Swollen Tonsils-snoring and No Complaints

Like the other moms who posted: yes, have them checked out. Children grow better, learn better, and behave better when they are getting quality sleep. If they aren't breathing well, they aren't sleeping well. Snoring at this young of an age can easily lead to apnea(and other more serious health concerns) later on and the older they get, the harder on them surgery is. My son had to wait until he was 13 to have his removed and has told us that he wishes previous doctors would have taken him more seriously. He wasn't a complainer either, so other doctors were quick to brush him off. As a mom, I feel it is important for us to advocate on behalf of our kids. If your doctor is not taking your concerns seriously, find one who will! God Bless!!!

My 7 year old son snored loudly and had swollen tonsils from the time he was 2 years old. It didn't bother him and I didn't think much of it as he hardly ever was sick. Then this year he seemed to not be getting a restful night sleep and he developed several cases of strep throat and tonsilitis in just a few months. He just had his tonsils out on Friday so hopefully that will take care of the problem. He's having a pretty difficult recovery so far. I've heard it's easier on them the younger they are when they have the surgery. I guess it's something to look into.

My six-year old just had his tonsils removed. He also snored at night, but did not complain of any pain, etc. Removing his tonsils has made a huge difference. He sleeps through the night now (no snoring) and no longer has black circles under his eyes. The recovery was tough, but well worth it. I would go back to the ENT who removed your daughter's adenoids and get a consult.

I don't want to sound like I am harping, but get him to the doctor soon.....Snoring can mean sleep disorders like sleep apnea which can lead to a enlarged heart later on. I know because at age 45 I was diagnosed with sleep apena and the right side of my heart is enlarged because it went undiagnosed for so long.
Also my granddaughter (4 yrs old) had her tonsils and adenoids removed last fall and now doesn't make a peep when she sleeps. She snored so bad that it would wake up her baby sister and they don't sleep in the same room!!! She's eating and sleeping better now.
Good luck, let us know what you decide to do...
Renee

I don't want to tell you what you should do but I can tell you my story. Our son had constant ear infections (when he was 1 he had tubes). Because of all the ear infections, he was behind on his speech, very shy and reserved, very OCD like (later we found out from the speech therapist that this behavior was due to the fact that he had trouble communiticating verbally-I can explain more if you would like me to) and also snored. At 2, I noticed his tonsils were huge, we took him back to the ENT and after several antibiotics and other test for his hearing, we decided to remove the tonsils and adnoids. We are very happy for our decision. His snoring stopped, he sleeps better. His speech improved, he became less shy/reserved. I would suggest taking her to an ENT and see what they say.

My 3 1/2 year old son just had his tonsils removed 2 months ago. It has made a huge positive difference. He, like your daughter, didn't complain. His tonsils were so big they were touching each other. He also snored. We did a sleep study and found out he stopped breathing every 3 minutes. It was a long and painful 2 week recovery, but definately worth it. He sleeps so soundly now without snoring. He is eating a lot of foods he wouldn't before. We just thought he didn't like a lot of food, but it was actually he couldn't swallow them. He also wasn't able to drink from a cup because he kept choking. Now he has no problems. Get them out while she's younger.

I agree with the other moms. My daughter didn't complaing EVER of a sore throat. She had a lot of winter colds/strep, but NEVER once complained of a sore throat. She would only sleep through the night MAYBE once a month and would most likely end up crawling into bed with us. After the school told us she was deaf and needed to see a specialist, did we start investigating. Turns out she wasn't deaf, only school testing happened to be around times that she was either coming down with strep or recovering from strep, so her ears would have fluid build up in them. The ENT noticed she had larger than average tonsils and adenoids and to keep tabs on their growth. When school started up again the next fall, the school wanted to have her tested for special ed because she was falling behind (She was tired and had a hard time focusing in class). Turns out....in just 3 months her tonsils and adenoids had grown even more....we elected to have both removed and while the recovery is ongoing (4 months later we're still dealing with sleep pattern issues). This winter, she's been the healthier than everyone else in the house!
Oh, and 2 months post surgery, the school did an evaluation of her "learning needs".....no further testing is recommended. She's doing just fine.
So....see an ENT and take care of it now....school is just around the corner and study habits will be developed soon and those sleep patterns are already developed. They need good restful sleep to learn!
Good Luck! If you need a good recommendation for an ENT in Central MN, contact me. I was really pleased with EVERY aspect of our journey!

I'm going to tell you what NOT to do, lol. My daughter also had huge tonsils. I took her to her pediatrician, who said "don't worry about it". Three more family doctors/pediatricians told me the same thing. She had a gap between them the size of a very small marble. She never complained about pain, but would eat very slowly b/c she couldn't swallow. She thought this was normal. Her snoring was awful, and finally, after she had a sleepover and her friends teased her about it, I took her to an ENT. Sadly, she was 13 when I finally did this. The ENT didn't even look at them and said "they're coming out." I didn't realize that she couldn't breathe through her nose at all, but he could hear her. After the surgery, her dad sent her roses. She sat there for 10 minutes straight just smelling them. I asked her why she was doing that, and she said "I've never smelled them before. Whenever you got flowers, I would smell them and get nothing, so I never understood what the big deal was." Wow, my daughter couldn't smell, and I didn't know it. But, she didn't realize it either. Now she can smell, swallow, and sleep without snoring. So, don't let anyone tell you it's "normal". Take her to Dr after Dr if you have to, and don't make the mistake of waiting like I did.

My DD had to have her tonsils out when she was two. She would get these high fevers that wouldn't go down until she would have a seizure. After having about 8 boughts of strep and swollen tonsils we were finally referred to a specialist Dr. Beste at Children's Hospital Milwaukee where they were taken out. She hasn't been sick like that since. I would take her to see a specialist to see what they think.

Take her to the Dr. We just went through the same thing basically, our daughter was sick with numerous what we thought colds and one day my mom caught a glimpse of my daughters throat and one side was swollen, we took her to the dr and they put her on medicine which didn't help and then they referred her right away to ENT specialists he put her on a stronger medicine, which helped some but both sides ended up being swollen and she did end up getting her adnoids and tonsils taken out a few weeks ago.