Nothing is worse than the sound of your own kid crying with an ear infection. When my son went through it I spent countless nights up rocking him just to hear him scream in pain and there was literally nothing that I could do.
We had tubes put in his ears and within 24 hours the fluid buildup was gone and he never had another problem. They are the greatest things in the world. In fact, they are so great the several years ago Doctors would put the tubes in too much...they would take the easy way out and just put them in at the first sign of an infection. Now, they want to see a longer battle with the infections before they put tubes in which is good, in my opinion, because I think that in todays society we are too quick to try to fix something that may correct itself on its own.
The only thing that we had to be careful of after the tubes went in was to put plugs in his ears when he went swimming for the first couple of months...after that it was all good.
So, in my opinion if the Doctor says they are needed, then go with it and relax because it will be better all around. For the record, my experience was just a couple of years ago...my son is 5 now, so this is not something that I am talking about happening 20 years ago or anything.
No matter what I am sure you will make the right decision...a parent just knows
--T