My 5 Year Old’s Tonsillectomy and My Tips For Your Own Child

Check out My 5 Year Old’s Tonsillectomy and My Top 5 Tips For Your Own Child! You can get through recovery successfully with my tips!

Where has the Summer gone? I can hardly believe it’s the end of June already! WOW! We finally got some Summer weather and it’s not raining every day. That  rain was crazy! It did make things green – but also very soggy!

I’ve been busy around here taking care of my 5 year old, Andrew, who just had a tonsillectomy 2 weeks ago. I can’t tell you the anxiety I had around this. Even Brian was a nervous mess. We couldn’t decide if we should put him through that or not.

We had heard horror stories from lots of people about how horribly painful the recovery would be and the thought of sending my baby back to be put under was just too much for me to handle. I just kept thinking about how scared he would be.

If we weren’t 100% positive that he needed the surgery – we would have never done it. BUT, he hadn’t been sleeping well in a year – snoring as loud as a grown man, stopping breathing in his sleep and sleep walking from not getting into a deep sleep. It was necessary.

So, the day came and we actually had peace about it all, even thought I cried the entire day before!

I think I was getting it all out, because the day of, I was good! We had to BE there at 5:30AM. That is really early! And, surgery was set for 6:30AM. He would be done by 7:00AM!! At least we didn’t have to wait all day to have it done. It would be over before most people were up for the day!

Andrew was a trooper! I couldn’t be more proud of him! He was a big boy every step of the way. He was kind and calm. He took his Tylenol with Codeine before surgery just fine (even though he HATES liquid meds) and he even hopped into the little red wagon to head off to surgery with ease.

THAT was the hardest part of all of this for me. Watching your baby head off to surgery is the scariest things as a mom to see. But, Andrew wasn’t scared. He even turned around and waved at the end of the long hall before going through the double doors to the surgery room.

He woke up just fine! No tears and was calm. The meds were doing a good job of keeping him comfortable. After 2 cups of ice chips and 2 hours later – we were heading home!

The cold seemed to help with the sore throat that he was feeling in the back of the throat! Once we were on our way home, we know that we’d be focusing on tonsillectomy recovery from there on out. We wanted to make the recovery time a positive healing process and hopefully not have a lot of pain.

Andrew, of course, wanted to ride in the wheel chair down to the car. haha!!! He was pretty darn cute! After him having child’s surgery, who was I to argue?

What to expect after the surgical removal of the tonsils?

Recovery hasn’t been bad at all. I was prepared for extreme pain and trouble taking medicine and drinking and eating. But, Andrew has been great!

It’s a fairly common procedure but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry! The most common complaint is a little bit of sore throat – sort of like having strep throat, but that’s what having the pain medication is for.

At times he didn’t want to take his medicine – which was only over-the-counter Tylenol and Motrin – but he would take it once he figured out that he the pain came on without it. And, we did the medicine every 3 hours AROUND the clock for about 6 days – he definitely needed it.

I overslept a couple of times in the night and he woke up crying in pain. So, I made sure to wake up. The pain can set in quickly in the back of your throat when you have this proceed it’s important to have plenty of liquids on how to help with the severe throat pain.

Overall – it has not been so bad and Andrew is already sleeping so much better! NO snoring and NO dark circles under his eyes! was nervous for the surgical procedure, but our little guy showed great improvement in his overall health.

There’s no question that we made the right decision in having the surgery. And, I am POSITIVE that the amount of prayers that were going up for Andrew had a TON to do with the easy road we’ve been on.

Thinking of having this tonsillectomy surgery for your kiddo?

Check out my TOP 5 Tips for Keeping Your Child Comfortable After A Tonsillectomy!

1. DRINK, DRINK, DRINK.  This was the #1 thing that kept Andrew comfortable. Ice water, Gatorade, smoothies, milkshakes, milk – whatever is fine. But, just make sure they stay hydrated and the throat doesn’t get dry. That’s when it’s painful. If you think they’ve drank enough – drink more. Drinking plenty of fluids is key for not having much pain and recovering! Cold drinks and any child drinks are fine!

2.  Soft Foods. Chicken Noodle soup with no chicken and scrambled eggs are wonderful foods to have! They slide right down and provide some substance in the stomach.

3. Pain Medicine. Keep up on the meds no matter if you think they’re doing ok or not. Once the pain sets in – it’s hard to get it back down. Tylenol and Motrin are just fine to alternate as the directions on the box states. Get the pain meds before being home the next day so that your little one will have good days without throat issues.

4. Stock Up. Stock up on whatever foods you think your child will eat. Popsicles, ice cream, soups, juices, Gatorade, pudding, etc… Andrew never knew what he wanted and was constantly asking for something else. I think he was looking for something to make him feel better. I didn’t mind since a few bites here and there kept him hydrated. Having good options on hand is key.

5. Prayer.  Last but NOT least – prayer. Being in constant prayer leading up to, during and after surgery helped a ton! There’s no medicine like the power of prayer!

That’s my main tips for your child’s tonsillectomy! If you ever have any questions, let me know! I’m happy to help! Email me or place in the comments below!