What foods to eat after tonsillectomy?

[Natsku]

DD is getting her tonsils out on Tuesday and the doctor just said on the phone to avoid anything hot or hard. Need some ideas as all I can think of is things like ice cream and smoothies but that's hardly a balanced diet. Also if anyone has an idea of what to expect pain-wise and recovery for her, doctor said two weeks rest to limit chances of bleeding, I'm guessing that's not bed rest for two weeks but just taking it easy, right?

Custard, blancmange, yogurt, rice pudding, mashed banana, soft cheese, cooled soups, cooled mashed potato.

I think anything you'd feed a baby really, just soft and tepid foods that can be mashed so not much chewing required to soften it.

Soup blended up

Advice seems conflicting. DS had his out a couple of years ago and he had to eat toast on the ward the next day in order to be discharged.
It's extremely painful after the op and I sympathise hugely; but he has been so much better since that I'm glad he had it done. He doesn't mention it any more.

Sorry missed the last bit, no it's not 2 weeks bed rest. He needed a few duvet days after it though.

Glad he's so much better since having it, DD misses so much school from tonsillitis and she has chronic sleep issues so probably sleep apnoea because of their size so I'm hoping this will make a big difference to her quality of life.

I can't imagine having to eat toast after it! I'm not in the UK so maybe they have different advice here but the doctor was very firm that it has to be soft foods and two weeks rest, went into detail about the risks of bleeding, made me very anxious about it.

Unfortunately she doesn't like soup or yoghurt very much but if she's hungry enough she will hopefully eat them. Maybe if I get a few different types I'll find something she likes better.

Dry toast is what the hospital gave me

DD had numerous oral surgeries in child hood. I always bought her M&S trifles ( as an adult she cant look at them now without the memories flooding back!)
However when DS had tonsils removed the advise was to eat hard crunchy things like crisps and toast. This was some years ago but sort of remember being told the threat had to fight to heal and would do it sooner if it was retraumatised or something like that

When I had mine out (30 years ago) I had to eat toast and dry cornflakes. I think the theory was to scrape off any loose bits of tissue that could cause infection.

After I’d had them I think I got ice cream!

You could do smoothies, soft things like spaghetti hoops and soup but following something less soft with a soothing, cold treat might be useful when you’re ready to move on

Definitely toast now!

I had my tonsils out when 16, all I remember is the hospital not letting me go home until I ate something. So I hid the mash potato in my pocket! For some reason I found soft food harder to eat, so I had toast or crisps.

But this was over 30 years ago so don't follow my advice. But if your dd is having trouble with soft food, try something crunchy

Wonder why NHS advice is to eat toast, wouldn't that risk scraping off scabs before they're ready, causing bleeding?

Apple or pear compote and custard.

Baked egg custard.

Buttery scrambled eggs, or that well known convalescent food, egg-in-a-cup.

Porridge.

Poached fish fillet with buttery mashed potatoes.

Frittata.

Bolognese style sauce served with small (soup) pasta eg orzo or tiny stars.

Hard foods is the recommendation I believe so it scrapes the manky stuff off and reduced the chance of infection. I should imagine anything soft is fine immediately post op but after that go hard. Nothing too hot. Ice blocks to soothe if needed and lots of pain relief
And yes no crazy running around but just normal low key activities

I was fed toast and dry cream crackers by the hospital when I had mine out (many moons ago)!

We were also told lots of dry crunchy things. Toast, cereal, crisps etc.

DD had hers out when she was 14. She was asked what her favourite food was. Pizza. "Great! Eat pizza!" The point being that eating something is better than eating nothing.

From memory, they want the slough (?) to be removed by eating food so it doesn't dry and build up which hinders healing and is more painful.

The critical thing is to keep on top of pain killers. Take as directed even if you don't need to. DD got into an awful catch 22 when she missed a dose and it then hurt too much to swallow any more.

So stock up on pain killers and all her favourite food! It doesn't really matter what it is. Just eat.

Good luck!

As said by pp dry toast

That's what they use to give you in hospital

Agree with many responses, advice here (Australia) is to eat normal food as soon as possible. Nothing too hot or cold but otherwise texture the same as before

When I was a student nurse children's surgical they wouldn't let the child leave till they had eaten a packet of crisps . She doesn't need soft food. Just feed her what you would normally give her

How old is DD? It generally takes longer if you are teen or adult.
Give her what she fancies and can tolerate.
There won't be any nutritional deficit in the time it takes her to recover. Lots of TLC and sympathy. My DD had hers out aged 21, after repeated hospitalisations for Quinsy. It was hard but she says the best thing she's ever done.
It'll be all right!

Yes, I second making sure you have Calpol and ibuprofen syrup if she is young, or soluble paracetamol and liquid anti imflammatories, ( taken together is magic)

We recommend dry toast and crunchy food to help keep the tonsil beds clean.
If having dairy, then follow with water, again, to keep clean.
To prevent infection, stay at home for 10 days to 2 weeks and other household members avoid crowded places where they may pick up germs.

Do not give her toast - the hospital did this to me, and it tore my throat open and I haemorrhaged. Don't worry about a balanced diet, just try to give her smooth, cold things that won't hurt - I found that almost everything hurt, even blended cold soup. Over time it stopped hurting. The first thing that I could eat was cold scallopped potatoes (cooked until they were really, really soft).

We were told salty crisps by the docs who did DD's tonsils in a London teaching hospital.

Within about 4 days, our youngest was eating pretty much normally after having tonsils and adenoids removed. Pasta slipped down very happily.
Paracetamol and ibuprofen took care of any pain and within about 5 days none was needed. Back at school after two weeks, right as rain and blissful nights of proper sleep for the first time in his life.
Glad your DD will be having hers. It’s quite hard to get it done these days, doctors seem to prefer a “wait and see” policy.
It absolutely changed our lives!

If there’s one time in her life to not worry too much about a balanced diet and embrace the ice cream and smoothies, it’s now 😁