3 Year Old Has to Have Tonsils Taken Out.

Hi A.

why a liquid for so long?? My 20 month old had to have his tonsils out and he was eating regular food in about 4 days.
We did a LOT of Jello and I mean a lot. It was the only thing he would eat for 2-3 days after the surgery. Then we were able to work in stuff like Pediasure drinks. He ate things like Mac and Cheese if you want to make it more nutritious you could take baby food veggies and add to it.
My son would not eat anything blended, we figured he wouldn't wither away in a few days from not eating...he was getting the pediasure so I didn't worry to much.

It is VERY scary sending your baby off to go under anasthesia. They let you stay with them to the last minute with kids. They are prepped and ready to go when they come and take the baby. So she will only be away from you for about a minute before she is under and asleep. The hard part is when they wake up...they are confused and they hurt. Our nurses were great and had me back there just as he was coming out of it. He cried for a long time b/c he was scared, but before we left the hospital that afternoon he was eating jello and watching cartoons.
They gave us hydrocodone for the pain and it worked great. The only side effect is that it can make them constipated so you have to watch that and start weening off of the meds as soon as possible.
By the second day we were stretching how long he went between doses of meds.
My son was really clingly and snuggly and night time was hard so we let him sleep with us.

That was my experience I hope that helps!!

I just went through a similar experience. My son had to be put to sleep to have surgery on his tongue. He was severely tongue tied. I was mortified at the idea of him being put to sleep but it went great. I was only away from him for about 30 minutes and when he woke up he never cried or anything.
I took fresh baked ham with quite a bit of the juices and put it in a food processor(FP). It was really good. I had to eat some to get him to eat it. I did mac & cheese with ham juice in the FP and it was really good. Carrots or corn or green beans mixed with a kinda strong chicken bullion can be pureed and taste pretty good. for a healthier sweet, Bake a sweet potato till it is really soft then add butter and puree. VERY GOOD and if served nice and warm it will be very soothing. I even put chicken noodle soup in the FP and he ate that. I used to care for an elderly woman and everything she ate had to be liquified. I even fixed steak and pork chops and such for her so if you need more ideas just e-mail me @ ____@____.com

I don't have any liquid recidpes (other than ramen noodles and apple sauce) but I am slightly concerned about the doctor's orders....my daughter had her tonsils out before she was 2 and I only had to stop her from eating 24 hours prior and she couldn't drink anything 6 hours prior. (the whole point is to make sure their tummy is empty so they don't throw up with the anesthsia.)
I will tell you, to ease your mind, that a tonsilectomy is SUCH a quick and simple procedure....ENTs do probaby 2-5 a day! and while there is always a risk of harm with anesthesia it is minimal and your babygirl will be fine. The biggest issue I had was when my daughter was coming off of the drugs she starting screaming and clinging to me like I was her life.... I was told that it wasn't the pain but just her groggy state of panic, not knowing what was going on around her....once that passed we gave her a popcicle and went home... she was eating solid foods in 3 days...little ones bounce back SO much quicker!
Good luck to you and I hope you get some better recipes than I could give (we just went back to baby food for a few days after the surgery)

It's true that strep throat could cause Rheumatic fever (which affects her heart), but surgery is TOTALLY your choice. If you decide to go on with the surgery (I would do lots of research!), then there are lots of things you can give her to maintain that diet. At first - the full liquid diet is anything that's liquid. She can have chicken broth, vegetable broth, jello, juices, milk, milk-shakes, etc. Carnation instant Breakfast mixed with ice cream and a little milk is REALLY good! It also has a lot of great vitamins in it! I would make my vegetable or chicken broth by hand - you can put in all sorts of veggies to flavor it! i like to use bok choy and leeks with sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, and lots of garlic and spices. She can have the broth while you and your husband eat the veggies. During this time, you can give her Pedialyte or Pediasure. They have lots of great nutrients in them, too. Try looking up some soup recipies for the time she's on a blended diet. My boys like split-pea soup and wild mushroom soup. It's blended, so I'm sure she would be able to eat it. Well, hope the experience goes well! Good luck!

A.,

My son who was about to turn 3 at the time had to have his tonsils removed,ear tubes placed, and endoscopic sinus surgery in one surgery. I was terrified and understand how you feel about putting your baby to sleep. My son did great and he was up and wanting to eat regular food 2 days later. The doctor told me to let him eat whatever he felt like except for chips,hard candy,spicy food or citrus stuff because of the irritation it could cause. Why does your daughter have to be on a liquid diet for sooo long? I would not worry. Since I have had Graham's tonsils removed he has not had one round of strep and it has been almost a year !!!! Yea!!!! Your daughter will feel so much better after the surgery is done. I think Graham was sore for about 4 days total and then he was his old self. Good Luck !!

