From the article: How to Prepare Your Child For Surgery
When a child needs surgery, preparing them becomes much more important than it might be for an adult having the same procedure. Children can be easily frightened by the unknown, or misunderstand what is going to happen, making surgery a traumatic experience. Share Your Tips
Involve siblings
- My daughter just turned six and is having surgery in a couple of weeks. She is a very caring child and always makes sure everyone else is ok. We have told her and her twin brother what is gonna happen and he has taken over that role. He's always asking if she is ok and if she needs anything. I hope this continues after the surgery.
- —Guest momoftwins
Reassurence
- If your child if feeling more scared than they were a couple of days ago (after you told them about their surgery) before the surgery starts give them a pair of new slippers. Talk to them while they are undergoing the procedure. They will enjoy the gift and thank you while not even noticing the surgery.
- —Guest Luann
Be Honest
- It is tempting to lie to children when a hard truth is involved. We found that when our daughter was in the hospital the first time and the staff would lie to her, "oh, this won't hurt a bit," kind of thing and then they'd hurt her. She became certain that everything was going to hurt and consequently was distressed pretty much any time she saw someone in hospital garb. The second time she went to a different hospital and they were very honest. They would tell her when something was going to hurt and how much. She learned to cope and was proud of how brave she could be. I also learned to insist that they use a topical anesthetic two hours before they drew blood. It went from a harrowing experience to one that was no big deal. This made all the difference, to a small child, who was constantly being poked with needles.
- —containergardener
Answer Only What They Ask
- My daughter was 12 when she underwent an 8-hour kidney operation. I answered only the questions she asked so as not to give her too much information. I was honest about pain but played it down reminding her that the pain she was in because of kidney failure would get better. We joked about scars (she could say she was surfing and was bitten by a shark) and we put together a comfort package from home (stuffed animals, books and knitting). I stayed at the hospital with her on a cot and I think that made all the difference in the world.
- —Guest LA Wolfe
Preparing Your Child For Surgery
- When our daughter had surgery, she was about 7 years old. She had been seeing doctors on and off all of her life and was aware that she would need surgery. We took her to Disneyland the day before and stayed at the Disneyland hotel with friends. The kids had a blast at the park and in the pool. The doctors talked to her the morning and explained to her what she needed to know. Though a medical procedure there were cosmetic element involved. She accepted everything before hand and afterwards, until it came time to have her stitches removed. It was the one and only time she showed any resistance to medical procedures. As an adult she opted to have surgery twice when there was a cosmetic element involved. Seems it was worth whatever she had to go through for her
- —S_Khalsa
Don't Tell Too Soon!
- When our daughter was having surgery at the age of 5, we didn't tell her about the surgery until the week prior to the procedure. That way she didn't have too much time to be scared, but we had more than enough time to explain what would happen and make sure she was prepared for what happened. It worked beautifully.
- —Guest MomOf2
