My three year-old little girl just had a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T&A). When I first received the recommendation, I took to Google and read some very harrowing stories about the recovery period that had me trying to talk myself out of the procedure every day leading up to the big day.
Background
When I speak to other moms about the T&A, the first question I get is “what were her symptoms that led to the surgery?” My daughter had ear infections off and on but her ears always healed quickly. Whenever we would go to the pediatrician for these ear infections and post ear infection check ups, the pediatrician we saw that day would always comment on her “huge” tonsils. It was always said as an after-thought, and I never thought much of the comment. At our three-year well visit, our primary pediatrician recommend we see an ENT, just as a precaution.
The ENT conducted a hearing test and looked in my daughter’s ears, quickly declaring the ears healthy. “Yea! No tubes!” my inner voice declared. Then he said the tonsils were abnormally large and proceeded to ask me a series of questions. Yes, she snores. Yes, she is an “active” sleeper. Yes, she often wakes up a little grumpy. Yes, she is a somewhat picky eater. These responses, coupled with her large tonsils and ear infections, led him to recommend a T&A. Despite my anxiety and doubts as a result of way too many Google searches, I decided to defer to the experts and schedule the surgery.
The Procedure
We did not give my daughter very many details of what was about to happen to her. She knew we were going to the doctor to fix her ears. Luckily her only reservation at the surgery center was getting in the hospital bed. The sweet nurse offered to carry her back which saved all of us some tears. The little patient had already been given her “silly juice” so she was pretty relaxed by the time they took her back.
Only 30 minutes later, the ENT was out letting me know that all went well. Her tonsils were enormous and a little infected, confirming that we made the right decision.
Waking Up
The nurse came to get us as soon as my daughter started to wake up. I had read and heard many stories about how tough this part can be, so I thought I had prepared myself. Seeing my sweet girl confused and in so much pain was by far the hardest thing I have gone through so far as a mother.
I tried holding her and rocking her, but she was so agitated. She wanted her IV out of her foot. After that she was better, but it was still tough. I dreaded the days ahead. She got a popsicle (and one for her brother at her insistence) and off we went with our instructions of no activity for 7 days and round the clock meds every 4 hours for 5 days. Hello newborn days!
Recovery
The first two days were filled with sleep, movies, ice cream, applesauce and 
yogurt. I was a little tired from getting up during the night, but everything was going extremely well. My son was staying at grandma’s, but his presence was quickly requested by his sister…love the twin bond.
Day 4 was probably the toughest. This is approximately when the scabs start to come off causing a lot of pain in the throat. The breath is also just rancid. I can’t imaging what taste that caused in the mouth.This is also about the time we were told to expect some bleeding, but fortunately never had that issue.
The tough little patient was a trooper. She wasn’t eating or drinking as much days 4 and 5, but still getting enough liquids to avoid dehydration. By day 7, she was back to her old self with me constantly telling her to stop jumping and to take it easy!
We were back to our summer fun activities on day 8, with some rest breaks 
just to be sure everything was ok. All in all, my little girl was such a trooper.
I was hesitant to give her the pain medication every four hours for five days, but I honestly believe it helped her recovery. I also gave her Motrin three times a day. After day 5, we reduced the pain medication to half doses and then went to Motrin only for the last two official days of recovery.
Obviously every child is different, and I am by no means writing this from a medical professional perspective. I just wanted to share my experience from one mom to another.
One last recommendation – get a trusted sitter once your little one is on the mend and have a nice dinner with your husband. You will have earned it.
Results
One month post-op, the little girl who would snore and moan during the night sleeps so soundly. She has not complained of any ear or throat pain and wakes up very happy.
Has your child gone through a T&A? What was recovery like for you?
I did not believe I ran across this post for nothing. My son has not been able to sleep well for a while and it’s been really bad for almost a month. Nothing is helping his allergies so I’m sure his adenoids and tonsils are still swollen. This helped me decide to go back to the ENT to see if he is really needing the surgery as well. Thanks so much for sharing
Thanks so much for sharing this. My three year old just had the same surgery, and this was perfect to read! We are on the third day after surgery right now, and he had a spiked in pain this morning, but is already doing do much better than I ever expected him to!
Thank you for posting this! I’m going through the same thing and we are about two weeks out from surgery. I, too, googled and was getting very anxious. Your article is honest, but not scary like the other articles I’ve read. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for taking the time to post this! We just had our consult with the ENT and scheduled surgery today for the exact same symptoms as your little girl for our 3 year old daughter. I was trying to decide how long to take off and stay home with her. I appreciate your honesty and my anxiety has decreased after reading this.
Thanks a lot for posting this. Im getting ready for my 3 year old to go through this process and this post has helped to reduce my anxiety.
Thanks for the story. Ours is scheduled for 05/12/2014. Our first child had a serious illness, so I think we’ll be OK. hopefully his sleep will improve.
My daughter will be 3 in September and we are having this done tomorrow. Thanks for the glimmer of hope. I’m praying my stubborn girl will drink. 😉
Hi my 2 1/2 yo had hers out 8 days ago. It was not so bad for us either. Id say days 3-4 was the worse. Although she wasnt eating as much, she was drinking lots. She hates taking the medicine so opted for suppositories from my doctor and i found doing it this way much better and a lot less stressfull. We are now on day 8 and she is still not fussed on food but she is eating bits now. Her scabs have turned white and last night was the first night she slept all the way through without waking. Hoping it all upwards now. X
Hello,
I’m getting ready to do this with my son. He just turned 2 at the end of June. We hae done the Adenoidectomy already but his tonsils are so big it is affecting this breathing and sleep at night so our ENT has decided to go the tonsillectomy now instead of waiting utill he is 3 or 4. I’m a little nervouse becasue he told me that because he is so young that they will not do this outpatiant and will be done at the hospital and that my son will have to stay at least 25hrs. This has helped me know what to expect for the recovery process. Can anyone else give me some more heplful information if they have been through this. Every little bit I know will calm my nervs. Thank you. ***
Thanks for posting this. I’m getting ready to do this with my 4 year old and this really gave me the best description of what we’re in for of any website I’ve come across. Glad to hear that it was the right decision for your 3 year old and thank you for posting!
Thank you for sharing your story. I was “googling” about 3 year old snoring and came across your daughter’s story. I see it is not as bad as I have imagined. I am seriously considering taking my daughter to her pediatrician and discuss taking her tonsils out. She is snoring worse then my husband, wakes up several times at night and comes over to our bed, she is a restless sleeper, picky eater and has several Strep throat infections per year. She also stops breathing at her sleep and that makes me panic. Her tonsils are huge! I just want my girl to finally get sleep and not be cranky every morning!
Hi Morgan,
I know your comment was posted a year ago, but I was wondering if you ever brought your daughter to get checked out for the procedure? You described everything my 2 1/2 year old was going through to a T, and we are now on day 4 post-op recovery. We pretty much are in the midst of the same experience as Shanna, hoping the worst of it will pass soon. I already think it’s made a world of difference and have no regrets, just FYI!