Has anyone taken a young child for an x-ray?

[Sunshineday2]

My dd needs an x-ray on her hip tomorrow. I have never had an x-ray so I can't envisage what it is like.
She is quite a nervous child and is 3.5 and quite clingy in situations where she is afraid.
How does it work, so that I can talk her through it? There's no information except to turn up with a referral form.

Thank you.

You can put on a lead apron and stay with her. However you must have no chance of being pregnant

Thanks so much for replying. I am 28 weeks so that is extremely good to know! She would do as she was told if I could not stay with her, except she would be very sad about it. It's always hard to predict how they will respond isn't it.

My daughter has had numerous hip xrays. At her age they will get her to lay on the bed and you can stand next to her (as long as you are not pregnant) and help hold her down. They may put a lead piece over her ovaries for the xray. Then they will ask you to hold her still and down, arms over her legs while they do the xray. It is so quick. If they don't get it first time as she moved or something don't worry they will take it again.

Then you will either go home or see the dr depending on what sort of appointment you have tomorrow.

They are generally lovely and good with little ones. You should be able to go with her unless pregnant. Our paediatric department has various projectors so they can show displays of fishes/rainbows etc in the direction she needs to be facing. It’s generally fairly quick. It’s a big room with lots of machinery in, they’ll get her where they want to, probably on the bed with a board then they’ll stand behind a screen and press the button and you’ll hear a camera click.

HI - there are a few videos on youtube made for children to help them understand the process.

This is one;

There is also a fantastic book called 'Jessica's xray' which has real x rays in it which is great to read together and very educational!! It also shows an ultrasound scan which could be good for her understanding about her future sibling.

Have you got anyone else who can go with you? Just so she has someone in with her? She will be OK with the xray techs but she might be happier with a known person.

You can watch youtube videos now of kids having x ray appointments so i would recommend that. At that age they will have to lie down for an overhead x ray machine to take the image of their hip I would think, perhaps from two angles, repositioning child each time. You can likely stay with your kid to help keep them calm, hold their hand and keep them still so long as you aren't pregnant and are happy to wear a lead apron. Whatever you do, don't make a big deal of it, if you hype it up then the kid will think its scary and will become hysteric making getting a clear image very difficult. An x-ray is one of the simplest procedures, literally just having a picture taken where you have to maintain a certain position and stay still while image is being taken.

You might bring a favourite cuddly for her to hug - will help calm her and keep her still

Thanks for the replies. Cuddly is a great idea as is watching a video beforehand. Hopefully I can get my dad to come with us so someone can go in with her!

My 3.5yo had an x Ray a few weeks ago.

It was quite a big room and we could see each other through a screen.

Sadly our X Ray tech was clearly terrified of small children. But DS who is usually very shy and nervous in new situations completely rose to the occasion and behaved beautifully for the 10 seconds (ish) each x Ray took. I was amazed at how fast it was.

My top tip would be to take plenty of toys and snacks for the waiting room as we were waiting a while and there was nothing to do.

They can always surprise you can't they!

Good shout on the snacks and toys.