At what age would you leave your child alone in the hospital?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was in the NICU for four days after birth. I don't understand the people here saying they were with a NICU baby 24/7. The NICU had visiting hours and you were not allowed to sit in there 24/7--even if allowed, I don't see how it would be possible as you can't eat, pee, or sleep in the NICU.

At any rate, there were 5 other babies in the NICU with my son, and we only saw other parents in there a couple of times--which made sense as once the mother is discharged, there is no place at the hospital for the parents (other than to sit in the waiting room). So, of course, people were going home and coming back for visiting hours.

And as for care, the NICU always had more staff than babies from what we saw, and at any given time the babies were mostly sleeping.

Different NICUs have different set-ups. The new NICU at Fairfax hospital puts each baby in a private room, so parents can be there a lot more. That was not the case when my child was there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think some people have no choice but to leave a child alone in the hospital.

I don't get the point of this question. People do the best they can.

Exactly this.
Best wishes, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son was in the NICU for four days after birth. I don't understand the people here saying they were with a NICU baby 24/7. The NICU had visiting hours and you were not allowed to sit in there 24/7--even if allowed, I don't see how it would be possible as you can't eat, pee, or sleep in the NICU.

At any rate, there were 5 other babies in the NICU with my son, and we only saw other parents in there a couple of times--which made sense as once the mother is discharged, there is no place at the hospital for the parents (other than to sit in the waiting room). So, of course, people were going home and coming back for visiting hours.

And as for care, the NICU always had more staff than babies from what we saw, and at any given time the babies were mostly sleeping.

Different NICUs have different set-ups. The new NICU at Fairfax hospital puts each baby in a private room, so parents can be there a lot more. That was not the case when my child was there.

Yeah, this was not the case when my kid was born there 3 years ago. He spent 17 days in nicu and we had to go home at intervals. Glad to know they've got private rooms now. That must be crazy expensive though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son was in the NICU for four days after birth. I don't understand the people here saying they were with a NICU baby 24/7. The NICU had visiting hours and you were not allowed to sit in there 24/7--even if allowed, I don't see how it would be possible as you can't eat, pee, or sleep in the NICU.

At any rate, there were 5 other babies in the NICU with my son, and we only saw other parents in there a couple of times--which made sense as once the mother is discharged, there is no place at the hospital for the parents (other than to sit in the waiting room). So, of course, people were going home and coming back for visiting hours.

And as for care, the NICU always had more staff than babies from what we saw, and at any given time the babies were mostly sleeping.

Different NICUs have different set-ups. The new NICU at Fairfax hospital puts each baby in a private room, so parents can be there a lot more. That was not the case when my child was there.

Wow! I'd not heard this and that's fantastic! It was not the case when my kid was there either. We were only allowed in during certain hours, which were pretty limited. I think they were 10-11 AM, 2-3 PM, and 6-7 PM, but I could be wrong (might be confusing it with ICU hours). I know it was only three times per day and some days they limited it to one parent at a time if the other parents were also there at the same time. And Grandparents were the only other people allowed to visit, so you'd have to share that time with them as well.

One parent or Grandparent was always in the NICU waiting room, though. It was a new mom thing and I couldn't sleep knowing my kid was there alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have a child with a chronic condition on her tenth hospitalization. She's now 12 and has never been alone even for the time it would take to get coffee. I just get amazed each time I'm here how many kids are in their rooms totally alone. Little kids and babies. It makes me sad.

Why?! How crappy is this hospital that you don't think that your DD is going to be ok for 15 minutes by herself???

[Anonymous]

I had an emergency appendectomy when I was about eight, and my mom stayed with me the first night but none of the nights afterwards. My family came to visit during the day, but I was by myself for long stretches of time. I didn't mind at all...I had a huge stack of books and loved to read, I had to walk up and down the halls for exercise, and my surgeon brought ice cream every time he came to check on me. I loved having visitors, but I liked having alone time, too.

I wouldn't leave a toddler or preschooler alone in the hospital if I could help it, but an elementary-aged kid who's not in a ton of pain? Yeah, I'd be okay leaving them alone some of the time. And my job allows me to take leave, but not everyone can do that. And some people have other kids or family members they have to care for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have a child with a chronic condition on her tenth hospitalization. She's now 12 and has never been alone even for the time it would take to get coffee. I just get amazed each time I'm here how many kids are in their rooms totally alone. Little kids and babies. It makes me sad.

