My 8 yo had to do this at Childrens and was totally unbothered. Meanwhile I was a nervous wreck! They had a movie on the whole time.

I’ve had more than one for myself and it wasn’t as loud as i anticipated. I have never been bothered by the noise or the small spaces.

Both of my kids needed MRIs at different locations. Neither had sedation. DC1 had 1 around the age of 5 and was given an iPad and watched movies the entire time. No issues with staying still.

DC2 was not given movies but was a little older, around 9, for an injury on his leg so this is different. He did twitch for a couple of the segments but only those segments had to be repeated, not the entire MRI.

We had this done at their Maryland location and with some mirrors placed the child can watch a movie. It was very helpful to make the experience better overall. I sat at the edge of machine the whole time with a hand on his leg so he felt ok with that.

If it's an ultrafast, it's only about 15 min. Our kid has gotten lots of MRIs for a health issue and when they were younger we were allowed to go into the MRI tube with them to help keep them calm and still. If it's a longer "full" MRI, sedation is a good idea.

Two of my kids have had MRIs at Children's National. My easy-going 8yo breezed right through it. My nervous 12yo needed support from Child Life, and they were excellent at talking him through it.

If you're at Children's National, they can email you files with the sounds the machines make so you can listen to them at home. It's less jarring.

We elected to have DC sedated. DC was 7 almost 8. I have no regrets. My experience with Children’s for my other child is the “music” is just the radio. My kid was just listening to ads. Not helpful at all.

It depends on the kid. Mine had one at around that age non sedated and did well. They can sedate them if needed.

My kid had a brain & eye MRI at 9 @ Children’s. They suggested we put her under twilight anesthesia and we agreed. It went fine. Waking up was a bit confusing for her, but Children’s allowed me to be there as she was waking up.

You should be able to stay in the exam room. Bring earlpugs

Thank you, all! Fortunately no contrast needed.

If your child generally follows directions, then it's going to go swimmingly. If they need a contrast injection, please make sure they're well hydrated. My daughter has had many blood draws and anesthesia procedures, plus an MRI with contrast, and if she doesn't drink enough, they have a really had time finding a vein, and it gets painful for her.

My daughter had two back-to-back (at the main building at Children's) at age 7 and it was fine. But I made a mistake telling her there would be a movie (someone on the phone said that) and that wasn't an option, plus the music didn't sound great. So I would confirm if there is a movie before you tell him. Good luck to your little one

When I had one, it made me dizzy. Was not expecting that but apparently can happen.

My son took a Valium and I highly recommend

6 yo DS is going in for a brain MRI later this week. My question is how your kids have tolerated the MRI at this age and how has the experience been. DC is compliant with dr instructions, I don't think will be too nervous about noise, is not hyper, etc., but is still a 6 yo. Child life will be there to prep him - I don't know if they stay? Apparently kids can watch movies in the scanner now so they will not be sedating him.