Hi all,
My just-now-2-year old is scheduled to have his tonsils and adenoids removed next month due to restricted breathing, especially when he sleeps. Anyone do this with a child under 3? If so, how was it and any advice?
TIA!
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We just found out today we will have this surgery too for our 3.5 year old. Hers is due to recurrent strep throat.
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@MamaG: good luck! I hope it all goes smoothly
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@AnnabelleG: when is his surgery?
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@MamaG: It's in mid-June. Since he's so little he has to stay overnight in the hospital
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@AnnabelleG: We did this surgery for my 3 year old in October for the same reason - trouble breathing at night. It totally helped. He doesn't snore anymore and doesn't hold his breath while he sleeps.
The worst part of the surgery was coming out of anesthesia. He was very angry and really wanted his IV out. Once it came out, he was able to settle down and rest. We did not have to stay overnight. He was good about drinking water so I never worried that he was getting dehydrated. I could have been better staying on top of the tylenol and ibuprofen dosing. I would definitely alternate every 3 or 4 hours for the first 2 or 3 days regardless of if he seem like he needs it. He ate lots of ice cream and mac n cheese and soggy cereal for about a week. He went back to school for just a few hours 10 days after the surgery and was back to school and pretty normal behavior in 12 days.
I prepared for the worst and it wasn't as bad as I thought. And we're very happy we did the surgery. He breathes much better.
Good luck! -
@BabyBruins: Thanks for sharing! My 3.5 year old will hav the surgery end of June. Hers is for recurrent strep, but same procedure regardless. I saw a few food tips, any other recommendations to help manage recovery?
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@BabyBruins: That's great to hear. Our pediatrician is sending us to an ENT to determine if my sons tonsils need to come out. They are REALLY large and he snores & drools a lot. He's also 3.
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@BabyBruins: agreed, that was the worst part! They want them fully awake before the parents come in, so imagine waking up all alone with all those strangers. My son was crying hysterically when we went in.
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@MamaG: Do whatever you can to have them drink. Our ENT wasn't concerned if he wasn't eating (he was), but really wanted to be sure he was drinking. We were told no straws for 1 month, so if your child isn't used to drinking from a cup, maybe practice before. I really liked the munchkin 360 cup so we could still have a lid. Cold things really were best for him at first. I took him shopping the day before and he got to pick out the ice cream and popsicles he wanted. Applesauce and yogurt were also hits.
I ended up sleeping with him for 5 days just because I wanted to be there when he woke up and needed medicine. He got lots of movies and iPad time after. A few new toys and legos, too. -
@BabyBruins: She is used to a cup, but we often use a closed water bottle at home so that I'm comfortable with it being carried around. I asked our ENT nurse about the no straw thing, she said it was primarily so they don't poke their throat, but the actual act of sucking isn't a problem
Thanks for the heads up on that though.I figure I will be sleeping with her a few nights as well. They told us to stay on meds even through the night (ugh - no one wants to wake a sleeping child!).
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@BabyBruins: Thank you for sharing! That's really sad about coming out of anesthesia and good to be prepared for.
@looch: That's so sad that they wanted him fully awake before you could be with him, I wonder why that was... Thanks also for the heads up!I'm mostly worried because my son is so young and can't be reasoned with very well. He doesn't have the attention span for movies yet, so keeping him calm afterwards is going to be a challenge. I'm also a little nervous about the overnight in the hospital, but it'll all pass. Fingers crossed!
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No experience with tonsillectomy, but my 2.5 year old recently got anesthesia for ear tubes. She was a mess after she woke up. She was so disoriented and just cried and cried. It was an outpatient and she didn't stop crying until she fell asleep in the car. So... no advice, but hang in there. I can't imagine a toddler having to stay overnight.
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@AnnabelleG: how did it go?
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@MamaG: thank you so much for asking! It went really well, we didn’t even have to stay overnight. Honestly, the hardest part was having to wake him up every 3-4 hours at night for pain reliever. The second worst was when they wheeled him back to the OR without me. Even though he was loopy from meds, he cried. It was also horrible not giving him water or nursing all morning before surgery. But overall, really smooth and he’s breathing much better!
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@AnnabelleG: I don't look forward to the night waking either!! How many days did you do meds for?
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@MamaG: the first night we did every 3 hours and then we stretched to every 4 hours for the next 4 nights. By then it seemed like the exhaustion was worse than the discomfort so we let him sleep. He was grumpy in the morning but slept through the night so we continued to skip nights. Good luck!!
Thanks for the heads up on that though.Reply
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