Talk to me about your experience with anesthesia for your infant toddler. My 13 month old is getting tubes next week and I'm scared about her coming out of the anesthesia. Help me be prepared.
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She will cry a lot and be very disoriented. That truly is the hardest part. And I found it was worse the younger they were. My boys cried, thrashed, kicked like they were in a bad dream. My oldest one 1st had tubes at 17 months. About an hour later he was totally fine. When he got them again at about 2.5, he snapped out of it in less than 30 minutes. DS2 got them at 17 months and he was out of it until the afternoon. He took a huge nap and once he woke up around 3 he was fine.
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When LO was ten months she definitely screamed when she came to, but I popped a boob in her mouth, she nursed, napped, and woke up totally herself. When she got her second set at 2.5 she was disoriented but not upset. When we came into recovery she was snuggled up on the nurses shoulder and not crying at all.
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@Mamasig: @Truth Bombs: Thanks ladies. So expect her to be upset. Would you compare it to night terrors? What about being sick (vomitting)?
Do you recall how long you were at the facility in total? I know they said the procedure is only about 15 minutes, but I'm expecting that we will probably be there in total 4 hours?
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@MamaG: we haven't experienced night terrors, but yes I imagine so. No vomiting with either son. They are literally back to normal including appetite by the evening! At least mine were. We were at the facility maybe 2-2.5 hours total? We have to arrive an hour before the scheduled time. The procedure is maybe 15 max. When they got their adenoids out too it was slightly longer. Then we were in recovery 30 minutes or so.
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@Mamasig: Oh awesome. Your experience is helpful. Just hearing it is helping my worries.
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@MamaG: No vomiting either time. My LO really only screamed until she saw me and then was ok. So probably not even as bad as a bad dream. Obviously every kid is different but that was our experience. Timing will depend on how quickly you get started after arriving. The doctors usually do surgery in order of how young the child is. So when LO was 2.5 we got a later start because of some complications with surgeries ahead of her. When she was ten months we were at the front of the line and in and out in two hours including pre op and post op.
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My LO had a sedated hearing test at 18 months just last month. He was disoriented like others mentioned, but did fine. They put something in his IV to prevent nausea. His tubes were put in during another surgery so I can't comment on that part. Good luck!
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@Truth Bombs: Thanks! The surgeon scheduler (not the facility) said that we should be pretty close to first with her being 13 months. I'll hear from the facility later today.
Can y'all tell I have vomit issues? I know no one likes it, but I might need an intervention
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When B had surgery for his hernia, we were allowed into the recovery room before he woke up.
He woke up a little disoriented, but there was no screaming, crying etc....
so you may not experience that!
We made sure to have a doctor approved treat at the ready! (Some juice and a popsicle) -
My LO was fine when she woke up from her tubes. They brought her to me and I just held her while she drank her water. She needed help holding her sippy for a little till she woke up more. She was 21 months.
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DS1 had anesthesia at 2.5 years. I have heard the worst thing is watching them go limp but luckily for us the medicine they gave beforehand to relax him worked so well that they were able to wheel him into the OR and he didn't even notice that we weren't going in with him, he was so out of it.
We were allowed into the recovery room and were supposed to be there when he woke up but he was already awake. I don't think he cried but he was confused and scared. The nurse said he wouldn't look at her- almost like if he didn't see her it wasn't really happening. I held him and he was sleepy and snuggly for quite a while. He threw up a couple times but was much better afterwards.
Even at 2.5 he got the first spot of the day. It was a different procedure but we were in around 6am and home late morning. He spent longer than other kids in recovery because of the vomiting. -
DS has been under twice, but both were right after he turned 3. Not sure if it would have been any different if he were younger.
For the MRI (which was in a children's hospital), they let me stay with him while they put him under. They used gas to knock him out and then put in the IV to keep him under. They do put like a Zofran or the like in the IV to curb vomiting, so that wasn't an issue. They had him awake before we were allowed back, and he was very disoriented, but happy. They warned us that he would likely be cranky since he took the gas first, so they were glad he was in a pleasant mood. He just chilled for the rest of the day.
