Preparing for Your Child’s Surgery: What Helped Us Through Elsie’s Experience

There’s so much information out there on how to prepare your child for surgery from a medical point of view - but from real-world experience, we’ve found that taking a few comforts from home made a huge difference in keeping Elsie (and our other kids when they’ve had surgery) as comfortable as possible.

Especially when they’re little, it often feels so much worse for us as parents than it does for them. You’re trying to stay calm for them while your mind is racing with all the unknowns...
What will it be like when we arrive at the hospital? What will it feel like when they go under general anaesthetic? All those thoughts keep running - and honestly, it doesn’t feel any easier the second or third time around.

As they get older and start to understand more about what's happening, it can be even trickier.

For us, a few simple things helped make the day gentler for everyone:

Comforts from home that helped:

• Favourite foods: We took Elsie’s favourites - yoghurt, strawberries, raspberries, a smoothie packed in a Subo, yoghurt drops, sausage rolls. I tried not to worry too much about nutrition on the day, and focused more on foods that would keep her happy and familiar while we were in hospital.
• Milk/bottles: We packed a flask of hot water and formula in a container for easy mixing. When I was breastfeeding, I made sure to feed her as soon as she woke up in recovery. 
• Cuddly items: A favourite blanket, bunny, or special cuddly made a big difference.
• Books: A few of her favourite books, a couple with flaps and slides.
• Small toys: Nothing noisy or distracting for others, but a few little toys kept her occupied while waiting.
• Device: We packed our Yoto and had our phone ready with some Doc McStuffins episodes,  a real lifesaver for waiting times.
• The usual baby bag supplies: Nappies, wipes, changes of clothes, a warm jersey, drink bottle - basically pack as if you were heading out for a full day out.
• Well Child book: You likely won’t need it, but I found it reassuring to have on hand just in case.

Things I packed for myself:

• Snacks (because hospital cafe hours aren’t always your friend)
• A full drink bottle
• A change of clothes - even if you aren’t staying overnight, it’s worth having fresh clothes handy in case of blood, dribble, vomit, etc. (For smaller surgeries like grommets, you might not need this, but for anything longer or more involved, I’d recommend it.)

On the emotional side:
It can be incredibly hard to watch your baby being put to sleep under anaesthetic - laying them down, seeing them go limp, and then having to leave the room.
Know that they are in the best hands. The anaesthetists are incredibly highly trained, and many specialise in paediatrics. It's ok to cry. I bawled my eyes out the first time she went under. 

If you can, have a support person with you, or at least someone you can call while you’re waiting. That little bit of support makes a huge difference when the adrenaline wears off and you’re just left sitting and waiting.