D. W

I had my daughters tonsils taken out 1 month before she turned 3. I hope your Dr. isn't L. Leonard. She did my daughters and now I have to take her to see a specialist at childrens hosptial becouse she cannot breath through her nose. Granted she also had her adnoids removed. Dr. Leonard was very rude to me after her surgery. I called her one night at about 10PM because my daughter was not breathing right. She called back and said "You woke me up! What can I do for you?" I explained what was going on and all she would say is "What do you want me to tell you? Do you want to go to the emergency room?" So I took her to see her the next day and she said the my duaghter was "Rufusing" to breath through her nose. So for a year noe I've been trying to get her to breath through her nose and she kept telling me that she couldn't. Any way, my daughter drank pediasure after her surgery to keep up with her nitrients. She stopped taking her pain meds 3 days after her surgery. I had to alternate Tylenol and Ibruprofen. Mostly she ate pudding. I hope your daughter does well.

A liquid diet for 8 days? I've never heard of anything that extreme, and I've known a lot of kids to have their tonsils out, including myself. My son had his tonsils taken out a couple of weeks after he turned 4 earlier this year, and he was eating mashed potatoes, macaroni, ramen, soft canned green beans, mashed potatoes, yogurt, and other soft foods the next day. The same with 4 other 3 & 4 year olds I've known to have theirs out within the last 2 years. They all (including my son this past summer) were doing a lot better after a couple of days. My son was 100% back to his normal self after 2weeks, but very hard to keep down and still and from eating anything he wanted to eat after just 3 days. He's a big baby when it comes to pain and that kind of stuff too, so we were shocked. He was in the hospital for hours longer than they'd planned because he refused to drink anything (which was our biggest problem the first week, not eating but drinking), but he was still out of the hospital by bed time that night with a 7am surgery that morning. There's a great book if your daughter's on the older side of 3 called "Goodbye tonsils". We got ours off of e-bay, but my son loved it. The book takes the kids through the steps of what happens and talks about having a goodbye tonsils party. It was really great and right on about most stuff. We also had a goodbye tonsils cake and party the night before (before his fast started). The day before the surgery, we took my son to the store and let him pick out all of the ice cream, Popsicles, applesauce, Gatorade's, (Stock up on chicken and beef broth, that was the only thing we could really get him to take that first day), and yogurt that he wanted and stocked up our pantry, fridge and freezer. Hardly any of it was touched, because he was eating regular soft foods quickly, and he liked warmer stuff a LOT more than the cold stuff. If you're mostly worried about nutrients, just stock up on Pediasure. Our Dr had my son that stuff for almost a year when he was 2 because we couldn't ever get him to eat anything (and I mean anything). It'll give her all of the vitamins and nutrition that she needs for the day (Carnation Breakfast drink works too and is a LOT cheaper).

Good Luck, and I'd ask the Dr why she needs to be on liquid diets for so long. That really is very extreem. It's usually liquid for 1-3 days then soft foods (pretty much anything that's not hard to chew, crunches, or might pull out the stitches prematurely) for the next 8-10 days.

A.,
I don't have any recipes but the women are so good on here that I bet you get flooded.
Too much strep can cause rheumatic fever which will affect the heart. I would be scared to but they will take good care of her. You will be fine. They can take hearts out of people and put them in other people and make them work and live so you know that your baby will be just fine. It is really a common procedure.
I just wanted to say that I will say a special prayer for her. Good luck.

My daughter had her tonsils out earlier this year and I was a nervous wreak but she came through like a champ!! She did not care for any soft drinks, they burned, she liked warm soup broth and I did but the Pediasure drinks to make sure she was getting some nutrition because she did lose some weight. Our dr. also called us in some medicine they call "Magic Swizzle" it is a mix of Mylanta and lidocane which numbed her throat and helped with the pain. she was able to eat some soft stuff about the 2nd-3rd day though, she liked yogurt and mashed potatoes, by about day 5 she was eatind plain cooked egg noodles and chicken noodle soup.

M.

I have a little boy who just turned 3 and he has had to have a few surgerys since he was born. emergency surgery on his stomach @ 3wks old, and then he had tubes put in at 11 months old and taken out a year later. It is really scary for both you and your child but you can make it through it because you know thats whats best for her. My little boy loved yougurt, and the smoothie yogurts, also chicken noodle soup, and if she cant eat the noodles that way just stick it in a blender. popsicles are also a great idea. Every time my son went into have surgery he had to bring a really soft blanket and his duck (his squishy stuffed animal) and we got a little stuffed dog from the nurses, which he called the sick puppy because it had to see the doctor just like him. to make her feel less scared about going let her go and pick out a new pair of pj's to wear.
just a few ideas

Liquid diet for 8 days is ridiculous!! My son was eating soft foods the next day! Mashed potatoes, pudding, etc. My other son had a little harder time, but he still ate soft foods. I would leave that up to your child. If she thinks she is able to eat let her try. Also the ice cream thing is a myth! I know from personal experience , ice cream is mucous forming causing it to be harder to swallow. Try frozen yogurt instead. I sure she will do just fine, children tend to bounce back quickly!