What to Bring to the Hospital
There are several items parents or guardians must have upon their child’s admission, as well as several items they may want to bring to help make their child’s hospital stay more comfortable.
Parents/guardians should bring:
- Legal guardian papers, if necessary
- Driver’s license or other form of photo identification
- Insurance information, including your insurance or Medical Assistance card (some insurance companies require you to have three copies of claim forms)
- Any forms requested by the Admissions Department
- Your child’s Social Security number
- Your child’s primary care physician’s name (usually your child’s pediatrician) and mailing address to enable Children’s Hospital to provide him/her with updates on your child’s condition
- Your child’s referring physician’s name and mailing address, if different from his/her primary care physician
- A list of medications your child is taking
- Your child’s signed advance directive or living will if he/she is 18 years of age or older
- Important telephone numbers (home, work, mobile phone)
- A change of clothes for overnight stays with your child
- Change for pay phones and vending machines
- Money for parking
Nursing mothers should bring:
Expressed milk in containers labeled with the time and date it was expressed. Please pack containers in ice and keep them as cold as possible. The hospital will provide refrigeration, electric breast pumps, and all necessary supplies to continue breastfeeding throughout your child's hospitalization. Please notify your child's nurse if you are breastfeeding.
Children should bring:
- Eyeglasses, contacts, hearing aids or other corrective devices
- Pajamas, slippers and a bathrobe, as well as regular clothing (children are encouraged to wear their own clothes whenever possible)
- For infants, the hospital will supply all daily care needs, including diapers, food and bottles. Parents or guardians may want to bring clothing, pajamas and security objects such as blankets or special toys
- Older children and teens may bring books, magazines, videos, cosmetics, schoolwork and battery-operated radios or CD players with headphones
Be sure all personal items are labeled with your child's name.
Please do not bring:
- Other children, if possible (your child will need your undivided attention on the day of admission)
- Electrical appliances such as hair dryers and curling irons
- Valuables or large amounts of money; the hospital does not assume responsibility in cases of loss or damage
- Remote-controlled or friction-powered toys
- Radios or CD players unless they are equipped with batteries and headphones
- Nintendo® or similar video games
- Rubber or latex balloons due to the risk of choking or suffocation; any balloons your child receives as gifts must be made of Mylar® or foil
Please check with your child’s nurse regarding any special restrictions before bringing gifts of flowers or food.
