The Best Warm Compress

Jay is fighting his second round of ear infections, poor kiddo!  Heat helps his ears stop hurting, but I just can not bring myself to let him sleep with an electric heating pad.  There are just way too many things that can go wrong!!  We were heating up a wet wash cloth and putting it into a Ziploc bag for him to lay on, but it didn't seem to stay warm very long.  So I got my google on, and found a much better solution:  Rice. 

Just take some regular rice, not minute rice, and put it into an old, but clean, sock.  Tie the end of the sock into a knot to keep the rice in.  Then heat it for 30 seconds to a minute in the microwave.  It works amazingly well!  I have even made one for myself to help my sore muscles, and even sinus pressure.  And if you kiddo manages to get some sort of liquid (milk, juice, urine, vomit etc) on the sock, you can just untie the knot, toss the rice, wash the sock, fill it with clean rice, and you're good to go all over again!

This has been such a life saver for us over the last few days!!  I also read that you can put your rice sock into a plastic Ziploc bag and stick it in the freezer for a cold compress too, but I haven't it yet.  Who knew something so easy could work so well!?  Next time your little one is suffering from an ear infection, give this a try.  You'll be glad you did!