by Jenny Shelton
Lead Child Life Specialist

Having a family member in the hospital is difficult for all of us, and when it is your child your whole world is changed.  When parents/caregivers have a child in the hospital their focus is now on what can be done to make their child well.  It is the natural instinct for parents/caregivers to want to make things better for their hospitalized child while surviving on little sleep and lots of worry.

Many times parents/caregivers forget to think about themselves and that is why Le Bonheur Children's Child Life Services strives to provide support for the whole entire family.  Parents/caregivers can easily forget that they must take care of themselves.  It is with that in mind that we wrote up some tips for parents to remember while they have a child at Le Bonheur Children's. 

• Self-care/Coping: Parents/caregivers need to take care of themselves by getting sleep, appropriate nutrition, and taking breaks from the hospital environment.  Some families find it helpful to document/journal their experience while in the hospital.
• Emotional Support: Parents/Caregivers need to enlist the support of family, friends, and their faith community to cope with the stress and anxiety that occurs when your child is in the hospital. 
• Seeking Help: Parents/Caregivers need to seek help from those around them when they are having difficulty coping.  Most hospitals have support services (chaplain, mental health professional, and social workers) to help families when typical coping techniques are no longer working.

As a parent/caregiver, you want to give your all to your child, and that means taking care of yourself.  If you are completely stressed out and exhausted, this will translate over to your child.  You don't even have to say a word to them, your child will pick up on your non-verbal cues.

Remember that here are Le Bonheur Children's, we see parents/caregivers as part of the treatment team, and we need to make sure that all members of that team are taking care of themselves.  That's part of the way we know that we can provide the best possible care to the patient.