All our Ear Buddies™ kits come with full instructions. If you have lost your instructions, or are interested in detail how Ear Buddies™ splints work, you can access that information here.

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Before you begin

• Please read all these instructions before you start. Having a young baby is stressful, and we don’t want Ear Buddies kits to make things worse rather than better. Say to yourself that you are going to make a really good job of this. Don’t rush. If necessary, read one day and fit the next.

• To fit the splints properly first time, the MOST important thing is to degrease the ears. However clean your baby’s ears are, there will be a layer of dead skin and grease on them which will stop the tapes from sticking as well as they could. Support your baby in the bath, put some neat baby shampoo on the ears and rub it in, paying particular attention to the folds and creases. Let baby play for about 30 minutes (you might want to get into the bath too, as this is a long time to hold a baby), have another gentle rub of the ears with your fingers, rinse off and dry the ears, rubbing gently with a clean soft towel. Let your baby’s ears dry for AT LEAST 90 minutes and then you are ready to fit the splints.

• The kits are designed for newborns – there is enough tape to ensure that both ears can be corrected and the tapes changed once (although this is not normally necessary in a newborn).

• If your baby is older than this, particularly if it is three months of age or more, it is very likely that you will have to change the tape every 2 - 3 weeks or so (because it has started to work loose). By the time you do this, the ear will have already started to assume a better shape, and you will have the confidence of knowing that things are going well and it is worthwhile.

• The older your baby is the more difficult is splintage. It IS fiddly, the tapes WILL look grubby and get wet in the bath. As long as they still hold the splint securely this does not matter. If you persevere you CAN make a difference to how the ears look.

• The only purpose of the headgear supplied is to hide the splints from prying eyes if you are feeling a little sensitive about having fitted Ear Buddies™ splints to your baby’s ears. Think of the splints in the same way that you think of braces on teeth - now an acceptable part of growing up.
  
  Once the ears have been corrected, if you notice that the ears are being pushed forwards on the pillow when baby sleeps, we recommend that a hat or headband is worn. Any headwear can contribute to overheating - so always check that baby is not too warmly dressed for the surroundings, especially at night.
  
  Beware, too, merely wearing headgear or a hat without splintage WILL NOT correct a misshapen ear.

Tip

Try fitting the splint whilst your baby is sleeping.

How to fit Ear Buddies™ splints to your baby's ears

You will need:

• Your Ear Buddies™ kit pack
• A pair of scissors
• Your baby, with the problem ear(s) freshly bathed and dry
• A little dexterity and some patience, particularly if your baby is more than a week old

About two-thirds of ears which end up prominent are evident at birth. In the remainder, prominence does not develop until about three months of age. Ear Buddies™ splints will work for these ears too, but remember that the older the baby is when you first fit the splint, the longer it must remain in place to be successful.

Recommended splintage times:

Fitted	at birth	2 weeks of splintage
	1 month of age	1 month of splintage
	2 months of age	2 months of splintage
	3 months of age	10 weeks of splintage
	4 months – 6 months	at least 3 months of splintage
	Over 6 months	4 months of splintage

The splints must be worn for as much of the day as possible, and preferably 24 hours a day. They are made to be comfy, and your baby should be able to sleep on a splinted ear untroubled. Remember that a little persistence now might spare your child embarrassment, teasing or even an operation in the future.

How the splints work

The splints are fitted into the gully of the ear and fixed by narrow strips of tape, and then the whole ear is taped to the side of the head using a broad tape strip. The pressure of the splint on the ear cartilage resets its tendency to make the ears stick out whilst maintaining the proper contours of the rest of the ear. You may be tempted simply to stick baby’s ear to the side of the head without first fitting the splint. This can distort the shape of the ear and is actively discouraged.

Your pack contains two splints - one for each ear - there is no need to fit a splint to both ears if only one is misshapen or sticks out. Although the splints are formed with a curve to fit most babies’ ears, they are bendable in all directions, and you can alter the curve to fit more snugly, if necessary.

To fit the splint

Open the pack of shorter, thinner adhesive strips. Take a splint and apply it to the gully (1) inside the rim (2) of the problem ear starting at the cul-de-sac (3), and working backwards.

Cut the short tapes in half along the card perforation. Remove one strip from its backing. Starting from the back of the ear at the middle of its curve (position 1), stick it down over the skin and the splint so that the rim of the ear is rolled over the splint. Affix three more pieces of tape in positions 2, 3 and 4.

Open the pack containing the broader, longer adhesive strips. Use one to stick the splinted ear to the side of the head. If your baby has a full head of hair, simply shave a small area around the ear. If the splint is correctly fitted, the ear should now have a greatly improved shape and position.

For ears without a gully (1), rim or helix (2) or antihelix (4)

Particularly common in prominent ears:

Place the splint a little way in from the edge of the ear - once the edge is rolled around the splint (figure B), a proper rim will be reformed. More importantly, once the splint is in position, and the ear taped back against the side of the head, the splint will reform the antihelix.

For ears with an abnormal bulge or kink within the gully (stahl's bar):

Take special care to ensure that the splint is firmly fixed over the bulge in order that the abnormality is ‘pressed out’.

Length of splintage

Ideally the splints should be worn at all times, 24 hours a day, for the recommended splintage times. If the baby has a special occasion, however, it will not matter if you remove the splint for a few hours. The splintage times are guidelines only. Remember it is better to err on the side of lengthy splintage rather than to remove the splint too early and have the ear problem recur.

If you do find that the original problem returns after you have removed the splint, simply refit it for a couple more weeks.

Adhesive strips

For best results, the adhesive strips should be applied to clean, dry skin which is free of natural skin oils - after baby’s bath is usually a good time. Please do not apply the strips under tension or stretched. The delicate skin may shear or blister if excessive tension is applied. The tape may get wet when you bath your baby, and will generally become a little grubby and sometimes less adhesive as the days go by. Inspect your baby’s ears each day to make sure that they are not becoming chafed or red. Because very young babies sweat very little, the tape tends to stick better and for longer than in adults, and if your baby is newborn, you may not need to change the tape at all. You can buy fresh supplies of tape from Ear Buddies™ tape.

TO PREVENT YOUR BABY ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOWING THE SPLINT, IT IS VITAL THAT YOU ENSURE THAT IT IS FIRMLY TAPED IN POSITION.

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WARNING

Your Ear Buddies™ tape pack contains medical grade plastics, inert metals and hypoallergenic adhesive tape which should not harm your baby’s delicate skin. The device should not be used if the skin of the baby’s ear is broken. Should any evidence of sensitivity develop, you should stop using the product immediately and consult your doctor. The device is strictly for external use only, and no attempt should be made to insert the device into the ear canal, nor internally elsewhere. Ear Buddies™ splints may be used on your next baby after the splints have been cleaned in baby bath and you have checked them thoroughly to ensure that they are undamaged.

Ear Buddies™ splints will improve the majority of simple problems of shape, contour and position of the external ear. However, they cannot replace missing tissue or guarantee success in all cases.