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Preparing your child for a trip to the hospital
May 18th, 2010
Expert tips to help make your child's hospital stay less scary
by: Sydney Loney
In This Article
Preparing your child for the hospital
    

  • Involve children in the planning a few days before.
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  • Explain what will happen to them in an age-appropriate language.
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  • Use a doll or stuffed toy to “play hospital" to help make it familiar and less frightening.
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  • Bring comfort items, such as a blanket from home, and family photos to put up in their room.
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  • Ask for a child life specialist to help make the experience easier for your child.
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W
hether it’s for a routine procedure or a mad dash to the ER after a playground mishap, here’s what you need to know to make your child’s trip to the hospital less of an ordeal.


Explain what’s going to happen ahead of time


“Lack of control and fear of the unknown are the scariest things children face when they go to the hospital,” says Shaindy Alexander, a certified child life specialist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Find out as much as possible about your child’s procedure–the more you know, the calmer you’ll be and the better able to reassure your child.


“Ask questions, then be your child’s translator,” says Alexander. “Try your best to explain things in an age appropriate language.” And remember to think about the effect your words can have. For example, anticipate your child's reaction if you say something like, “the doctor is going to put you to sleep,” she says. “Well, the family cat was ‘put to sleep’ and never came back. Instead, try explaining how the doctor will give them sleep medicine through a mask, but that it will be a different sleep than at night because they won’t hear anything or wake up until the doctor is ready to wake them.”


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