DS, 2, due for general anaesthetic - how will he cope without his morning milk?

[Sleepingbanana]

He is due at the hospital at 7.30am and I don't know where he will be on the surgery list but I am anticipating not before 10am. He won't be allowed to eat/ drink from the night before and i'm so worried as he is still incredibly dependent on his milk, for comfort mainly, and drinks up to 5 cups a day. His morning milk is the most crucial to him and if he doesn't get it, he will scream and scream....

Obviously, the op is worrying in itself (though minor) but this adding to it. Any tips? And yes, i know i know he should be off the milk by now ...

Distraction?
A present maybe.
5 cups is a lot!

I'm not sure what the score is for kids but if adults are on the afternoon list they could have milk and food so long as nothing after 6am. Maybe worth asking?

A biiiiiiiiiiig present, a nice Duplo set maybe or a doctor set he can play with and be distracted?

Can you load him up with yoghurt before the cut-off time so he still gets his dairy fix?

FWIW my own DC2 is 2yo and hardly drinks milk anymore except with cereal, it's all about the yoghurt and cheese now! He is pretty obsessed with yoghurt, and I know how he would be if not allowed to have that, so I feel your pain somewhat.

Really good luck for the operation, poor you/him!

When I was on the afternoon list last month I was allowed a light breakfast and then clear fluids till I went into hospital.

When DD had surgery at the age of 5 months she was allowed everything till 2 hours before surgery and then I had to give her milk in recovery they were very anxious to keep time without food as short as possible.
Have you had the pre-op appointment yet to o through all of this?

My 2yo milk loving son was in just the same position. I had your concerns as pretty much as soon as he wakes he wants milk. However he was allowed juice before 6 which I gave. Having to leave the house at 7 to get to the hospital at 7.30 was a massive change to our normal routine so really the milk was not a problem. At the hospital it was all so different and it would seem exciting for him that hunger or thirst was not an issue either. He was second on the list as I think they generally do youngest first.

Good luck.

My ds (2) had grommets in April . I was really worried about this but he was fine. I had to be in hospital at 7 am which is an hour away so I got him up and changed his nappy and straight in his car . I had a bottle of milk ready for as soon as he was ready after the op. He glugged it down and it calmed him straight way . My son is globally delayed and doesn't talk so I couldn't really explain it to him but he LOVES his milk and wants it straight away so I anticipated it being a massive problem which in fact it wasn't. Good luck .

Distraction or a present.

He might not be too long waiting at the hospital. I got there at 7:30 last month, I went down at 8:45. It was all go too. The nurses did their bit, the anaesthetist came along as well as the surgeon and his registrar.

Good luck.

I had to do this twice this weekend with my two year old and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Having to be there first thing is good- I literally woke our LO up and put him in the car in his PJs and then when we arrived at hospital got him changed into the hospital gown and we were on a children's ward so they had lots of toys and a little DVD player so he was quite happy. And he normally has a bf, followed by a cup of cows milk and breakfast by 7.30am! On the other day we only had to be leave at 9.30 so we just changed our routine- avoided the kitchen and watched cbeebies which we don't normally do in the morning but it was harder and lots of distraction was needed at home. It's definitely easier once at the hospital as different things are going on and they forget to ask. Have some ready for after though!

Hope it goes well, they are very good at looking after children these days it makes such a difference.

Thank you so much for all your replies. It's reassuring that I'm not the only one who has this as an issue.

It sounds like they are a wee bit more flexible with kids? I haven't had pre op, so hopefully they can reassure me further and I can beg for the first slot for ds!

I was given the first slot as he was the youngest .

Ds needed sedation this weekend and it was awful trying to keep him away from food. I'll be honest, it was hard and heart wrenching hearing his whines and screams, but I just had to keep reminding myself why we were doing it and that it was only for a few hours . The hospital staff were amazing - very understanding of his distress and eager to treat him as soon as possible.

Singing, the hospital toy box and a jigsaw game on my phone were all good distrsctions.

I hope it goes well.

Ds has had grommets twice, once at 20 months-he didn't even seem to notice I wasn't offering food. I made sure no one was eating round him, and he didn't even ask. Really surprised.

At 3.6yo he was much harder. He stormed into the hospital and announced "mummy is starving me to death. She won't give me any food!"

The alternative is to ask if allocated the last slot could he have a drink first thing?