Adenoids Out for a Four Year Old???

i had all 3 of my boys done at that age. They kept getting Strep and i was a good decision. they heal faster that young. only 3 days of down time then thery were off and running

I'm all for the extraction. My son (now 38) was a heavy snorer, with frequent ear infections and it seemed at the time like he was the cold-of-the-month club president. After the operation, he hardly had any more colds and everyone else was able to get a quiet good night sleep. It's been the same with his daughter. Good luck

I would go for a second opinion. This is one of the most overdone surgeries for young children and it's not necessary in a lot of cases. My son had his adenoids and tonsils removed when he was almost 3 but he was suffering from sleep apnea and if this is the case surgery should be done but if the child does not have sleep apnea then I would want a second opinion just to be sure.

For my son it definitely cleared up the apnea problem and he sleeps much better now (he's 4 1/2 now). But he still gets croup when he has a cold so it did nothing for that particular problem.

When my son had the surgery we had to stay overnight at the hospital because of his age but for older children it's usually an outpatient surgery, not sure for a 4 year old what they would recommend. My son is a trooper and had an easy recovery. The first few days were tough and after that he was back to himself. I think we were told to keep him home from daycare for a week but after that he was back to his regular routine.

Good luck!

I had one ENT recommend having my daughter's tonsils and adenoids out at 3 years old. We got a seond opinion and they said it wasn't an urgent situation and suggested we monitor her over the course of 3-6 months and see how she did. I'm so glad we waited. Her issues pretty much resolved themselves and I didn't have to put her through all of that. She will also snore sometimes,but her issues seem to only arise when/if she is sick. She wasn't getting ear infections or strep on a regular basis, just a cold every now and then and that is when she would have problems, but I didn't think that warranted surgery.

I would recommend getting a second opinion and see if the doctors agree or not on the recommendation for surgery. The only way I think I would have had the surgery done is if the doctors both agreed it was necessary and if she was having problems with strep and/or ear infections that were causing hearing problems, etc. The second doctor I saw just couldn't convince us that the surgery would even help, so we held off and haven't had many more problems.

My son had his out on April 5th, 2010 (he turned 5 April 20th) and we are so happy we did it. He was really only down right after the surgery and by the time we got home, he was ready to play. We tried to keep it as low key as we could for the day. The surgeon said he could resume normal activity the next day, but I kept him home, I think more for me than him  plus I was not sure how he would be acting the next day so I just wanted to be safe. He also had the heavy breathing through his mouth and snoring at night before the surgery. That all went away, I think I noticed it about month after the surgery that he was not doing that anymore. He also had numerous colds and infections and so far we have not had one since the surgery  He did have really bad breath for a few weeks after surgery and our surgeon said that one side effect he could get was a stiff neck a few days after the surgery and could last up to 2 weeks. He said that happens in about 50% of people who have this surgery. My son was one who got the stiff neck, but I just kept giving him Motrin and that helped a lot. Good luck and if you have any questions please let me know, I would be more than happy to answer any questions you or your friend has.

My girls had both Tonsils and adenoids out right after there 3rd birthday. They had lots of ear infections, sinus infection, snoring They also had kissing tonsils..where they touched in the back of their throats....They stop once we had the surgery.

My six year old son just had his adenoids removed and ear tubes put in on June 10 (last Thursday) because his adenoids had grown too large and were blocking his eustation tubes, preventing them from draining properly. He did well the first couple of days, but now has 102 fever, a sore throat, and frequent severe headaches. We're treating the fever and headaches, but have to go back to the doctor if he doesn't improve in the next couple of days. I'm still glad he had the surgery because he had been on antibiotics every month since October because of ear infections. He simply couldn't continue taking antibiotics so often. For us, surgery seemed to be the best option. For your friend, I would do exactly what you are helping her do. Gather as much information as possible, and I agree with getting a second opinion as well. Good luck to your friend in making the decision.

Adenoids grow back (takes 5-20 years)... so the surgery isn't preformed anywhere near as often as it used to be... but it still is in cases where breathing is majority impaired.

Adenoids aren't discrete organs (like lungs, liver, appendix, etc.) so the surgeons guesstimate when they cut. As long as there are cells left (and there always are) they regrow. The more cells that are left, the faster they regrow.

To know... pulling out adenoids and tonsils DOES mean that infections that get stopped above the respiratory and digestive by those organs move further down. So it is to be expected that upper respiratory infections end up becoming lower respiratory infections (aka having them removed makes a person more prone to pneumonia & bronchitis), as well as other infections in their lower organs (stomach, kidneys, etc.)

My son had his out in Jan along with tubes, he had been hospitalized for asthma and breathing problems. Since then no ear infections or wheezing at all. The first couple of weeks were really rough though, but i think it is different for everyone. He has a bad gag reflex and i couldn't get him to take any pain meds, but after he healed he has been doing awesome. We asked our Dr about removing his tonsils as well and he said something about a study that it really doesn't help at his age(3), only if they were older and had problems wiht them... hope that helps. Tell your friend good luck!

