3 year old booked in for a Tonsillectomy

[annlee3817]

Well, Tonsils and Adenoids, anyone else with experience of their child having this done at this age? She's booked in for March, she'll be just over 3 1/2 by then, I'm feeling a bit anxious about it, worried that if she throws a melt down she might cause a hemorrhage, worried about her not wanting to eat (she's not a great eater), I've been reading through the ENT website, but wondered what others experiences were

I can't comment as a parent, but I had mine removed at 19, and I'm a Paeds nurse so well versed in tonsillectomies!

She'd have to be very upset, and/or very unlucky to have a haemorrhage from crying alone. Kids in general deal with all far better than adults, and from my own personal experience it wasn't significantly more painful than a nasty bout of tonsillitis which I was obviously well used to.

Keep topped up on pain relief for the first few days even if they don't look like they're in pain, it's far easier to keep on top the pain than stop it once hurting. Don't worry about the food, don't try and force full meals, offer their favourites and let them snack if they would prefer. They can have ice cream/soft foods if they'd prefer but they also don't have to avoid 'hard' foods so if their favourite thing is chips or toast or whatever then let them. Fluids are more important, even if they just sip through the day. If you keep on top of the pain, most kids seem to deal with it really well after about 24 hours once the anaesthetic has worn off!

Thank you, that's helpful :)

My DD had this at around the same age. All went smoothly and recovery was good after the first day of feeling sad and not wanting to eat anything. It's so worth it to stop the regular bouts of tonsillitis.

My ds had his removed when he was 4 due to obstructive sleep apnea, it all went smoothly and he was discharged the next day.

Both dc had it done before they were 4 and it was life changing for both. One ds had hearing loss which improved immediately and the sleep apnea stopped.one had constant infections and was on antibiotics all the time and those infections lessened hugely. Both recovered well from the surgery. It was such a positive thing to do.

I was just four when I had this done and I was absolutely fine. Even enjoyed being in hospital. And shock horror, back in the day, parents couldn’t stay with their child.

Mine had his removed at 6, this year. He did hemerage (sp?) on day 10 but the ambulance was really fast ans he was fine after a night in hospital. They say it's more likely of the op is due to chronic tonsillitis.

Me too! I was 7 - so 55 years ago! I remember my dad buying me this wonderful set of colouring pens to play with in hospital and I shared them with the other kids on the ward. Kept us busy and our minds off the op.

I hope your child's op goes well OP.

My DC had their tonsils out age 2! It was fine, he had a small bleed a week later and ended up in for observation overnight. But honestly it’s been a game changer, he just couldn’t breathe.

Do it before she starts school and then you run into problems with needing so much time off.

I’m also a Paeds nurse and look after many kids who have had their tonsils out, it doesn’t happen because they cry, it’s usually because it just happens or because they haven’t been eating and drinking or keeping on top of pain relief. We rarely have children back with bleeds.

DS was 3. It was a fairly hard first few days as he was already unwell when he had the op (they’d have cancelled but the surgeon was worried about the size of the tonsils obstructing his airway) but once he was home it was all good. And it was transformational - he went from being unwell about 50% of the time to extremely robust and healthy.

Thank you so much everyone, that's really reassuring. She's not had tonsillitis since she was 1, so the pain won't be familiar, but good that it's managed enough by Calpol. She has sleep apnea, snores louder than my husband, excessive dribbling and enlarged tonsils, wanted to tackle before she starts school next September :)

OP mine was 2yrs old - he had tonsils out 2 months ago and it's changed our lives. We went to the nearest children's hospital, day case and home again. He was absolutely fine. We were on a well planned conveyor belt of kids and it was reassuringly busy.... Good luck!

in my experience it’s not all easy. DS had them out at 5, tonsillectomy went well but the first week for his after as horrendous. He wouldn’t eat, drink or take his meds, had a few trips to the hospital to ensure he was getting enough fluids. Around day 7 it was worse and then he started to cooperate. I had mine out at age 9 and still remember the feeling so I know he wasn’t being difficult, everything hurt and felt strange.

Was it worth it, yes. But he had tonsillitis 9 times in 1 year and was so poorly all the time alongside the huge tonsillitis, snoring, dribbling etc.

I’m not trying to scare you but I really wish someone had been more honest of what to expect afterwards.

the positives less infection and you may find that they are willing to try more different foods.

good luck 🍀

Make sure you’re fully stocked up with calpol and nurofen. Give it regularly, and I mean regularly. Wake them up in the night for a dose is my recommendation as a Paeds nurse. They need to be able to eat and drink, doesn’t matter what. Even if you leave bowls of their favourite foods around them so they can pick.

It gets worse at home before it gets better, they often take a dip around day 3, this is normal. Their breath can smell and the snoring can take a couple of weeks to disappear. But it’s worth it.

My son had his tonsils and adenoids removed at 4 years old. His was due to sleep apnoea. He was nil by mouth from the night before.
I went with him to the anaesthetic room and they put a mask on him and he fell asleep really quickly. He was shaking/jerking a bit but they had told me to expect that.
I went back to the ward and was called about 40 mins later where I went to see him in recovery. For the first hour or so he was very woozy as he’d had fentanyl.
within about two hours he was asking for food.
we were home later that day. Kept him topped up on calpol and just let him eat what he wanted for a few days. He was fully recovered and back to school after a week.

it made an instant difference. He was able to sleep through, was well rested, could swallow all the foods he’d had difficulty with before, drooling stopped, bad breath went away, speech improved, he could breathe with his mouth closed. So pleased he had the op.

Also a Paeds nurse. Is she having a full tonsillectomy or the co-ablation procedure? If it’s the latter, the recovery is much quicker. Make sure she goes home with Oramorph, and as @Qwickwit says, keep in top of analgesia and fluids. Children bounce back really quickly from it. And if she’s got sleep aponea hopefully she’ll be better as she’s getting better sleep.

Not sure how common going home with oromorph is - none of the places I’ve anaesthetised at do routinely and deffo not for a sleep apnoea tonsillectomy. I would discuss what they think is best and safest for the individual child rather than insist on having a particular drug.

We’ve give oromorph in the Trust I work in, but they have to have had a dose before they go home so we know they’re ok with it.

My DS had horrendous sleep apnoea and we got oromoph but the amount is very restricted.

A colleague’s child had it recently and was unable to swallow Calpol and it all sounded very stressful. It might be worth asking about suppositories for pain relief instead.

My child had theirs out at 2.5. It changed their life. Also they were eating spag bol on the ward within two hours of the operation 😂

Mine had hers out about this age. It was the newer procedure where they leave a stump rather than taking the whole tonsil, recovery is easier with this. It really wasn’t awful at all. We kept up the pain meds and soft foods and as I recall she wasn’t unhappy at all after she’d got over the anaesthetic.

SO glad we got it done before school. She was a changed child - much more energy, ate better, the awful winter chest infections stopped completely.

@GreybeardyI work in a large children’s hospital. The vast majority of our children are having tonsillectomy’s for sleep aponea. They all go home with Oramorph. But they have to have had a dose while they are in hospital first, as a PP said.

The majority of ours are also daycase.

I believe full as the consultant did mention there being a simpler procedure, but he didn't think she'd benefit from it