You can reduce your child's risk of ear infections with the following practices:

• Wash hands and toys frequently. Also, day care with 6 or fewer children can lessen your child's chances of getting a cold or similar infection. This leads to fewer ear infections.
• Avoid pacifiers, especially at daycare.
• Breastfeed -- this makes a child much less prone to ear infections. But, if bottle feeding, hold your infant in an upright, seated position.
• Don't expose your child to secondhand smoke.
• The pneumococcal vaccine prevents infections from the organism that most commonly causes acute ear infections and many respiratory infections.
• Some evidence suggests that xylitol, a natural sweetener, may reduce ear infections.
• Avoid overusing antibiotics.