Hi, my daughter had it done a month after she turned 4 and it was so worth it. She also had her tonsils removed and tubes put in her ears. The surgery is quick and the only discomfort she had was from the tonsils being removed and that only lasted a few days. She snored heavily and breathed through her mouth constantly and all of that went away after the surgery. It has been the best thing for her she rarely gets sick now. You will see the difference it will be worth it. Good luck!

Hi Jilly,
I do recommend having his adenoids out. Snoring for a child is not good- it can lead to sleep apnea which will make him stop breathing several times during the night which has shown to shorten life span and create brain problems. On the mild side, snoring prevents a child from having a restful night sleep which can cause learning problems, behavior problems and so on..
Have the surgery.

I would say get the surgery. my daughter was 2 when we took her to an ENT and she suggested getting her adenoids removed. Since they have been taken out she has not had the sinus infections or lung infections (this is why they wanted them removed-because her adenoids were so enlarged and infected that they thought they were causing nasty bacteria to get into her lungs and make her continually sick). We had tubes put in at the same time, and a few months later we have gone from frequenting the doctor's office 4 or 5 times a month to only once in the past four months! Hope this helps!

My daughter is 5 yrs old and she is actually having her tonsils and adnoids removed next Friday.
What made me come to this conclusion is, for the past 3 yrs between Oct-March, she has issues with allergies, and every yr when the season comes it gets worse, making it into seasonal asthma this last go-round. I didnt want the surgery, so I asked her dr was there anything else we can try first (going through all different regimes of medicines that would work then wouldnt -still dont know why that either). So the dr said we can do a sleep study and it could tell us more. (my daughter has snored since she was an infant). So we agreed to the sleep study, during her non-allergy time of the yr. Test results came back that she has a moderate case of sleep apnea, she either stops breathing or her breathes are not effective 10x per hr. And she has restless leg syndrome (still trying to figure out why that is). So....after the results, I didnt hesitate to get referred into ENT. So now we are a week away from her surgery. As you age, its harder to bounce back. And the tonsils and adnoids are like the gall bladder or appendix, they are there but we can live without them. And 3rd molars-we use to use them but now we dont and get them taken out in time.
I do not have problems with allergies, large tonsils, nothing..she gets all this from her dad, poor thing. I would suggest take the sleep study and get more information and see if the snoring is causing a problem for him during the night and if the sleep she is getting is healthy sleep. Good luck to your little one! I know its not easy going to make that decision. God bless

Get them out as well as the tonsils. It sucks for a couple of weeks during recovery but it is best to do it now then to wait. The older we get the worse it is for us to have that done. I would want the tonsils out as well because why have to go back in there again later. The doc may say no, but worth the try.

If the child is constantly having infections and having to be antibiotics that's not good. The more you're on them the more your body gets immune to them and when you get older and have a really bad infection it makes it harder to get rid of because your body won't respond to the meds anymore.

My son also had his adenoids removed when we put ear tubes in. He was around the age of four. The ENT suggested his tonsils as well but I chose not to. Sleep has gotten better along with less illnesses.

Get them OUT! Maybe tonsils too if they are big enough to warrant it. The problem with adnoids is that they do not allow the child to get into a deep enough sleep to refresh the brain. When he gets to proper school, this will be a problem. Auditory is almost always affected by this and kids who come to school not ready to listen, are huge at risk kids for learning disabilites. auditory processing and behavioral issues. Also seek NAET treatment for allergies....sounds like he has a ton if adnoids are that big.

Hi, my daughter is 6, had her tonsils and adenoids out 3 weeks ago. She would snore like a 300 LB man (no kidding). My husband and I debated the surgery, but after she would stop breathing during the night it became clear. After the surgery the surgeon spoke with us and said that she should wear a tee-shirt saying (I had golf balls plugging my nose and now I can breath)! He said they were so large its a wonder she could breath. We are very happy with our decision and now we can sleep at night! Good Luck to your friend!

My son got his out at 2yrs. We made the choice to do the surgery because he was suffering - heavy snoring, stopping in breaths --this went on since he was born, we knew it wasn't normal. We usually lean on the conservative side and explored all options, but in his case it was worth it. As another M. suggested, get 2nd opinions to make sure it is really his adenoids.

I think this is pretty common. I had my tonsils and adenoids out at five years old and I don't miss them today, ha ha. What I can tell you is that I was not a sickly child before or after the surgery, and that I didn't have more than the usual number of colds or sinus infections after the surgery and don't remember anything about that before. As an adult I rarely get sick and get maybe one or two colds per year. I think it would be less if I didn't have two kids in day care; before I had kids I'd get maybe one cold per year or every other year, so I will say that I don't think there are any long-term immunity issues. But this is just me and I've done no research so take this with a grain of salt.