I think it is very common. Our youngest daughter had them put in at 1 year she had 5 ear infevtions in that first year and had an 80% hearing loss in her right ear.
We went in early in the morning for the procedure it was done in less than 30min. They gave her meds to sleep through it so she was a little sleepy afterwards and they gave us drops to put in them for a week.But it was like she looked at the world differant she could hear!
She had them in for almost a 1year and a half before they fell out and hasn't had to have them put back in. She is 3 now.
Hope this helps,
I.