Preparing 4 Year Old for Surgery

Definitely speak positively about it at all times. Also, let her know that you will be there with her and for her. I'd definitely do something extra special for her for afterward and let her know ahead of time that way she has something positive to look forward to going into it. Make a big deal out of how big of a girl she was for going through it.

At the hospital the surgery was going to be held at, they let us go on a tour and they explained everything to us.

Maybe look into it.

We took a special book and her lovey.

She did great, it was my husband that had to be given a Valium and have his mother there with him.

Be honest. Honest, but age appropriate. I've read that children who go into surgery prepared do MUCH better than those who aren't.

If it were my child, I would tell her that the doctors are going to give her medicine to make her sleep. While she's asleep the doctors will take out her tonsils and adnoids, but it won't hurt because she's sleeping. When she wakes up her throat will be sore and it will hurt to talk and swallow, but the nurses will give her medicine that will help. As a bonus, she gets to eat lots of ice cream, popcicles and pudding.

Keep it short and sweet. The more you talk about it, the more she's going to figure out it is a big deal and become anxious about it. My daughter had surgery when she was 4, and we waited until the morning of to tell her. "We are going to a special place today! It's the same place you were born at! We will be there a long time, and they have some really special juice to get to drink before nap time. They are even going to pull you around in a wagon - inside! When you wake up you will be in a really cool bed that has a remote control, and then we get to go home." Didn't bother to tell her that her throat would hurt afterwards, again, so she wouldn't become anxious about it. By the time they were ready to wheel her into surgery, she had already drank the oral relaxation medicine and was cozy in her wagon with lots of pillows and blankets. I don't think she stayed awake past the double doors where the parents couldn't go past. And the post op was in an open bay, so along with seeing me & dad when she woke up she also saw and heard other kids. That really put her at ease.

One other thing, you may want to travel to the hospital in a seperate car from dad. We hadn't planned to do this, but it turned out with work schedules we had to. And it really worked to our advantage because it felt more like a routine doctor appointment to my daughter. If dad had been along, she would have known something big was up. I took her back and waited with her alone with her in pre-op until they took her in, then met dad in the waiting room. There were lots of kids who had both parents there, and boy oh boy did they pick up on the anxiety.

Good luck!

I haven't read your responses, so I hope I'm not repeating. My daughter had her appendix removed a week before 1st grade. My son had his adenoids removed at 9 months. I have some advice for you- Don't make a big deal out of it. She will sense your apprehension. Just explain it plainly as possible: "You're going to the hospital. The Dr. will give you some sweet smelling stuff and it will make you sleepy. When you wake up, you may have a little trouble talking, but you get to eat a lot of jello, pudding and ice cream. When you come home, you will breathe better, and sleep much better!"
Just be sure to not make a big deal of the procedure. Kids are able to take on a lot more than what we give them credit for. Make sure that she knows you will be there when she awakens and have a "surprise" for her (stuffed animal, flowers, balloons, etc...) She'll be fine.

Sometimes I think it's harder for us parents than it is for the kids! Breathe, mama and child.... breathe.. "Good air in, bad air out... Good air in... bad air out"... Works every time!

Be sure to hype all the ice cream and popsicles she's going to get. Sounds silly, but that stuff makes all the difference to a 4 year old.

Let her know that the drs will explain everything they are doing and she can ask any questions she wants. And you will be with her as much as you can.....but won't be when she wakes up. And the ice cream of course.

My daughter (4 yr old) had surgery in July. She had trigger thumb, her thumb was stuck in a bent position. We didn't really prep her too much, just mainly told her that her she was going to go to sleep and when she woke up she would have a bandage on her thumb and it would be fixed. Our doctor said not to talk about it too much because you don't want them to worry or get scared. Will she have to stay in the hospital overnight or get to go home the same day? We got to go home the same day. The anesthesiologist was great too, we really had a great team. But the anesthesiologist brought in the mask ahead of time and let her play with it and get used to it. He practiced it on her stuffed animal first and then let her have it. She even got to take it home after =) I think the scariest part for her was waking up feeling groggy with her hand bandaged up. We cuddled for a little bit then once she was able to get dressed we could go home.

For tonsils I would find out what she'll be able to eat after and take her grocery shopping and let her pick some things out (i.e. popsicles). We bought her a new book to read while we were waiting before surgery (we got a Disney's Brave book) and then a new stuffed animal for after surgery.

I think anything to do with the mouth/throat is a little harder. She has also had a tooth removed from a fall at daycare when she was 2. That was the hardest. She had gauze in her mouth, it felt weird, her mouth hurt and she couldn't really talk. Sleep was best with that one!!

Good Luck!!

I think the more you talk about it the more fearful she may become. We had some dental work done on my granddaughter and my grandson at different times. We made doing this sound really okay, like it was not big deal. Didn't talk about it in depth or anything like that.

She went into the waiting room with her gown on and when they came to take her she went with them just fine. Came out, woke up, wanted to know if we could go eat.

He got up and went off with the doc both times. When he had his Ear Tubes put in the used gas and it was the worst experience ever. He woke up screaming and screamed for half an hour after we left the surgery center. Once the gas was totally out of his system he was fine.

When he had dental work they used actual anesthesia and he woke up like our granddaughter. He was ready to go play right then.

So the experience was different with the boy both times due to the procedure itself. She knows you love her. She may want day, she may want mom. She may even want grandma or grandpa instead.

Your library may have age appropriate books about it. Perhaps your pedi might also. Ask them, and check out google or amazon as well.