Get down off the cross. I would think a parent in your situation would have more empathy for other parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never! I would never leave my child at hospital alone. Never. Someone we know we'll would be with him at all times around the clock. He's now 10.

So you just have one kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have a child with a chronic condition on her tenth hospitalization. She's now 12 and has never been alone even for the time it would take to get coffee. I just get amazed each time I'm here how many kids are in their rooms totally alone. Little kids and babies. It makes me sad.

Why?! How crappy is this hospital that you don't think that your DD is going to be ok for 15 minutes by herself???

Medical mistakes happen far too often. I wouldn't leave my kid alone in a hospital room unless I really didn't have a choice (e.g. other kids at home and no caregiver/NICU with no overnight accommodations with parents/my ability to keep insurance or a roof over our head is in jeopardy), until my kid is old enough to reach out to me to tell me that someone has come in to give them something. It sounds like OP's kid may not be there.

My elderly mother, who is 100% with it cognitively, was in the hospital with a broken bone. i asked her to let me stay but she was embarrassed. That night the nurse made a significant error. I wish I'd pushed harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have a child with a chronic condition on her tenth hospitalization. She's now 12 and has never been alone even for the time it would take to get coffee. I just get amazed each time I'm here how many kids are in their rooms totally alone. Little kids and babies. It makes me sad.

I'm so sorry about your child. Not everyone has the economic freedom you have to stay with their child at all times. Judge less and if you are inclined, visit with a child who is alone.

-former pediatric nurse

This, my friend had to leave her baby in the NICU when she herself had a heart attack.

I will let her know you were silently judging her bad parenting. What a total asshole you are OP. You have NO idea what led other parents to leave their child alone - and to think someone who has a sick child could be such a B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have a child with a chronic condition on her tenth hospitalization. She's now 12 and has never been alone even for the time it would take to get coffee. I just get amazed each time I'm here how many kids are in their rooms totally alone. Little kids and babies. It makes me sad.

Do you only have one child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever they asked me not to be there. I get hospitalized about once a year for a chronic condition. Anywhere from 2-10 days. When I was about 14 I started telling my parents that no one needed to sleep in my room. Parent spent the night in the family area. Around 16-17 I was more insistent that I wanted alone time. Parents respected that.

As an adult, I don't mind visitors for half the day. After that, I prefer to be left alone, with the exception of DH. Dh is just someone I dont have to worry about, we can silently watch TV together, or read our Kindles separately. But I don't want him spending the night. I need some alone time (just like I do at home). Plus, I don't like to be treated differently because I'm in the hospital. With my parents it's always the memories of when I was a kid.and my condition.was more severe.so they are.stressed/upset. For my friends they want to rally around me and be supportive. And I appreciate all of it, it's just overwhelming.

no one asked what you'd do as an adult. The question is about children.

No, READ the question - she said "at what age would you leave your child alone in the hospital"

Well, I'm a 37 year old child to my parents.

This is learning to write is so important.

[Anonymous]

OP did you start a thread just to hate on parents that have to leave their children? Most people cannot afford to quit work if their children are in the hospital. It's not a question of "want." Plus, hospitalizations are expensive! Parents need that job and money more than ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:op back again. I guess I should have mentioned my child has special needs and simply cannot be left alone. Honestly, I was asking for information because I was curious. I have no idea what is age appropriate for a tween and never will. I judge no one. It makes me sad to see kids alone but I do t judge parents. Sorry to upset.

I know you can't imagine this - but not all kids are your kid.

[Anonymous]

I'm another mom who had to leave mynewborn in the NICU. I had a c section with complications, we had twins-one was fine and the other needed a NICU stay, plus we had two more kids at home. Even if the NICU didn't have limited visiting hours, there's no way we could've been with her 24/7, especially the first few days when my recovery was very difficult. Our older kids weren't even allowed to visit me in the hospital because it was flu season and the hospital didn't allow children.

My poor DH was running ragged until DD and I were released. He had to keep up with kids at home, trying to visit me and the twin I had in my room, plus the twin in the NICU. We have a great support system of friends but no family within 2000 miles, so it was stressful.