Some practical ideas from a mother caring for her chronically sick child in hospital

These are very personal thoughts from a mother.

If you want some suggestions, I remember a tea/coffee cup with closing lid was fairly high on my list of priorities: this usually meant I was allowed to take a drink onto the ward, otherwise I had to choose between keeping my son company or having a hot drink in a parents' room, and I always wanted to have the drink AND stay with him!

I also always took in sticky labels - and latterly had Able Labels make us some - so we could label things in public places, eg a special non-dairy pudding brought from home would be thrown away in the parents' fridge if not named and dated, causing undue stress & panic finding something else at the last minute.

Also it was always worth making good friends with the accommodation lady and with the special diets person in the kitchen - the kitchen seemed to appreciate it if I brought in things written down, Chinese whispers operating otherwise.

A universal plug is a good thing to bring to a hospital as plugs are often not used in sinks as they are a source of infection. However, it is great to keep one in your handbag so that you can use it when you need water to help you put in your contact lenses, or simply to wash.

I similarly always had a typed copy of his medicines (it helped if also signed by his paediatrician) as he was on such high doses new doctors often didn't believe me and he sometimes had to miss a dose while we waited for someone senior enough to verify it.