On the day: packing, arriving and waiting

How the day usually runs

1. At home: the last food, milk and drinks at the times in your letter
2. Arrival: check-in with a nurse, identification bands, a gown and a checklist
3. Numbing cream, if planned, which needs time to work
4. Visits: the anaesthetist, and often the surgeon or the doctor doing the procedure
5. Calming medicine, if your child needs it
6. Going to sleep, often with a parent there
7. Waiting while the procedure is done
8. Recovery: a nurse calls you as your child wakes
9. Home, or to the ward for an overnight stay

Hospitals differ, and the order can shift on the day. Lists run early and late, and an emergency can move everyone back.

The night before: pack the bag

• the hospital letter, with the fasting times and arrival time
• your child’s regular medicines, and inhalers with their spacer
• a comfort toy or blanket (label it), and for babies, a dummy if they use one
• something to do while you wait: a book, a game, a charged device and headphones
• loose clothes for going home, spare underwear or nappies, and a bag in case of vomiting in the car
• formula, bottles or expressed milk for a baby after the procedure
• food and a drink for yourself, to have away from your fasting child

If your child is staying overnight, Victoria’s Better Health Channel adds pyjamas, a toothbrush, a hairbrush and photos of family members and pets, plus a favourite activity or a new one kept for hospital.

Arriving and checking in

Nurses check your child in, fit identification bands, help them into a gown and go through a pre-surgery checklist with you, according to The Royal Children’s Hospital. They will ask when your child last ate and drank, so have the exact times ready. Expect to repeat some answers more than once: each check is deliberate.

Meeting the anaesthetist

Before the anaesthetic, the anaesthetist will see you and your child. ANZCA lists what they usually ask about, to reduce the risk of complications:

• when your child last ate or drank
• current problems such as a cough, cold or fever
• asthma, heart problems, loud snoring, anxiety or other medical conditions
• medicines, supplements and herbal products, and allergies to medicines
• loose teeth, braces or plates
• whether anyone in the immediate family smokes
• whether anyone in the family has had problems with anaesthesia.

This is also your time. It is the moment to raise anything you have been worrying about, and to agree the plan for going to sleep. Our list of questions to ask the anaesthetist may help, and ANZCA’s position on consent makes clear that families should have the chance to discuss the nature and risks of the anaesthetic and have their questions answered honestly.

Numbing cream and calming medicine: the timing

Two things may happen in the hour or so before the anaesthetic, and both affect your timing:

• Numbing cream on the back of the hand or the arm, where a drip may go. The Royal Children’s Hospital says it can take 45 to 90 minutes to work, so ask when it will go on.
• A calming medicine (premed) if your child is very anxious. The Royal Children’s Hospital says it can be given 15 to 60 minutes before surgery.

Going to sleep explains both in more detail, along with the choice between a mask and a drip.

Going to sleep

When it is time, a nurse takes you and your child to the anaesthetic room or the theatre. Many hospitals let one parent or carer stay until the child is asleep, and then show you where to wait. What you may see in those few minutes, and how to help, is set out in going to sleep. If you are not going in, say goodbye where the staff suggest, with the comfort toy in your child’s arms.

While you wait

• Ask roughly how long it will take, and where to wait.
• Check that staff have your mobile number. ANZCA notes they take one so they can call you to recovery.
• Eat and drink something yourself.
• If the wait runs well past the estimate, ask at the desk. Staff can usually tell you what is happening.

When your child starts waking, a nurse will call you so you can be with them. Waking up explains what you may find.

In an emergency, call 000. This information is general and does not replace advice from your treating practitioner. Your child's anaesthetist, surgeon, dentist or hospital knows your child, and their instructions come first.