Tips for coping with a hospital stay with your child?

[lisa270988]

Hi
Tips for getting through a hospital stay with your child? What makes it easier for you both ect.

What age is your child?

When I had to stay with my child he was 11. Make sure they have lots to keep them occupied. We had tablets, books, magazines , games etc. Depending on age and how long you are in for there is a hospital school which occupies the child for a short while. If they can't get out of bed the hospital school will bring a laptop to the bed to help keep up with school work.

For you, take anything to keep yourself occupied. It can be very long, boring days. Take toiletries and clothes for both of you. If they have a ward kitchen for parents, stock up on ready meals. Make sure you take your phone charger.

It depends massively on what the hospital stay is for (and therefore how able your child is to engage with anything), how long the stay is anticipated to be, and how old your child is.

A laptop with downloaded TV/films is invaluable for us, as watching TV and sleeping is about all that our child is capable of doing for the first ¾ of any hospital episodes.

Hospital food is rubbish and if you're an adult who isn't breastfeeding - they won't feed you, so you're stuck with Costa/Wh Smith/whatever crap they still. Take lots of nutritious food for yourself. I used to work in a hospital and felt really sorry for the families when it came to food.

I had to do an overnight stay with my baby at 6 months; I was able to sleep on a pull down bed next to the cot. I slept in sports wear (leggings etc) but the mum next to me went full pyjama party - her toddler was prone to bad respiratory infections so they were old hands.