What to Expect the Toddler Years (207 page)

A little reading.
Look in the library or the bookstore for books that are meant to help prepare young children for hospital stays. Read them together in the days before your toddler’s hospitalization; use them as a springboard for discussion with an older toddler.

A little play.
Just as playing “dentist” can help young children prepare for a trip to
the dentist and playing “barber shop” helps prepare them for an upcoming trim, playing “hospital” can help them feel more comfortable with hospitalization. Secure a couple of surgical masks and a toy medical kit (some hospitals will provide these at the preadmission exam), and play “hospital” with your child. Becoming familiar with a stethoscope and a blood-pressure cuff and even with play hypodermic needles (“Now give Daddy a shot.”) will be particularly helpful.

A look around.
The best way to familiarize your toddler with the hospital is in person. Ask that you and your toddler be taken for a little tour so that the surroundings and facilities won’t be so foreign when he or she is admitted (if your toddler needs to go to the hospital for preadmission testing, see if the tour can be arranged then). Be sure to visit the play room (if there is one), the gift shop (promise a special toy when you return to the hospital), the cafeteria (talk up a visit there at some point), and if possible, an
unoccupied
room (so your toddler can see the kind of crib or bed he or she will be sleeping in and where you will be sleeping, too). Stay out of rooms that are occupied (a child may be crying or be hooked up to a lot of scary paraphernalia). Talk to a couple of the pediatric nurses; if they’re as good with children as they should be, they’ll say just the right thing to your toddler.

Make your toddler at home at the hospital. One of the most difficult aspects of being in the hospital for a toddler is being away from home and routine. Make the transition a little easier by bringing along some favorite and familiar items (be sure to check with the hospital first to see which are allowed). Possibilities include: your toddler’s pajamas (if the hospital doesn’t supply colorful toddler gowns and if a hospital gown won’t be required); crib sheets, quilt, and other comfort items (such as a favorite blanket or stuffed animal); toys (especially ones that your toddler can play with in bed, but avoid those with a lot of pieces that might get lost or that are noisy and might annoy other patients); a pad and crayons (if your toddler normally enjoys drawing); family photos; an iPod, CD player, and some CDs (preferably with headphones, if your child will be able to wear them); picture books; the pretend medical kit you used for prepping your toddler (being able to play doctor now and then may help the patient in your child feel more in control); some favorite DVDs, if a DVD player is available; snacks and special foods that your toddler particularly enjoys (unless a restricted diet will make this impossible). If a very long stay is predicted, try to bring a few small furnishings from your toddler’s room (perhaps a small rocker or some pictures).

Get to know the staff. At no time is the partnership between parent and health-care provider more important than when a child is hospitalized. Be informed and assertive (though not argumentative). Ask direct questions and expect direct answers, and don’t hesitate to express concerns and reservations you might have about your child’s care or condition to physicians and nurses. If you feel your concerns aren’t being heard, consult with the hospital’s patient advocate.

Put on a happy face. Anxiety is more contagious than measles. To reassure your toddler about his or her hospitalization, you’ll need to project a confident, positive attitude. Though it’ll doubtless be difficult at times, being a cheerful, smiling presence at your toddler’s side will help ease his or her trepidations—laughter, you know,
is
the best medicine. When you need to release pent-up fears and tension of your own, always leave the room, and unload your feelings on a friend or relative who can handle them.

Fuel recovery with good nutrition. Before, during, and after hospitalization,
make nutrition an even greater priority than usual; an ample intake of protein, calories, vitamins, and minerals in the form of nourishing foods can help speed healing and recovery while reducing the risk of complications. If the hospital doesn’t serve up enough of the Daily Dozen to satisfy your toddler’s requirements, get permission to supplement with foods brought from home.

Be prepared for behavior changes and back-sliding. Hospital stays (and illness) and the period following them can be rough going for young children; expect that your toddler may be clingy, withdrawn, listless, frightened, unhappy—or any combination of these—temporarily. Or that he or she will revert to more babyish behavior, like having toileting accidents or resuming a discarded habit, like thumb-sucking. Be patient and understanding through it all. Having someone
on
their side (as well as
at
their side) helps young patients recover faster, both physically and emotionally.

Thanks to the availability of modern medicines, the world is a healthier place for toddlers; the use of medicine now routinely prevents serious complications that a century ago were frequently fatal or left a child permanently impaired. No longer need an ear infection lead to hearing loss, a urinary infection to kidney damage, or strep throat to a weakened heart; no longer need an ordinary case of pneumonia take a child’s life.

But as invaluable as medications can be in treating illness and preserving health, administered improperly, they also can put health in jeopardy. Misused, overused, or abused, medications can cause more problems than they solve.

So it’s important to learn how to use medications safely and effectively when your child is ill.

It’s important, of course, that the doctor has the information he or she needs to prescribe medication. But it is also important that you become familiar with whatever medication is prescribed for your toddler (or any other family member), including what it is, what it does, and what side effects it might cause. The answers in most cases will come from the doctor and the pharmacist.

When you are given a prescription for your toddler, ask the doctor the following:

If the prescribed medication is to be given three or more times a day, is there an equally effective alternative that can be given just once or twice a day?

If the dose is spit out or vomited up, should you give another?

What if a dose is missed? Should you give an extra, or double, dose? What if an extra dose is inadvertently given?