Kids as Hospital Visitors

[Victor]

Do you ever take the kids with you when you visit someone in the hospital? Why or why not?

My wife's friend just had a baby and she doesn't know whether to go visit by herself or take the kids with her.

 

[John]

Victor, there are just too many vile germs floating around hospitals for me to take children there unless it's absolutely necessary. I can't tell you how many people have contracted serious things from our local hospital. Besides, people in hospitals these days aren't there to do anything but get better. The last thing they need are children around.

 

[olderthandirt]

I would say it depends on the children and the situation. To go visit someone who just had a baby, I would say take them, as long as your kids are able to be fairly quiet for a few minutes. You know your kids best, as to how they would handle such a situation.

 

[Victor]

She decided to visit her friend alone. Our kids are still so little that we thought they might be overwhelming and not allow her to visit quietly. The germ factor was a big one too.

 

[On The Mark]

I never did. The only time my daughter ever went to a hospital to visit someone was when her friend was in. She's never shown an interest otherwise and I never felt like pressing the issue.

 

[Chrisitan]

I don't like to take the kids in with me unless it's a dire situation. Casual exposure to a lot of the germs floating around the place scares me. I don't want them to get something that was preventable.

 

[Sinbian]

The sooner your kids get accustomed to serious stuff the better. I'm not one of those that wants to force their kids into something scary. It's good for the kids to cope with stuff like that.

 

[polamalu43]

I think it is fine to take your kids to the hospital to see a new baby. I don't think you should take kids to see someone who is really sick. I am thinking more of the sick person though.

 

[Zimmer]

When they were little I preferred to keep them home, you wouldn't believe the disinfectant resistant strains of germs you'd find in a hospital. Now that they are almost grown up, it's expected of them to make a visit.

 

[Timothy]

My wife has visited a couple of friends in the hospital after they had their babies and she always left our son at home with me. It's not really a germ issue; she just wanted some quality time with her friend and the new baby and thought our son might be a little too young to understand about being quiet and being careful around the baby.