HUGE tonsils!

[Israel]

Seriously, DS1 tonsils are so big! I took him to a specialist and all she suggested was removing them. Is there really no alternative to this? Could there be a cause such as allergies? But she didn't suggest allergies! I don't know why I'm kinda freaked out about having them removed...but I am! The specialist said that because he snores, sleeps with his mouth open, and holds his breath when he sleeps that he probably will have better quality of life if they are removed. I just want to be sure there isn't anything I can do on my part before I agree to take something like that away from him. It's one of those situations where I would feel bad if I didn't do it and I'd feel bad if I did? Ugh!

Anyone with experience?

[melinda]

They could just be naturally big and there's nothing you can do about that,, my oldest has huge tonsils but so does his daddy, he does not snore so for now the specialist said we will leave them alone and just watch them, but everytime someone new looks in his mouth they comment how huge they are and if we have seen a specialist about this, so his might be hereditary also but maybe his mouth is to small for them, like I am always concerned that one of my boys will get my small mouth and my dhs huge teeth(because not all teeth will fit way overcrowded), so maybe he got a small mouth from someone and large tonsils from someone else kwim? So if it is hereditary the only way to fix that would be surgery, just see a pediatric ent specialist to do it, my ds2 had adnoids removed and pediatric ent did it and it was day surgery (he was 3yrs old) and he handled it great, just lots of cold drinks, popsicles and stuff, so freeze some homemade popsicles up with his favorite drink helps too

[ChelleFish]

Take it from an adult who had bout after bout of tonsilitis, sore throats, snoring and other issues...and who did not get mine removed until after I was 40...the younger the better to get this done. My recovery was incredibly awful. I lost 3 weeks of work and then only went back half time for another week.

Tonsilectomies are now not done as routinely as they used to be--years ago everytime a kids had a sore throat, tonsils were taken out. Now, it seems there has to be good reasons for a doctor to recommend it and honestly, the reasons you listed sound pretty good.

[Israel]

Thank you so much ladies for your input. Next month, I need to give our pedi the yes or no to the tonsil removal. The last couple of months, I've been monitoring ds1 and he seems to snore and have moments of holding his breath when he's overly tired or coming down with a cold. My heart has been so heavy the last couple of months because I'm not ABSOLUTELY sure it's best to get them out since he only shows symptoms "some" of the time...kwim? If he was holding his breath and snoring all night, EVERY night...then I would say, YES, get those things out... but he's not and that's why I'm having such a hard time accepting the removal. However, DH is pretty sure he will insist we get them out when the time comes, so more than likely we will go ahead with the procedure. He's hoping ds1 will magically become a better eater and behave better! HAHAHA...LOL... I guess time will tell... I sure hope he's right!

Anyway, It has made me feel better to hear your experience in this.

I'll keep you posted on any new info I receive or else let you know how it all went.

Thank you!

[momofweewerfs]

jakob had huge tonsils and snored and would wake up gasping for air and then crying...the biggest thing we noticed after the fact was that because he was sleeping so much better at night he was much easier to deal with during the day ( he is on the sutism spectrum) he went from sleeping and waking up 3-4 times every night to sleeping 11 hours straight!!