do you take your LOs to visit them?
In general we prefer not to because of how much germs there are. If it was a dire situation we obviously would.
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Depends on the situation. Cancer hospital or an area where people are immunocompromised? No. If they are there for something more routine then yes. I'd just be super diligent about washing hands when we arrived and when we left!
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No...Unless it was a deathbed scenario. There are too many antibiotic resistant bugs in the hospital (I'm a NP)
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We did a year ago when DH's grandfather was in for a repeat heart attack and it wasn't looking good... But we were careful to keep it brief and made sure to be extra diligent about germs. I would only do it if it was serious enough to warrant possible goodbyes.
Btw, Granddaddy did pull through and still talks about her visiting him!
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We had this question recently when fil was in the hospital. We didn't take her because his immunity was compromised and in any case he was in an icu unit where children under 12 weren't allowed. I actually didn't even see him before he passed since I was taking care of lo while dh/mil/sil were there--it didn't seem fair to make one of them miss time.
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@mrsrain: yay!
@nana87: I'm sorry
@petunia354: @ChitownRo: yeah, MIL was in the hospital two years ago for back surgery and tumor removal. The older one, I think would've been scared seeing her nana like that. And nana didn't want us to bring her in. If she did we probably would've brought the older one in.
She's at the cancer hospital right now and she definitely does not want us to bring her and it's not allowed. It's not dire situation.... -
Agree with @ChitownRo: but having lost 2 close family members to terminal cancer in the last year, I did take DD before it got too close to the end (when the loved one was still lucid). It made such an impact on my mom and my aunt to see DD just walking around the room exploring like she does. My aunt said "it makes it a little easier, seeing new life when you're on your way out". It makes me cry even now thinking about it - I'm so glad we could bring her that comfort! DD cheered up a lot of the other cancer family members in the waiting rooms and hallways too. I wouldn't have brought her if she was sick, of course.
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We've taken her to the waiting room when FIL was in the hospital for lung surgery. That way we could both visit and H could entertain MIL/take her mind off things for a little while.
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I did, yes, when my brother was in the hospital. He was not immunocompromised though, and my son was also not sick.
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@peachykeen: So sweet. Yes I think kids can be a great distraction. But agree with @ChitownRo: that only when the patient isn't really in the middle of treatments etc and its a dire situation.
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Yeah, I would. I know hospitals are germy places....but I'm a lot less concerned now that I work in one.
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I did take our 9m old to visit great-grandma in the hospital in her carseat and I didn't let her out of it. I left our 2.5 year old at home. It wasn't a dire situation but it really cheered my grandma up to see LO (who she used to see a lot but nowadays doesn't because we moved a 3h drive away).
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It would depend on the circumstances. My dad was in the hospital for immunosuppression (he has leukemia) right at the end of my pregnancy. My family went but had to wear masks and avoid contact. Now that she is here, I would definitely not bring her to visit him if this happens in the future. I guess it would really depend on the scenario but I lean towards not bringing little ones.
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Yes, without question unless there was an explicit and specific direction from the hospital staff not to bring her in.
ETA: I also brought LO to my grandma's nursing home several times when LO was an infant, before my grand passed away. Never a question in my mind about that either.
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It depends for how long and for what. If it's only for a few days, maybe they were in surgery, then I wouldn't take LO. But if it's much more serious like they don't know when they can leave, or how much time they have... Then for sure, 100% LO will go.
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I'm in the hospital now and LO has come to hang out with me multiple times. I can't imagine not letting her come visit!
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@snowjewelz: Yes, Ive never understood the "rush to the hospital" mentality when someone is sick or having a procedure. They are there for a reason and there are procedures, etc being completed. I usually make sure they have someone to sit with them and other than that, we stay clear.
My MIL had surgery and then she was stuck there for rockery for a few days. We didn't feel comfortable taking LO up (she would be out in a few days) so we dropped coffee off to her (she appreciated a good starbucks after almost a week of hospital coffee).
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My MIL was just in a rehabilitation hospital for a few weeks after surgery. We did not take the kids to the ICU or the regular hospital, but we did take them to the rehabilitation hospital. Where my son picked a paperclip off the floor and stuffed it in his mouth. (He's 3, DD is 11 mo.) So that was awesome.
If they didn't have their flu shots I would reconsider for the benefit of the patients. And we never took them when we didn't have a 1:1 ratio of kids to caregivers.
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Depending on the situation, I think I would. I wouldn't want LO to make someone super ill, or to have her be traumatized. But small ones have a good way of bringing light to places where it's desperately needed. We took her to see my aunt after she had a stroke last year. It was very much the right decision. It made my aunt so happy!
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For people who said no, I'm curious as to why. Is it to:
-prevent LO from getting sick;
-prevent the ill patient from getting sick;
-to avoid LO seeing something traumatic;
-because it wasn't allowed by the facility;
-some combination of the above; or
-something else?I don't feel like I'd worry about LO getting sick there, unless she was already sick. And in that case, I wouldn't go. I think the only reasons I wouldn't go would be to avoid an immunocompromised patient from being sick, if LO were already sick; if it weren't allowed; or in the case of major trauma. Otherwise, I think the benefits outweigh the risks, in most cases.
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@LovelyPlum: all of the above. And both times we have offered and my ILs rather us not bring the girls.
I've done the next best thing and brought pictures in for her room and had DD1 make her something.
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@regberadaisy: ah, I didn't think about people not wanting visitors. That's not really a thing with my family. I guess I'm not that concerned about LO getting sick from a hospital, unless the person we were visiting were highly contagious. But as long as you wash hands really well, I never really thought that a short visit could make them sick?
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@peachykeen:
We took both kids to visit my grandfather when we knew it wouldn't be long before he passed. I will never ever forget those last smiles from my grandfather when I helped him hold my baby girl. He passed away about 10 hours later. Wouldn't change a thing.
For something non life threatening maybe not. Definitely not if their presence would compromise a person who could be getting better.
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Yes.
Before my FIL passed, if we hadn't taken our kids to visit him in the hospital, they would have missed out on a lot of time with him.
Also, it brought him so much joy to see his grandbabies.
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My grandmother was in the hospital from April-August .. I took dd1 (8 months at the time) at least 2x a week to visit. It brought my grandmother (And the other patients) so much joy to have a baby around.
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Absolutely not, unless they were dying. The danger is not only to the child but also to the patient (and other patients in the hospital). I understand the emotional support need, but usually when patients are in the hospital, they need rest and quiet time to recover.
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We didn't take LO to see my mom in the hospital because of all the germs. We put together a photo collage and brought that in for her of all of her grandkids.
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We didn't take my son to see my brother. Because:
My ds is a runner and I don't think other people would have appreciated him
Cold and flu season
It was an hour awayMy brother was fine (we knew he would be)! If he was really sick we would have gone for sure and took the risk.
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As long as nobody was contagious or immune compromised, absolutely. I think children can be very beneficial for people who are sick and especially those that are dying. Kind of like those therapy dogs, but 100x better.
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