What to pack for a hospital stay with your child
When O was 9 months old, the poor guy got viral tonsillitis. After a few visits to the ED, we were finally admitted to the ward in the middle of the night and spent four nights in hospital with him while he recovered. Check out the list of items we needed in the emergency department.
During our few days on the ward, I was lucky enough to have my husband and family available to bring in extra bits and pieces. We didn't need everything at the same time, so the list below is the items we used over a few days.
What to pack for your child
White noise machine: it might seem excessive, but we use white noise at home and the hospital was really noisy, so this helped to drown out some of the interruptions.
Vests: we were fighting a fever so O just spent his days in a vest or nappies alone. Short sleeves worked best for the IV line. We went through 8 vests one day, so bring more than you need!
Onesies: we really didn't need many due to the fever and the warm hospital in early September. The feet on these were also a pain with the oxygen saturation cable.
Bibs: I always forget bibs, but they were brilliant when he was just drinking sips and bashing the bottle away.
Sleeping bags: luckily we had some super light 1 tog sleeping bags which worked great for keeping him warm without overheating at night.
Some of the toys that the hospital play specialists provided during our stay.
Toys: stacking cups, soft toys and noisy books got us through. The hospital does provide a toy service too, but make sure you have something to wipe these with though as all the ones we received were pretty grubby.
Snacks/food: cereal puffs, rice cakes, pouches of baby food, spoons, bowls, bibs etc. The hospital food for weaning babies was limited to readybrek, toast or mashed potato in gravy/vegetable soup.
Beakers/bottles: we had a few on the go, with formula, cooled boiled water, dioralyte etc. Children are not allowed in the ward kitchen, so it can be hard to find time to wash beakers and bottles, so it's worth having extras as backup.
iPad: Tallaght hospital has wifi, so we were able to download and watch shows on Netflix to fill the long, cranky days.
Baby monitor: so handy for popping out to the bathroom/ward kitchen etc. while he was snoozing.
What to pack for yourself
The items below are in addition to the items we brought to the emergency department:
Leggings/yoga pants: I wore these day and night. The bathroom was miles down the hallway, so I needed suitable comfortable clothing that I could sleep in, wander around the hospital in and wear until I got home for a shower.
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Cleanser & moisturiser
Hair brush: I forgot this, but it would have made me look less loopy.
Dry shampoo: showering in the hospital was next to impossible, so dry shampoo is your friend. I swear by Batiste.
Deodorant: as I mentioned, showers were scarce and it was warm...
Make up & mirror: this is totally optional, but make up makes me feel better, particularly when I'm running on no sleep. A splash of tinted moisturiser and some mascara and I feel like me.
Check out my other posts on things to know about parenting in hospital or what to expect at the emergency department.
