My 1 year old has just gone off to have a gromit put in - anyone else's baby had this?

[ChairmumMiaow]

That's it really - after nearly a fortnight of illness and IV antibiotics for more than 3 days he's still not better so they've decided on gromits (after finally shipping us from Redditch to Bristol).

Can anyone make me feel better by giving me some "my baby had them and is fine/wasn't in too much pain from the op/got better quickly" stories?

My LO has repetitive glue ear - not very seriously, but they did say they wouldn't put gromits in until he was 3 ? Apart from that I have heard very few stories of complications-it appears very straightforward.
Sorry can't help but bumping this for you - sure someone will be along soon.

My dd went to ENT today and is due to have her 5th (yes, fifth) set of grommets fitted on 23 February. She is now 7 and had the first set at age 4. Suffers badly from glue ear, seems to improve but then winter hits and goes downhill again.

Hopefully this will be the last time she has to have them because as she grows the need for grommets will subside (hopefully).

The G.A. is never good for my DD, is always like a grumpy drunk after coming round but her hearing is always so much better afterwards.

All 3 of my children have had them. Dd2 and ds were around 12 months old at the time. The entire procedure takes about 5 minutes tops - I know because when ds had his done in Holland, parents are invited into the theatre to watch! The only after effect seems to be from the anaesthetic - they were sometimes a bit groggy for the rest of the day. They were all discharged the same day and did not seem to suffer much in the way of discomfort. Ds had a bit of discharge from the ear - pus from behind the eardrum making its way out. It looked a bit gross but actually showed that the grommet was doing its job.
The impact of having the grommets is huge! The freedom from ear infections and pain is wonderful, as is the development of language.
The entire procedure is far worse for anxious mummies than it is for the children themselves. I completely sympathise but your little one will be absolutely fine.

Thanks for the responses.

This was our first ear infection and it was never actually confirmed as such till we got to the out of hours GP and they suspected mastoiditis! We've had a lumbar puncture and CT scan and chest xray so we were really just glad that it was a tiny op.

DS was awake straight after the op, had a massive, massive BF and then even had a bit of our sarnies. He's had a lovely play for a good half an hour or more and then zonked out while having his antibiotics and is still crashed out snoozing, so everything seems good so far. They said plenty of puss came out so he should perk up and hopefully we can go home tomorrow (and move onto oral ABs).

Brilliant news. Hope he has a speedy recovery and gets home soon.