My son is 2.5.
He has been having reoccurring ear infections & doesn't pronoune words properly. He has been on numerous antibiotics. None of which took away the build up in his ears. after numeroud visits to his dr., we went to an ENT and had him hearing tested and requested a treatment plan.
He also has very large tonsils. He snores very loudly and is a mouth breather. The ENT said they are a 4+ (they use a scale 1-4). To give you an idea of size: the tonsils almost touch the dangly thing in the back of his throat. I honestly don't know how he breathes!
The ENT said due to his hearing issues (he hears as if he has his fingers in his ears) and the fact that antibiotics do not alleviate the problem, we should get his adenoids removed and tubes put in. This will alleviate all hearing issues and get him back on track for pronounciation.
We also had him look at the tonsils. He agreed, they are extremely large. However, we were informed the only two reason to remove tonsils is if there are sleep apnea issues (ie--quits breathing) and/or reoccuring tonsilitis. Even though his tonsils are quite large, he does not have apnea, nor reoccurring tonsilitis, so we are keeping the tonsils. As for the snoring, removal of the adenoids, has been known to cease snoring. So we are hoping that's the case with our son.
To remove the tonsils is an overnight inpatient stay in a hospital. It's a lot more invasive than adenoids and tubes which are outpatient. And requires a longer recovery time. We were told 1-2 days vs. 5-6 days.
My husband and I are not big proponents of surgery unless necessary, so we are keeping the tonsils. If he should start to have reoccuring infections and/ or develop sleep apnea then those will have to go also. But, we don't want to unnecessarily put him through that recovery.
I would recommend a second opinion. Any time someone is going to put your child under anestetic and remove something, you definitely want to make sure it's the right thing for him/her. For my son's circumstances, it's not. For your daughter's, it might be. But for peace of mind, I'd make sure another doctor concurs.
Good luck!