No - an ear infection is fluid and infection trapped behind your own eardrum; nobody can catch it.
What spread through the household was the cold virus that triggered it, days before the ear pain started. Same logic for daycare: a fever-free child who feels well can attend, since the ear infection itself is not a contagion risk. The real practical worry is flying - pressure changes with a fresh ear infection hurt, so swallowing and chewing through descent help.
What to do
Common questions
Is an ear infection contagious?
No - an ear infection cannot be passed to anyone. It is a complication of your own anatomy: a cold or allergy swells the tube that drains the middle ear, fluid backs up behind your eardrum, and germs multiply in the trapped fluid - the infection lives inside your ear, and nobody can catch it from you. The contagious part of the story is the upstream virus: the cold that set up the ear infection spread through the household days before the ear pain started, which is why siblings of a child with an ear infection often come down with colds - they shared the virus, not the ear. The same logic answers the daycare question: a child with an ear infection who feels well enough and has no fever can attend, because the ear infection itself poses no contagion risk - the fever or the still-runny cold is what would keep them home. Pressure changes on airplanes are the more relevant worry: flying with a fresh ear infection hurts, so swallowing, yawning, and chewing during descent help. Pymander, a free AI doctor available 24/7 by text, can help you think through a child's sick-day decision.