Discipline and parenting when your child is ill

Clinical Social Worker Kathryn Elison, MSW, shares advice for parents with a hospitalized child on the difficult task of how to discipline and parent your child who is hospitalized
Advice On Disciplining & Parenting Your Sick Child
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Discipline and parenting when your child is ill

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One of the hardest task facing parents with a hospitalized child is how to discipline them. It´s often your first instinct to bend the rules a little bit, give them what they want and try to spoil them with gifts because you feel bad that they are sick. But it´s important to remember that kids need discipline. Kids need consistency. It helps make them feel comforted and supported. Your child is looking to you to make sense of this crazy situation. If you let all the rules fly out the window, they might think that something is gravely wrong. So what you want to do is bring your rules at home into the hospital but check with the medical team to make sure you are taking into account your child´s physical limitations given their illness or hospitalization. And lastly important about discipline is that you want to bring your rules from home into the hospital because that will pave the way for a smooth transition home upon discharge. You won´t have to spend a lot of time reinstating those rules because they will have consistently been in place since your child was hospitalized.

Clinical Social Worker Kathryn Elison, MSW, shares advice for parents with a hospitalized child on the difficult task of how to discipline and parent your child who is hospitalized

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Kathryn Elison, MSW

Clinical Social Worker, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Kathryn Elison is a Clinical Social Worker at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She was drawn to her profession because of her passion to provide support to families experiencing a medical crisis. Kathryn accompanies her patients and their families during one of the most stressful journeys of their lives, helping them navigate through this challenge and supporting them each step of the way. A native of North Carolina, Kathryn moved to Los Angeles, CA after receiving a Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In her free time, Kathryn enjoys exploring her new home state of California with her husband Jed and her dog Sallie.

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