We have experienced a lot of trips to A & E, GP’s and urgent care centres in the last few months. Thankfully we now have a referral to a respiratory specialist who hopefully will get to the bottom of Isobel’s cough. I thought I would share all I have learned about my many trips to hospital and what the essentials are when going.
1. Bring plenty of blankets, a cuddly toy and anything else your child might need for comfort.
2. If you are travelling to hospital in the middle of the night, remember no shops so will be open, pack if you have time, a quick sandwich, flask of tea, and milk/formula or snacks for your child.
3. Try if you can at all to remain calm yourself so you don't further upset your child.
4. Let the health care professionals know about any medication your child is on and what you haven given them so far, timings and doses. Bring the medication with you too.
5. If both you and your partner are going with your child, then plan some rest and leave one of you minding your child.
It can be so difficult when your child is sick and decide whether to take them to A & E or not. Our real difficulty with Isobel is, she usually is still really happy when sick so it is very hard to quantify the seriousness of her illness. Even last weekend she suddenly got an extremely high temperature during the night, we though she was just having a whinge. It wasn’t until I turned on the light I could see how bad she really was. I have found the NHS guide to any sickness really useful especially when Isobel has a fever. I have always erred on the side of caution when Isobel is sick and perhaps that is why we have seen A & E so many times, but each time the health care worker has said we did the right thing. Please feel free to share the above or stick it on your fridge if you visit the A & E as much as we do 😉
