Caring For Your Child At Home

Your time at Ranken Jordan is an opportunity to practice a care schedule and make it a habit to continue at home. Team members can help you adapt your schedule to the home environment.

• Create a daily schedule and routine with regular meals and bedtimes. A predictable schedule creates a sense of security.
• Help your child get enough sleep, including naps if appropriate, and at night. Create an environment that promotes good sleep (calming bedtime routine, quiet, dark, no electronics, no caffeine after 2 p.m., and no homework or other activities in bed).
• Help your child have fun. Encourage your child to do activities and play with others. The distraction brings a feeling of normalcy.
• Stay calm. Your child will look to you for reassurance. Don’t discuss your worries or fears when your child is around. Remaining calm also helps you model how you want your child to respond in stressful situations.
• Listen and let your child know that it is ok to tell you how they are feeling anytime.
• Acknowledge what your child is feeling. Confirm and reflect what you are hearing. For example, say “I can see you are worried” rather than dismissing their concern (e.g., “Don’t be worried” or “Why are you so upset?”).
• It is ok to say “I don’t know.” Don’t worry about knowing the exact right thing to say. It’s more important your child knows they have someone they can trust who will listen to their questions and accept their feelings.
• Allow your child to express their feelings through play or art.
• Encourage school-age children and teens to participate in their care and ask questions.
• Encourage your child to communicate without judging or advising them until they ask for your feedback. Listen.
• Remember your child is the same person they were before the injury.
• Help your child stay connected to friends and family. Video chatting, writing letters, and visits (if possible) are great ways to stay connected and practice being in their normal environment.
• Your child may feel a lack of control over their world and may deal with this by pushing limits or acting out. Be patient with your child. Maintain expectations and give them choices more often to give them back some control.

Nutrition’s Role
Good nutrition is important when recovering from and living with a spinal cord injury. Encourage your child to eat a healthy diet that includes foods from all food groups, including fruits and vegetables. Eating a variety of foods will help provide needed vitamins and minerals. This will also help protect your child’s skin from pressure ulcers. If there is skin breakdown, extra protein can help heal skin. Protein sources include meat, eggs, beans, nuts, tofu, and dairy products like milk.

Spinal cord injury also can lower the amount of energy the body uses, so you may notice that your child’s appetite is less than it used to be. Help your child listen to their body’s hunger cues.

Bowel and bladder function changes with spinal cord injury. To help keep stools soft and easy to pass, make sure your child drinks enough water. Your medical team or dietitian can provide you
with a fluid goal. You may also need medications to help with stooling. Avoid soda, coffee, energy drinks, and/or other drinks with caffeine. Limit juice to ½ cup daily. Aim for water as your main fluid source.

Your dietitian and medical team can help determine the best plan to meet your child’s nutritional needs.

The Healing Benefits of Sleep
Sleep is one of the most important factors in coping, adjustment, and healing. Poor sleep affects your child’s physical health, emotional health, and behavior during the day. Children often have sleep problems after an injury. They may have difficulty falling asleep, wake up several times throughout the night, wake up too early, or even have nightmares. Sleep problems may be related to pain, positioning discomfort, or anxiety.

• Avoid caffeine
• Increase activity during the day as advised by your rehabilitation team.
• Try to get your child out and about to get natural light during the day.
• Limit naps during the day. Talk with your doctor about appropriate nap frequency and length.
• Follow a calm, soothing bedtime routine. This may be as simple as putting on PJs, brushing teeth, reading a book, and singing a good night song.
• Turn off electronics at least one hour before bed. This includes phones, tablets, TV, andcomputers. Try not to develop the habit of falling asleep to TV or a movie.
• Make the room as quiet and dark as possible, although you can use a dim night light.
• Consider using a white noise machine or download a white noise app on your phone to help block out sounds outside your child’s room.