Children and hospital
Spending time in hospital can be very stressful for children and their parents, and distress can affect how children recover from their illness. Most hospitals today are aware of this and will help you to support your child in hospital. Many hospitals allow visits by parents and children before the children go into hospital, so they can see where they will be and what will happen. Many also have printed material (such as pictures of children in hospital to colour in) or information on the Internet to go through with children.
Young children have different ways of thinking from adults and less experience of the world, so what seems ordinary to an adult (eg a visitor leaving) can be very frightening to a child (will mummy ever come back?) Find out what will happen yourself and play some hospital games with your child. Read or tell your child stories about a child who goes to hospital, gets better and comes home. Check your local library or the school library. Be honest with your child about what is going to happen, so she/he does not lose her trust in you. They need to be able to trust you.