Child life services: Helping children and families cope with their hospital stay

We know it can be scary when your child needs to go to the hospital. UW Health Kids child life services team helps your child and family cope with any fears and anxieties.

With our extensive knowledge of child development and family-centered care, we individualize every interaction and intervention to the needs of your child and family. We work together with patients and families to create coping plans and promote a positive hospital experience.

At American Family Children’s Hospital, UW Health Kids child life specialists work in most care settings. You’ll also find our child life specialists at East Madison Hospital. UW Health Kids also has a variety of trained professionals and services to make your child's care feel as normal and comfortable as possible.

Our child life program is entirely funded through the generous support of donors. You can support our child life team to help patients and families cope with their hospitalization and bring normalcy and diversion during their visit. To make a gift, visit our giving site.

Donations of toys or items (brand new and from a smoke free and pet free home) can be dropped off from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. to valet staff on behalf of child life. For more specific information about donations please reference this document. Learn more about donation information (pdf).

You can also directly donate the most needed in-kind items for our patients by visiting our Amazon registry. Items are shipped directly to our hospital.

For questions, please email childlifedonationsspecialevents@uwhealth.org or call (608)-206-6817.

You can work with our child life team to prepare your child for a hospital stay or surgery. Steps you can take include:

• Helping your child understand what will happen with our teaching sheets (below). Please contact afchchildlife@uwhealth.org if the upcoming procedure is not included and more information is desired.

• Talking with your child and encouraging questions

Child life services has many resources, books, and communication tips to support your child’s developmental level. Child life can be requested anywhere in the American Family Children’s Hospital.

What to bring

Bringing items of comfort and familiarity with you to the hospital can help ease the transition to a place that is less familiar to your child. Blankets, stuffed animals, and items for sleep routines are all encouraged. Even preferred electronics and their chargers can help.