Whether you are going to the hospital for an overnight stay or an extended stay, preparing your young children for your absence from home is a big parenting task that you need to take on as soon as you know you are going to the hospital. Depending on their age and your living situation, you have to make plans that fit your own personal family dynamics.

The first thing you should try to do is to keep their routine as normal as possible. The best case scenario is that someone else can come stay at your house with your children. Yes, you aren’t going to be there, but everything else is the same: their bed, their bath, the smells, their toys. Doing what you can to disrupt the routine helps make their time away from you less stressful.

If you can’t have someone come to your house, make a list of their favorite toys, pillows, blankets, clothes, movies, etc. They need to take their comfort things with them. Some routines can still stay the same outside the house such as dinner at 6:30 a bath at 7:30 followed by a short movie and then bedtime. If you read a certain book to them every night or sing a song first thing in the morning, make sure that the person who is taking care of them knows this.

Pack a picture of you with your child so they can take it with them. Send some cards from the hospital to your child. You can fill them out ahead of time, stamp them and just ask a nurse or family member to mail them. Call your child and talk to them. If at possible, allow your child to come visit you in the hospital so they can get and give hugs and kisses. Their security needs need to be met to help reduce the stress so that they can make it through your hospital stay with as little disruption in their lives as possible.