Coming to spend the night in the hospital can be a stressful experience. It's difficult on not just the child, but also on the entire family. It's like packing for a trip, only you have not idea what you should even begin to bring. Lots of families may only have to stay at the hospital once. So, over the next two posts, I've give a suggested list of itmes to bring when you're going to spend the night(s) at Le Bonheur Children's.

Items to Bring from Home

1. Comfort Items: Make sure your child has their favorite stuffed animal, blanket, or whatever the favorite toy.
2. Pillow or bedding from home: Don't read this as we don't have bedding, we do (and they're pretty nice). The point of this is to bring the familiarity of home to the hospital, and it allows their room to be more individualized.
3. Favorite movies: We have a great selection of television channels, but there are time when children will want that one favorite movie. If you bring it, you'll have it at the tip of your fingers. We even have DVD players (with VHS to, for those old school folks) in patient rooms.
4. Books: This is for both you and your child. Let's face it, there is only so much television you can watch; have a back up plan with books.
5. Video game(s) and system: Is your child a gamer? Go ahead and bring the system and games. It will give them a familiar activity that will help maintain normalcy.

My guess is that part one this list seems pretty obvious, as it should be. However, when the stress of the situation actually sets in, lots of intelligent people seem to forget the basics. I'll cover the next five in our very next posts.

Also, I'd love to hear any funny stories of forgotten items when you or your family came in. Leave a comment and let us laugh with you.