A not really sick pre-schooler

I am at a loss what to do with DS and pre-school.
 
He had a bad ear infection 4 weeks ago which started very suddenly during pre-school hours and which needed antibiotics and a couple of days rest at home to clear up. I went and picked him up immediately after the call from his teacher came but I do have a commute of at least 30 minutes. One of the teachers sat with him and cuddled him the whole time and they called his twin from the other class to also come and help comfort him so he was not alone.
 
Fast forward to last week: On Tuesday I get another call from pre-school to come and pick him up because he is crying and his ear is hurting. I left my meeting picked him up and took him to the pedi. But the pedi could not find any trace of an infection, ears clear, no fever, etc. So I figured he might be coming down with something else and just could not articulate it and took him home and tried to get him to rest. But he did not want to be treated like a sick kid and was bouncing off the walls at home. On Wednesday and again on Friday he was crying that his ear hurt so bad each morning, I was pretty sure that he was ok but the pre-school would not have taken him in this state. But the minute we had dropped off his twin and he was sure that he would be staying at home the crying and complaining stopped and again he was much too active for a sick kid and complained and fussed if I wanted to treat him like a sick kid. I know ear infections and pain come and go quickly, but not that quickly.
 
This morning he went to pre-school happily because they will be having a carnival costume party. But I dread what will happen when the next normal days come because I need to work especially as I missed 3 days last week and DH is travelling this week and cannot help. I have already talked to DS and called DS' teachers and asked whether anything special or distressing has been going on, but they could not think of anything. So we scheduled a meeting to brainstorm together.
 
But in the mean time - does anyone have an idea what might be going on? He seems to young to consciously fake an illness and he is a very straightforward child normally so it would be totally out of character.

 

Hmmm...it's really hard to say.  I have trouble discerning ear infections with my kids.  In my, little experience, because one just got their first ear infection over Christmas and the other had their second at the same time...both seemed to come on all the sudden.  One night my daughter complained of pain and the next day she said it felt better-the day after that, she was lethargic and not really eating and that's when she started to run a fever.  So I've learned by my kids behavior is how I determine how severe the illness really is.  
I think you have a good plan with brainstorming with the daycare to see if anything else is going on.
The only other thing I can think of is maybe he has a cold (not sure) and the pressure might be causing some pain in the ear area :unsure:

 

It could be sinus pressure that's causing some pain overnight/morning time, but once he's upright for a bit, and any drainage is directed away from sinus's and ears, and down into the throat, the pain would go away.  You can try propping the head of his bed up a bit at night for awhile and see if that helps.  I just stuff a folded blanket or flat pillow under the head of the mattress to raise it up a bit.

 

Thank you - that is a good idea, I will try that. It would explain why he feels bad in the mornings and improves so much during the day.

 

Ear infections don't bother my kids much. So I'm not sure... But do you think..is there any chance he just doesn't want to go to school? Hope you will find the root cause and solution soon.

 

It sounds like he likes not being at school.  How about playing the "if you are too sick for school, you are too sick to play".  Make home boring, if he is truly sick, then he won't care, but if he isn't he will probably choose school--the fact that he is remarkably better once he realizes he isn't going, makes me think he is playing it up a bit.  Also, talk to the school, they may have some strategies to help as well.

 

w101ttd, ear infections do bother him (he used to have them rarely but severely) but our pedi can't find any trace of infection anymore.
 
Sharon, I agree - I had a meeting with his teacher yesterday and we both think something is bothering him at school but so far neither of us can put our fingers on the problem yet. So we brainstormed situations or problems which might be the potential trigger and the teachers will try observing him more closely in these situations for 2 weeks and then we will get back together. At the same time we will watch him at home and see if he drops any clues (he is not the most talkative kid) and play up all the good and fun things they do at school and which he enjoys. Being at home in the mornings is boring because I work and spend most of my time on the phone and the computer.