About a month ago, I shared that my 2.5 year old had his tonsils and adenoids removed. Long story short, they were so big that we thought they might be contributing to his swallowing problem. (Read more about his background and swallow issues here.)
One of the reasons I wanted to share our toddler tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy recovery experience was that when I went looking to find other stories from the toddler’s perspective there wasn’t much out there. Which isn’t surprising, because toddlers can’t write or blog, but I can so I thought I’d share our experience so maybe it could help others.
My first post was the day of his surgery. I was so surprised with how well it went, and was very hopeful we’d have an easy recovery. Leading up to the surgery when I shared what we were doing I got one of two reactions:
- Oh don’t be so worried. It’s such an easy recovery for them when they are that little. It barely made a dent in our daily routine.
- Recovery was HARD. My child was miserable for weeks.
Luckily both scenarios had one sentence in common. “I’m so glad we finally did it – the change has been great!”
One thing I knew would be different for us, was that my son can’t eat most foods due to his oral aversions and certainly couldn’t have ice cream due to a diary allergy. So food in general will be missing from our recovery process. For that I can only give my adult point of view (I had mine removed 7 years ago). I lived off of applesauce, pudding (I preferred it to ice cream), and jello. At week two I could do softer foods like soups and pasta. Nothing with a high acid content because it stings a lot!
Day 1-3
Well, turns out we had a bit of both. On day 1 I wrote my blog post while he was finally napping after surgery. He woke up from that nap in major pain. He was sweating profusely and miserable. We probably should have asked for some Tylenol before he fell asleep, because the only thing that keep this whole ordeal from being just awful was round the clock medication.
We spent the night at the hospital and no one really slept. I counted hours until D could have his medicine again. I was slightly upset that they were only giving him Tylenol too. I mean, we were at the hospital if there was ever a time to give him the good medicine – that would have been it. Even the nurses were surprised that was all he was prescribed.
Day 2 we went home. He was thrilled to be out of the hospital, and insisted on walking through the halls. He wasn’t really smiling or talking much, but he was happier then when he was stuck in bed or on my lap due to his IV.
I set my phone to every 4 hours to give D his medicine around the clock. I timed his naps and bedtime by making sure I could give him meds before he fell asleep. However, by hour 3 you could tell he was just in so much pain. He’d resort to screaming fits until it was time for his medicine again and was miserable until it kicked in again.
He wasn’t drinking anything at this point either. I was giving him 1-2 syringes full of Nuun water with his medicine to make sure he was staying slightly hydrated. (Gatorade is too sweet for him, and he was refusing water. Nuun tablets dissolve in water and have electrolytes in them making them a great option for us.) We had lots and lots of cuddle time over day 2 and 3. By the end of day 3 I was tired of seeing him in so much pain and called the doctor’s office to see if there was anything else we could do. Since it was past the 48 hour mark and the risk of bleeding had gone down, they allowed us to start adding in Motrin(*) to our pain prevention.
(*) Standard blogger disclosure:I am not a doctor, nor am I suggesting this will work for your child. DO not give your child this after surgery unless your personal doctor has cleared it. Each child and surgery is different. I am simply sharing what we did.
Day 4-6
The combination of Motrin and Tylenol made a big difference. D was now starting to play more, and be a bit more active. Nights were still hard. I experimented with letting him sleep without waking for medication – this did not go well. So I continued setting my phone to wake up and give him his medicine. These days were relatively uneventful. He had good moments and not so good moments. He was finally to drink some his formula again (He’s on elacare for FPIES and oral aversions) and also watered-down apple juice or Nuun as well.
Something that wasn’t previously mentioned to me before the surgery and that we struggle with was that he wouldn’t be able to use his Nalgene sippy cup due to the stopper that prevented it from spilling or any sippy cup with a stopper or straw. I knew about the no straws rule, but the sippy cup was something that didn’t occur to me to think about. We tried removing the stopper, but it was a giant mess and the flow was too fast for him. So we went back to Pura Kiki with a silicone sippy which we only stopped using once he started to chew the silicone and we also used the tilty cup for juice/nuun water.
