placed one end of her cot on two phone books which raised it up. Ear infections stopped.

Then when she moved to a big bed (bunk bed which is too heavy to lift) - she started getting ear infections again - so if she ever gets a runny nose or congestion I now put a pillow under her mattress to slightly raise her head while sleeping. Haven't had the threat of grommets since the first threat and her ear infections clear really fast. If I don't catch it in time (she has a high threshold to pain) then she still needs antibiotics - but the frequency of infections is very low.

Just my 2c worth .. but I have many friends that have had grommets for their children and they work a treat! I just really didn't like the idea of an operation - no matter how small.

Thanks for all your suggestions, I've tried T on a dairy free diet for a week now and although the doc said that the ear infection hadn't cleared up he is like a different boy- soo happy and sleeping really well that I have decided to keep going with dairy free and have regular check ups. I tried lifting his cot mattress but he just ended up sleeping the other way round and I figured downhill was worse than flat

Am also going to see an osteopath who claims a 60% success rate in treating infant ear infections so fingers crossed. I guess like VanessaD I'm just really nervous of any surgery and would like to avoid it and besides I have been told that there is a 6 - 8 month waiting list or privately will cost up to $3000 - ouch.