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Hospitalization Separation
Coping With Your Child's Hospital Stay
By Gwen Morrison
Wendy Marsden of Greenfield, Mass. remembers how stressful it was for her and her family when her child was hospitalized for nine days during a life-threatening illness. She encourages parents to stay with their child as much as they can. "Be there," she says. "Being hospitalized is a surreal experience. There's no day or night anymore – you're sick, sleep-deprived and subject to enormous indignities, many of which are painful. I can't stress enough how important it is to be there around the clock for your child. It's 'quantity vs. quality' parenting at the most pure. Just show up, and you've done your job."
Being in the hospital is sometimes scary for children. They often feel disoriented, being away from their social circles, school, routine and home. Add to that the feelings of anxiety over their illness, and it can be very stressful for kids.
Penney Carlton of New York says her daughter hated for her to even leave the room for a second during the first few days of her one-week hospital stay. "As her illness lessened, she made great friends with the nurses," Carlton says. "By the third day she was 'throwing' me out of the room to go home to sleep."