Days 7-10:
One word… AWFUL. He was just miserable, and upset for pretty much all three days. He was having a hard time sleeping, he virtually stopped talking and held his mouth closed all the time unless he was crying. All he would say to me was “Mommy ouchy” or “Mommy, hurt, medicine”. He was clingy, and didn’t want to see anyone but me. I wish the doctor would have broken down the timeline of healing a bit. I realize every child will be different, but I did put a call into the office and the nurse informed me that this was extremely typical of where he was in the recovery process. He said that once his scabs fell off around day 10 he would get better. I know one of his scabs had already fallen off on day 8, because he pretty much choked on it during a crying fit and spit it out. (GROSS!) I just held him a lot, and made sure to just keep him as comfortable as I could. It hurt to see him so miserable. He took naps next to me in my bed while I would work because he didn’t want to be alone. Being consistent with fluids and medicine was the only thing that I could do.
Day 10+:
On day 10, he woke up and he was SO MUCH BETTER. He was smiling, and making jokes. He played more, and started to talk again. He didn’t even ask for medicine until 4 hours after he woke up in the morning. From that point on, since he could ask me for it, I only gave it to him at night right before bed and when he asked which was maybe 1-2 times a day if that. When I looked in his throat I could see that the other scab was gone too. Each day only got better and better from day 10. He was still pretty cautious with food and drink, but he was finally asking for it instead of me just offering it to him.
Overall:
The major changes for us have been:
- A clearer voice: (Sort of…) He has started to bundle his words up a bit, but I’m confident that speech therapy will help that. However, the actual tone of his voice is so much different and less stuck in the back of his throat. I still catch myself thinking how cute his little voice is.
- Swallowing: The verdict is still out on this one. He doesn’t willingly swallow a lot of his food still, but he has swallowed a few things and there has been no gagging as a result. Again, speech/food therapy will be needed here.
- Sleeping: I haven’t noticed much of a change here yet, but to be honest unless I turn up his monitor I often miss his night wakings. Usually, I’d wake up to him crying, but he’d put himself back down easily.
I’m happy with the results of our surgery. I don’t think his recovery was abnormal in any way, I just wish someone had shared a pain/recovery timeline so I knew more of what to expect. Hopefully if you are reading this, my timeline will be helpful to you.
Things I wish I’d Known Before:
- The pain timeline. Again, every child is different, but a heads up about days 7-10 being the worst would have been nice.
- The sippy cup valve. I think if I had known that we could have switched back prior to his surgery and maybe he would have taken his formula a little bit sooner instead of being frustrated at the flow.
- Buy a lot of medicine. Buy multiple bottles of children’s Tylenol and Motrin (if you doctor allows this later on after the risk of bleeding has passed). When you are giving your child Tylenol every 3.5-4 hours you will go through it quickly.
- Returning to daycare/activities. If your child is in daycare, they will not likely be able to go back to daycare at the week mark. Someone in the doctors office mentioned they could return after 7 days. But given that 7-10 days is often the worst time – it’s unlikely. Unless you get really lucky and have one of the super easy recovery times. This is the same for any extra curricular activities. Skip them for 2 weeks.
- Syringes. Ask your pharmacist for extras. You can use them to help keep your child hydrated when they are refusing liquids.
- Have a conversation with older children. I told my 6 yo what was happening, but I wish I would have gotten a book from the library or had a longer conversation. It was really hard for him to remember that he had to be hands off brother, and that brother still loved him even if he didn’t want to play or even have K touch him.
Things That Helped:
- Lots of movies and iPad time. Usually I limit screen time, but while he was recovering I just let him have what kept him still and comfortable.
- Stock up on library books. When screen time was done or not appealing we spent lots of hours reading books. I got lots of ones about puppies since those are his favorite animal.
- Meal Planning. My husband was deployed during this process, so having everything I’d need food wise for me and my older son was very helpful. I also bought some easy dinner stuff since I knew between work and long days with D cooking was the last thing I wanted.
- My toddler lillebaby Carry On. When we did have to go out, the last thing my son wanted to do was walk by himself, or ride in the cart. I just put him on and let him get in extra snuggles. The toddler carrier makes all of his 33lbs feel pretty weightless.
Okay, so I know that was super long. If you have any questions or tips you think I missed – leave me a comment below. If you think someone would benefit from reading this, feel free to pin it or click that tweet box below to share! I really just hope that our toddler Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy recovery timeline and tips will be helpful to someone else down the road!
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BLESS YOU for posting this. My girl is having this surgery this week, and it’s so helpful to read your experiences. Adding Tylenol and Motrin to the shopping list now.
