any tonsil advice before I see ENT for 18mo?

[lia_joy]

My 18mo boy has had sleep apnea issues since... right away, i guess. I don't remember him Not snoring. I asked our family dr, (knowing he is tonge-tied) if there were any other structural issues with his mouth/nose and she said his tonsils look large and we may consider an ENT specialist if problems continue or get worse.... He has trouble swallowing, often spitting out chewed food. He still rarely sleeps through the night (wakes up SCREAMING, obviously in need. CIO is not an option for him) we ended cosleeping around 12mo due to his tossing and turning and crawling all over me in the night, but he still wants to nurse A LOT during the night. sometimes 2, 3+ hours at a time. When he is fatigued, he gets very hyper, and I noticed he has a small cavity on one of his front teeth (he's never had formula, rarely has sweets, and brushes pretty regularly, though not for a long time) Little by little, i've gathered that these are all symptoms of enlarged tonsils, and decided to take him to a specialist, but i don't want to go in blindly accepting thier approach. I am feeling so exhausted the thought that a surgery could *fix* these things and allow us both a regular full nights sleep is really tempting, but the thought of my little baby being cut is scary!! I need some info so i don't go in with a purely emotional response to whatever they say.... Can anyone point me in the right direction of where to start my research? advice? personal experience?
TIA
-Lia

[chlobo]

Did you have the tongue tie clipped? That can cause a lot of problems.

Also, you should do a search for "enlarged adenoids" or "enlarged tonsils" here on MDC. This subject was brought up a couple of times recently here.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...arged+adenoids

[kjbrown92]

I was going to ask the same question about the tongue tie.
And have you considered food intolerances? When DS was a brand new infant, and he'd fall asleep on someone else's lap, they'd ask if it was normal for him to snore so loudly. We rarely used a monitor because he was so loud. I was off dairy from the beginning because of his projectile vomiting, but I didn't realize he had soy and other issues until later. He sleeps very peacefully/quietly now, and I'm glad our ped said to wait on the adenoid issue until I had figured out all his food intolerances.

[catinthehat]

I agree with PP that food intolerances could be the issue. I think dairy is especially a culprit with tonsil issues. Best of luck!

[lia_joy]

We did not have the tounge-tie clipped. He's never had problems nursing.

I am struggling with trying to eliminate foods from my own diet now & having a really hard time doing so.

I will do a search here on mdc. Thanks.

[chlobo]

tongue ties are not exclusively a nursing issue. A tongue tie can cause lots of other issues. It can even lead to enlarged adenoids.

[lia_joy]

Originally Posted by chlobo

tongue ties are not exclusively a nursing issue. A tongue tie can cause lots of other issues. It can even lead to enlarged adenoids.

I was not aware of that! Thanks!