Who should go to A&E with child - mum or dad?

The one who has been with the child whilst they've been ill. It's so much harder to properly assess a young child when the answer to every question in the history is "I don't know, I've just picked him up from the other parent".

As long as dc 1 is happy with daddy then mummy needs to settle dc 2.

Not really fair on Dad to have poorly child throughout the day and then a baby that won’t settle for him in the evening.

Mostly, whatever dc1 wants tbh.

I don't think it matters. In my childhood it would have been Dad because mum was scared of doctors/hospitals.

For my DC, if I'd been out all day and socknDC wanted me I'd have gone with him, but equally if there was a reason DH wanted to go, there's no reason why not.

TBH, ideally I'd have found an interefering relative to stay with the baby so we could both go and one could be dropped off while the other parked the car.

I've luckily only had to go to A and E three times in 18 years of parenting. First time DH was out and uncontactable so I had to take both DC (6 and 9 at the time)
Went more recently I think DH thought I was overreacting the first time (despite being advised we should go) When things didn't improve he agreed it was the right thing to go, but had planned to do something else that morning so I went (although I felt I could advocate better for DS anyway)
In general I don't think there is a right or wrong answer but I did notice more mums when we went recently.

I think it’s for the family to work out but I would suggest mum, especially if dad is working on site he is going to need some sleep and it’s likely to be a long night.

The priority tonight is the 6 year old. Whoever he wants with him.

Either parent but here, if it’s the toddler, it’ll be mum because they’ll settle better with mom but if any of the older children, it’ll be dad as he’ll be taken more seriously. Besides any routine appointments, DH has always taken our DC’s to the hospitals because he also works in the medical field so knows so much, they always take him seriously.

There are no free seats where I am. Please don't take the whole family to a&e!

I'm at a&e with a child with abdominal pain. It's very busy. Trust your dh

At a guess, could it be appendicitis? If A&E suspect that, they are likely to be admitted and operated on tomorrow. Which possibly means mum will need to take over at some point.

Whoever is the better advocate (if one is particularly poor at this, they shouldn't go). This is why I usually do a&e trips which won't require an overnight (because for us it's always ds who needs a&e - no out of hours or walk ins here - and dd is still breastfeeding overnight).

Either.
Is ds constipated? It can cause severe pain

I think it’s down the family to make that decision but I don’t think there is a wrong answer.

The ideal of course would be that they all could be together but if that’s not possible, it makes sense for Dad to go to hospital with tbe 6 year old: you can explain to a 6 year old why Mum has had to stay at home. Plus Dad can answer all the questions about what has happened during the day as PP said. You can’t explain to a one year old why Mum has gone.

It doesn't matter which parent takes him

Honestly I don't think its something to quibble over, there's no right or wrong parent to take your child to A&E and you can always swap later if he gets admitted

An unpopular opinion but we’ve had similar and we all went. Older child wanted mum, baby needed mum… I hope all is ok.

This is absolutely the case. My DH took DD once and received a level of service I’ve never known in my life. He was brought drinks and DD was given a private room with tv.

that’s the only time he’s taken one of our 3 in 14 years and I’ve never known anything quite like that. She was given antibiotics and sent home, not even anything serious.

Whoever has the best knowledge of the child's symptoms behaviour and activity since they started to feel unwell.

There is no right answer - in my family mum would have taken DC1 because that’s who DC1 wants when they’re hurt or sick and DC2 would’ve just had to lump it, but it’s up to each family.

The only wrong answer is “Mum and Dad and DC2 all go”, but so long as it’s just one parent I think either should be capable of dealing with it, both are going to be tired, both are going to have a bit of a shit evening and it’d probably come down to DC1’s preference if they had one.

Whoever the child wanted most. In this case it sounds like mum.

Well, I doubt either are getting much sleep. In the circumstances, I think I probably would have sent Dad.

No right or wrong answer, assuming both parents are equally competent

• mum may be exhausted from work and a trip to a&e can be very long and challenging, whereas dad has been at home and can probably give a more accurate description to the medical staff about how the 6yo has been.

If the 6yo wants his mum then that may help make the decision.

Mum, on the basis of it being mums turn to be off work tomorrow and the possibility of a long night in A&E, dad needs to sleep before work tomorrow.

The one the child would want most is the best answer.

Generally dh goes for ourkids as we find medical staff occassionally have an in built misogyny which goes 'mum = anxious' wheras 'dad = it must be serious so we will look into this'