Awe! I wish her a very easy and quick recovery. Just make sure you ask the Dr. about when you can give Motrin. Mine said none for 3 days due to increase risk of bleeding. It isn’t the easiest recovery, but I’m so glad we did it. My son is really doing great now. ((Hugs))
Thank you so much for posting this! You’re absolutely right, there are no articles online on what to expect. My 3 1/2 year old is having a second round of tubes and adenoids removed later this week. I’m so nervous but I want to be prepared as much as I can for his recovery period. Thank you!
Oh goodness! Good luck Nicole. I wish your little one a speedy recovery! I’m glad my post was a little bit helpful.
Hello,reading ur post was amazing, my daughter 26 month will be going though adenoid removal and placing tubebs. I am more worried about the adenoid removal. What was the pain and recover for the adenoid like? Was taking tonsils out more
Worse then adenoid.
My son had this done 15th of February ..the surgery took about an hour when he woke up it was awful..he cried and kept coughing..and finally he coughed up balls of blood…he was given more pain medicine then he slept the entire day by evening he woke up wanted to have snacks and began eating like normal..he was discharged the very next day and basically he behaved like he never had the surgery lol..but I have to say this surgery was a great thing he’s more active doesn’t snore anymore he speaks clearly and breathes better..I was worried he would be very miserable but it all worked out great…wish I had found the blog earlier thanks for sharing.. 🙂
I’m sorry I missed your comment! I’m glad to hear he had an relatively easy recovery and he’s doing much better! Thank you for sharing that – I know it will be helpful for others reading this.
Thank you so much for this blog post. My son goes in tomorrow for this exact surgery and I have very concerned about what the 7 to 10 days will look like especially with having a scheduled c section now at day 7. At least I can prepare a little more for all of this. The docs don’t prepare you for most of the recovery. Thank you again.
Oh goodness! Surgery and then a c/section. I will be thinking of you and your growing family. I’m glad you found this helpful. I wish your son a quick and easy recovery. Best of luck!! xo
My grandson who is 20 months had this done on the 8th of April and it’s been a total nightmare .He went in that Friday and didn’t get realed until Sunday.Then had to go back due to dehydration on Monday night.He was admitted again IV in again for the 4th time then on Wed it kinked and a 5th was put in and they gave 3 rounds of steroids during this time from Mon -Thurs.He woke up Thurs morning thirsty finally and drank from cup.They then sent us home.Well he drank good Thurs but was really fussy and whiney .We are at a wk now and he is back to not wanting to eat or drink !It’s like a never ending deal.He has swallowing issues and has to have thickner in all his drinks,and still on formula due to milk allergy ,so they say.
Hi Emily,
Thank you very much for sharing! My son is going into surgery on May 18th, and though I don’t have a planned C-section the week after, I do have a 5 month old second son at home, so we’ll have to split attention…
What other foods would you recommend? MY son is older – 5yo, and does not have (known) food allergies, so ice-cream for sure. But you’ve mentioned apple sauce, and I’d be worried it may be sour/acidic enough to irritate the throat, not so? Also, my son loves everything salty, but salt hurts wounds just as bad as acid. Have you (as an adult) tried eating anything salty after surgery? Would you advise to try or avoid it altogether?
Have you asked for any stronger pain relief? If yes, why did doctors say “no”? Did they give your son any antibiotics prior/during/post surgery?
Thank you! Best of health to your whole family!
Thank you so much for this post! My twin 2 1/2 year old sons will be getting their tonsils and adenoids removed next week, along with ear tube placement… so relieved to have found your post, I was having a hard time finding anything related to this surgery and toddlers!
Thank you so much for sharing your adventure post surgery. My 5yr old just had a tonsilectomy/adenectomy and tubes placed on Mar 2nd. We are currently on day 4 of recovery , and getting her to drink has been a struggle. Her breathe is atrocious! So I looked into the back of her throat and saw the white healing areas and got freaked out! Thanks to Google, Ive learned this is normal healing process, then google led me to your blog here on pinterest. Also just wanted to say when I saw him wearing Apple cheeks I knew I was reading the right story 😉 thanks so much for the insight, and wish us luck 🙂 💖
Thank you! my 5 year old is having the surgery next week and no one can seem to tell me things to have ready for him, I two younger than him so the last thing we need to be doing is making a mad dash to the store, and we will be staying with my in-laws while he recovers. This helped sooooo much!! Thank you for posting!
