Tip of the Week: Hospital Stays

If your child is hospitalized for any reason, the transition back to home life can be challenging.  It is likely that their hospital routine, food, companions and expectations were quite different from what your child is used to at home.

Here are some ideas to make the transition easier:

Bring food from home.  Hospitals will usually allow this. This eliminates the unanticipated “reward” of going to the hospital.  Different food, even if the quality is not as good, can be very rewarding and you want to avoid having the hospital be a desired destination.

Make your own schedule – as much as possible.  Most hospitals will accommodate this, barring testing and other necessary treatments.

Provide supervision. You may not be able to stay the entire time, but try to get someone to stay with your child. This will be possible in a hospital setting – with the exception of a psychiatric admission.

Keep in mind that any hospital stay will certainly be disruptive, but putting some things in place around food and routine will make it less challenging.

Patrice Carroll is Latham Centers’ world-renowned Prader-Willi Syndrome specialist. She works with Latham Centers’ residents with PWS, their families, and consultants, continuously learning and teaching about PWS best practices.