The second time was his endoscopy in an out-patient facility. They took him back before they put him under, which sucked because he cried, but they let us in before he woke up. They used the gas to knock him out again, but this time he woke up in a much crankier mood. He was rather pissed about life for a good hour, and was starving. But it wasn't terrible either time. It's just sad seeing them all limp once they're under.
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Both of my kiddos have gotten tubes in the last month and a half. The almost 3 year old had a really rough transition out of anestesia....he screamed inconsolably for about an hour, but then was completely fine as if nothing happened. He had weird sleep for about a week after...the dr said it could have messed with is circadian rhythms. He usually passes out easily at 7:30 or 8, but for about a week he was up until 9 or 10!
My 10 month old was easy. She only took about 10 minutes to snap out of the funk, and she was fine afterward as well. No issues with sleep, except that shes getting teeth too so shes been up at night (I don't think that is related).
Hopefully this is the end of ear infections for our family! I hope it goes smoothly for you too! Honestly, the hardest part for me was when they took my son back for surgery. He was awake and didn't want to go and I heard him crying all the way down the hallway for me. That sucked. But less than 10 minutes later I was with him again. My daughter didn't know what was happening and had no problem going with the nurse, so that one didn't sting quite as bad for me.
I hope all goes well for you
It wasn't nearly as bad as I worked it up to be in my mind...but it can still be so scary!
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@mamag: no vomiting from the anesthesia for us when LO1 had her tear duct stented. i went back when they put her under, which wasn't too bad. coming out was tough -- probably similar to a night terror except less intense? like no screaming or thrashing...more just moaning/groaning and squirming without really focusing or control.
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DD was 2.5 when she got her tubes. She actually woke up after in a good mood. She actually startled the nurse because she was expecting her to wake up crying but instead sat straight up in bed and tapped her.
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D had surgery in November and was under general anesthesia. He woke up 2 times completely disoriented - thrashing, crying, yelling, pulling at brace that was protecting his IV. Not gonna lie, it was really hard to watch. But I was also 27 weeks pregnant and super hormonal. What calmed him down was me crawling onto the stretcher with him, wrapping him in a bear hug, and putting his favorite movie on. He was too out of it to watch it, but it seemed like even hearing it was enough.
The third time he woke up he was fine. And STARVING because he hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours. But he was laughing, playing - like the previous wake-ups had never happened. Totally back to himself. He did have a few nightmares for about a week afterwards, which the nurses and the Child Life Specialist had warned us could happen.
ETA: The first 2 wake-ups probably lasted at most 5 minutes, but they felt like an eternity.
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Do you have to get anesthesia? We went with a local numbing agent when my daughter got tubes and sure, she was upset--but for far less time than my anesthesiologist cousin says that most kids are going into and out of anesthesia. The whole process took about 2 minutes and she stopped crying and was perfectly happy immediately afterwards. was
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Lots of crying. They're very confused coming out of it. A couple hours later, E was happy again
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An update of our experience (for anyone searching):
It was much easier than I worked it up to be, I think knowledge was power. Our girl wasn't really happy about the nasal spray they did on her and she fought the nurse pretty hard but calmed as soon as DH picked her up and stayed that way for when they came to take her. The surgery itself was SUPER fast! The recovery was also quick and similar to what many described here. She was inconsolable and seemed like she couldn't get comfortable. Her head was heavy (which the nurse kept reminding us of). She didn't really know what to do with the sippy cup that we were offering. I finally just held it up to her mouth so she would drink (and she did!). She was fussy/grumpy for probably less than 20 minutes. By the time we got home (about a 15 minute drive) she wanted to eat. She napped earlier than normal but was "normal" for the rest of the day.
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@MamaG: Thanks for posting your update, we are getting them in two weeks!
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@HappyBaker: Good luck. I hope it's a relatively easy procedure for you.
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