Paediatric Anaesthetic
Preparing
your child
It is a good idea to tell your child in advance that they are going to have a procedure in hospital, and the detail of this depends on their age.
Unless the child is very young, you should try to explain that they are going into hospital and some detail on what will be done and how it may potentially help them. Preschool children probably only need to know the day before, but older children may need to be told a little more in advance to allow them to prepare mentally.
It’s good for your child to talk about the operation and ask questions to understand what will happen to them and why. They’ll want to know how long the procedure will take, whether they’ll stay overnight, whether you can stay with them and what can they bring with them. It’s not a bad idea to let them choose what to pack, including their favourite teddy.
Depending on the age of your child, CCP anaesthesiologists help to put your child at ease by letting them give their teddy a touch of anaesthetic by mask, before applying the mask to them. The lovely thing about explaining a paediatric anaesthetic to a child is that the entire concept takes a lot of the fear away for them – they will be asleep for the entire procedure and have nothing to worry about.
You may find the following documents useful for helping you explain everything to your child.
Rees Bear has an Anaesthetic
(Source: The Royal College of Anaesthetists)
Davy the Detective
(Source: The Royal College of Anaesthetists, suitable for ages 7-11)
You may also find these two videos of use:
Your Child’s General Anaesthetic
A Little Deep Sleep
You may also be interested to know that some anaesthetics start with an injection into a vein using a plastic tube-called a cannula - but may be continued by breathing a gas. Other anaesthetics start with breathing a gas and then a cannula will be put in when your child is asleep. The following document is full of valuable things you need to know about medications, fasting, recovery and pain relief.
