Toddler with recurring tonsilitis,, possible surgery at age 2????

my toddler keeps having tonsilitis, she has allergies too.. both my husband and myself had our tonsils out.. him at around age 4. me at age 17. after years of getting sick.... How many times does the baby have to get sick with this same thing before the docs will say to take them out????? I have a fear of babies having any surgery before age 5, but i see now it may be in her best healthy interest to do it now... HAS ANYONE HAD THIS PROBLEM?????? did you have surgery or wait?????? PARENTS ONLY PLEASE< PEDIATRIC DOC OR NURSE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

i took her to pediatrician after writing this question... her doc and i looked back thru her chart and counted how many times she had this.. 5 times in 2 yrs, not counting the two time already this month...so that makes 7... she does not snore, or have sleep problems.. aside from the throat she is very healthy.. we are waiting for throat cultures to come back... she is allergic to amoxacillan, hives 3 times... she i believe is now becoming more resistant to the keflex...sick with the same thing twice in one month... should i just be more persistant??? i have to fight for my child.. her health is in my hands.. HAS AANYONE DEALT WITH THIS????????

I can really feel for you. My daughter went through this until she was about 5. Then, I got a second opinion from a different surgeon and she had them out, along with her adnoids.

I just want to let you know to prepare yourself internally whenever your child has the surgery. They are so pathetically vulnerable after surgery it will rip your heart out. The first 24 hours is rough because their throat hurts and there is nothing you can do, but it gets better quickly after that. Good luck to all.

My 9 yr old sister (i am 16 yrs older than her so I did take part in raising her)... had the same issues from a very very young age. She would get tonsilitis and ear infections 3-4 times a year and both were very difficult to treat. She had her tonsils out when she was 4 years old... it was a very routine proceedure and it completely cleared up her issues. She hasnt had an instance of either since then!! Take comfort in the fact that this surgery is very routine (not as common as it was back in the 80's when it seems all kids were going and having them out) however, it is common enough that the risk of complications is low. If you are that concerned with the surgery talk to your pediatrician if they think its absolutely necessary or go and get a 2nd opinion. Every pediatrician is different as is every patient... its difficult for us to tell you xx amount of times will warrant surgery... just giving an example here. Be sure you research which doctor will actually perform the surgery and try to go to your local childrens hospital as they specialize in treating the smallest of patients.

Not a doc or a parent, but I am educated, 30 years old, and had a history of this problem. From 9 mos to 4 years, I had strep or tonsilitis every 3 weeks. (My mother would semi-joke that she could look at her checkbook to verify the regularity.) They finally removed my tonsils when I was 4. The procedure itself was flawless. I hemoraged afterward, though. The next couple of weeks were very rough--multiple transfusions. The end result, though, is that I now get strep about once or twice a year--instead of constantly.

Listen to your pediatrician. If s/he says surgery is ok, then do it. Make sure that the surgeon and hospital have lots of ped. experience. My experience was a bad one, but it was a fluke. Even I know that. In my mother's position, I would do the same--choose to have them removed.

I had mine out at 18 months for the same reason. My son had the same issues, but they would not take his out. They aren't so quick to remove them anymore. Of course, my son and I both had ear infections that went with it all, which resulted in a ruptured ear drum for me at like 2-I have hearing loss.
My advice as a parent would be to get it done if your doctor is willing. I wish I had insisted with my son-he still has terrible problems now at 19. He may be better off if I had.

She would have to be suffering from 5-6 tonsil infections per year, or have her airways compromised in any way (like sleep apnea)to be candidate for a tonsillectomy. If your child suffers from recurrent ear infections, this could be taken into consideration, too.
Even with every precaution taken, a surgery is a surgery, and if a doctor can avoid performing it he will. Plus, sometimes after taking the tonsils (and adenoids) out, toddlers might start getting nose or larynx infections, since tonsils work as a filter for bacteria not to get to to her parts of the nose or throat.
Finding out if she has viral or bacterial tonsillitis might be of help in deciding if a tonsillectomy is good for her or not, a good pediatrician should have performed tests to find this out.
I suggest you find a good Ear Nose Throat specialist and let him define the course of action. And if you don't feel your pediatrician is doing a good job, consider a second option, but as i said, the American Pediatrics Association recommends tonsillectomies only in the cases described above, especially at 2.

I was 8 years old when I had tonsilitis. Back then, the only treatment was surgery. The doctors treat the tonsilitis now, with antibiotics and the last resort, if this treatment fails, is to remove them surgically.
Your toddler should be on antibiotics right now at that age. Check with your doctor.
Tonsilectomy is a minor surgery with little or no risks involved. Just some pain and sorness afterwards that can be helped through medicine.
Good luck to you and hope all turns out well and your baby feels better soon.

If she keeps getting tonsillitis i think the best think would be for her to have them removed. Also the younger the child is when they have it done the less pain they have after the surgery and i think it would be much beater on her health. They only need to have it 3 times before the doctor will advice surgery i was 2 when i had mine out and my sister was 3. Hope this has helped.