My daughter is about 2.5 years and has had 5-6 ear infections since November '08. I have no prior experience with ear problems. After some research I've grown concerned about the heavy use of antibiotics and potential hearing loss if this persists.

Today we went for a swim and a bath, keeping her hair/head dry all the while. Tonight she is crying in her sleep but only when her head is turned to the right. Also, a fever practically turns on and off as she switches her head left and right. The fever reduced from 99.5 to normal after about 5 minutes of being turned to the left. I dosed her with some children's Tylenol (I hate giving her this stuff), and she's sleeping okay now.

We're going to the ENT mid-July, but I know there must be more I can do at home.

Is there some trick to drying her ears better, should I be using some sort of drops, is the Tylenol masking pain that needs a more aggressive approach?

What kind of questions or tests I should ask the ENT about?