Protect your child from secondhand tobacco smoke. Passive smoking increases the frequency and severity of infections. Be sure no one smokes in your home or at day care. Avoid excessive colds. Reduce your child's exposure to children with colds during the first year of life.
Most ear infections start with a cold.
Try to delay the use of large day care centers during the first year by using a sitter in your home or a small home-based day care. Breast-feed your baby during the first 6 to 12 months of life. Antibodies in breast milk reduce the rate of ear infections. If you're breast-feeding, continue. If you're not, consider it with your next child.