I’m finding this spot on!!! Thank you for
Posting! Though 2 years old this is exactly what I needed to read. As it’s 4:30 AM and I just re-medicated for pain. I have a rare case and my son developed severe snoring and apnea at just 16 months old. He had his T&A done 6 days ago. The hospital stay was misery though they gave him Lortab every 4 hours. Once we got home was much better though day 5-6 now he stops occasionally and cries or coughs/chokes. I think the scabs are falling off. I thought I could go without medicating on a schedule now but may have to go back to it for a day or so. Sleep is SO much better for this little guy so it was imperative that we have eve surgery. I couldn’t find anything related to his age but your story is very much alike! It definitely helps!
I can not thank you enough for this blog! My son is having both tonsils and adenoids plus ear tubes on Thursday. I am so nervous about this but you gave me information I had no clue about so now I can be somewhat prepared. I’m also glad to see you had a big improvement. My son is very delayed in speech and has a choking problem so I’m praying this helps.
From one military spouse to another.. god bless you! I don’t know what I’d do if my husband was to be deployed during it. I’m sure I would be an even bigger of a hot mess than usual.
I’m so glad to find some recent comments! My 2 year old son (3 in January) had his t&a Plus tubes on the 21st. We were in the hospital for 24 hours. We’re approaching post op day 4. I’ve been up since 3 and it’s almost 5:30. My husband and I traded shifts during the night. Woke him up an hour ago because our son had a fever. Somehow between begging and daddy’s tone in his voice we finally got him to take medication again. He hasn’t had anything since Thanksgiving night. Refuses and spits it out or holds it in his mouth till he spits it out later. It’s been very frustrating.
Oh no! I am sorry. My son did the same. We ended up having to hold him down and slowly squirt it in the cheek and blow in his face which forced him to swallow it. We found doing it every 3 hours and not missing a dose for the first week was our saving grace. Now we’re a day past 14 days post op and he’s great during the day but occasionally will wake up at night crying. Eventually he learned the medicine helped so he would actually ask for some. I will say it does get better, stay strong. I know it’s incredibly hard though.
I think the hardest part for him was that he’s a huge eater and he couldn’t eat. And once he was feeling semi okay around day 5 he tried eating but wanted what he’s use to eating but he couldn’t but didn’t want what I said he could have. That was our biggest battle. And then his sister would feel bad so she would sneak him some of her food which then caused pain
Thank you for posting! We are on day 7 with our 2 yr okd son.. its definitely a doozy today. But reading your post brought me some comfort. I totally agree with you, every child is different. My oldest had her tonsils out 2 years ago and holy heck was that the worst 3 weeks of my life. I expected the worse again, but he seems to have more pain tolerance than my daughter did. Im stocking up on my tylenol n meal prepping while he naps cause lord knows when he wakes up ill be held hostage!! 😂 thanks again for the info!
Thank you so much for this we are on day 7 and tonight she woke up from a dead sleep gagging and coughing hard. And crying from being in pain. Does this sound like maybe a bigger scab fell off while she was asleep?
thank you for this! My Daughter already had trouble sleeping and eating before her surgery and we’re only on day 3. She has been sleeping pretty soundly as long as we keep up with her tylenol and motrin prescriptions which help a whole lot too. I didnt even realize the sippy could make things worse but it makes total sense since it isn’t suggested that you use even a straw after any other mouth surgery. I’m glad you mentioned that and didnt even think about it which is likely why she is having trouble taking drinks/ her high calorie drink at all. The syringes are the only way she gets any liquid down because her CP makes it difficult to do much of any other kind of drinking in the first place. :/ she is so well hydrated though which is great. Anyways, thank you for the advice and a clearer possible timeline. ❤
What a roller coaster this is, we’re on day 6, and suddenly it’s worse again. I know it will be better by next week but I’m exhausted.
My daughter is 5 & refuses to take pain medication, it’s usually a 20 min fight to get her to take it.
She’s been drinking water ok, and up until yesterday she was eating pretty good too. She went completely mute for two days, and now her voice is completely different…something I was expecting since her tonsils & adenoids were so big she could barely breath.
I too planned to share our experience, because honest testimony on it is rare. I was told this wouldn’t be bad since she’s so young, but a week of sleepless nights is no piece of cake.
I wish everyone who has to go through this a smooth recovery, and great results after. Our daughter’s breathing has improved so much it makes the sleepless nights completely worth it.
Thank you for your post, it was a great read for me on day 6.