How to keep lively 11 year old entertained in hospital?

[elliejjtiny]

Last time it was a nightmare and he was climbing the walls. They gave him midazolam which didn't help. He screamed and screamed for ages because it tasted so vile and when it worked he was drunk rather than sleepy. Then as soon as he woke up he wanted to be running up and down the ward again.

He has learning disabilities and he is also deaf which doesn't help as it means he is very loud. He is not normally this lively at home unless something new and different is happening. This hospital is not our local one, it's the specialist children's hospital so everything is new and exciting for him.

They have put him in a ward that's the surgical ward for younger children so I'm concerned he will be really bored there. Should I ask if he could be on the adolescent ward instead or would the younger children's ward be better for him? Last time he was on the day surgery ward and I knew facilities would be limited there so I brought card games, colouring, puzzle books etc but he wasn't interested in any of it. He just wanted to explore the hospital which was understandably not allowed.

I think you might need to give more info on what sort of age he's functioning at and what is he in for (i.e. does he need to stay in bed/is his movement restricted in any way/how long is he in for).

For your standard 11 year old, the answer would be books/podcasts/iPad. But, it sounds like you need different suggestions.

Thank you. It's hard to tell the age he is functioning at. He acts younger than my dn who is 9 so maybe 7 or 8. He is having part of his hip bone grafted into his gum so mobility will be difficult but not impossible. We have to be in at 7:30am on the morning of the operation and should be discharged before lunch the next morning.

Ask for a wheel chair and take him to explore the hospital.
If he has stitches on his hip he won't be allowed to run up and down until they have started to knit together a bit.

Is this an opportunity to learn a new skill or learn a new game together? It does sound as if he won't be able to stick to something on his own but interacting with you on something new may be stimulating enough?

Does he like watching tv/dvds? I think this is an occasion where unlimited screen time might help.

Given it's just an overnight stay, I don't think you'll need a lot. The morning is going to be taken up with the surgery, who knows what time he'll get back in the ward. With two surgical locations I'm guessing it'll take a while, and he probably won't be up for doing much, so realistically it's probably a dvd or two and then trying to sleep. He'll probably be quite sleepy anyway.

Then next morning maybe a board game, some time spent playing with the 'magic bed' (keeps my daughter busy for ages 😂), and some books/iPad/Lego.

Good luck.

As it's a specialist children's hospital there should be a playroom, as pp said borrow a wheelchair and get him out. Ask his named nurse for support from the play specialist as he gets really unsettled in hospital. I wouldn't put him on the adolescent ward, last time we were in there were several who struggled to look beyond their own needs and really complained about others noise and movement whilst spending all night playing really loud tiktoks 😁

The two children's hospitals I've been in with DD lately both have indoor and outdoor play areas. The outdoor ones are great for the chance to wander around, kick a ball around etc. The indoor ones tend to have games, including consoles, and art supplies. You can ask a play therapist if there are any paints available if that might be more exciting than colouring.

What does he like doing at home for entertainment?

Thankyou. The tour of the adolescent ward video on the hospital website was very civilized and featured some very cheery teenagers. I should have realised, having 3 of my own that an adolescent ward in reality would probably be very different!

The younger children's surgical ward has a small playroom that is shared with another ward. It has a bubble tube and a playmat in one corner, a table in the middle for doing whatever craft activity is going on that day and round the edges are cabinets with drawers for things like board games, jigsaws, little toy cars, colouring sheets etc. Then there are big toddler toys on top of the cabinets like a garage for the cars and I think there is a dolls house.

The adolescent play room (although it isn't called that, it has a cooler name that I can't remember) has various different consoles, a tv with loads of dvds, air hockey and a football table.

There is an activity centre on the floor below the surgical ward which is a massive playroom shared with the whole hospital. It has an indoor area, an outdoor area and a sensory room. They have their own radio station and a scout troop. Ds4 was a baby last time I was there so I'm not sure what toys are there. We were in day surgery last time he was in that hospital and you are not allowed to leave the ward apart from going to theatre so even I was feeling like I wanted to escape, never mind ds. I'm hoping that we can freely come and go on the surgical ward apart from when his operation is imminent and straight after when he is still having regular obs.

At home he likes playmobil, baking and finding out how things work. His favourite thing is to help with diy and in the garden. He is often outdoors in the garden either on the trampoline or the climbing frame. He loves being with his friends and he really misses his friends when he has to be in hospital (this will be his 24th admission).

I wouldn’t rely on being allowed off the ward on the day of surgery. They would be discharging him same day if they didn’t think he needed inpatient care in my experience.

How about buying a new building set for him to put together and learn how things work? If money is no object, something like the Brio set. Although it says 3+ I’ve known it entertain older children and DD still plays with hers at 8.

Thank you. I phoned the consultant's secretary and she said that all children having this operation have it on the younger children's surgical ward regardless of how old they are. Then she said that ds4's name had been mentioned in conversation today but she didn't know why so she is going to try and find out and ring me back. So now I'm sat by the phone, willing it to ring.

Well, we found out the conversation was that ds hadn't seen the consultant for pre operation and x rays since over a year ago (which I'd reminded them already) so the operation that was meant to be yesterday got postponed and the pre operation appointment is now this week with hopefully the operation happening in 2 weeks.