Need Suggestions On What To Tell Young Kids

[Barisaxylady 154]

Hello all. Surgery scheduled for Sept. 25. What do I tell my 3.5 and 5 year olds. I really don't think my 3.5 year old will notice anything but my 5 year old will wonder why my belly hurts and why I'm not eating anything (especially when I am encouraging her to eat her dinner!) I know she won't understand WLS but I think I might have to tell her something.

[bettyanne6249 50]

Just tell her you are having surgery on your stomach. If she asks for more info, tell her. She may not understand and just shrug her shoulders and move on. You can also tell her and your three year old that mommy may need lots of help so they can be your special helpers. They will probably be more interested in that anyway

[bettyanne6249 50]

Also, explain that your new tummy can't eat much now because it is healing. But that you will be able to eat in the future.

[runner 53]

I didn't tell my kids anything other then I went away for a few days. I am post op 2 days. If I need to I will tell them I have a sore tummy but not go into too much detail. I'm not telling them I had surgery, my daughters 5 and I think that would just scare her. It's too much for some kids to understand at that age.

[scorpion509 107]

I have 7 and twins 3yo. so I think I will just tell them that mommy's belly hurt and if need might show it. I know their teacher in daycare had gallbladder removed and she just tell them that her belly is Oych!!! and they understand and was trying to do everything themselves. so I hope this would work for me as well. the 7 yo is bigger problem he like to hug mommy

[kryssaboo 11]

I told my 5yo a special doctor (ie.surgeon, so he didn't worry his regular doc might do the same to him) was going to make my inside tummy smaller so my outside tummy can be smaller. Plus made sure to let him know I'd be sore so he'd have to be gentle.

He accepted this, but bless him, I'm looking forward to when he doesn't say "but Mummy, your tummy is still big" when we talk about it!!

[KinnymomX3 144]

I was very honest with my 7,5 and 3 year old. I told them that I was going to get some of my tummy removed so that I could loose weight and be a healthier mommy for them . Believe it or not they really understood what was happening. My 3 year old would say we going to have a kinny mommy hence my name on this site. They even know I couldn't pick them up and that they could jump on me . They say mommy can't eat that when we are having dinner or they are snacking on things.

[Angelmom 30]

I agree with the above posters for the most part. I am always honest with my children so that they understand the world and life better. My twins always handle things with finesse! I'm amazed how children are much smarter than for what they are given credit. The only concern I can see for some children is that they might develop a fear of doctors if they know mom is hurt when she comes back from one. To prevent that, I would explain that I want to be a healthier mommy and that I want to get help from the doctors, and that I will have a sore tummy for a while and won't be able to eat as much...etc....and if you notice any kind of worry...just tell them that sometimes good things don't feel the best, but that they are really good to have done, and that you are brave and ok about it. Maybe that will help.

[Kirstyn1226 8]

I haven't been sleeved yet, but I had my lap-band removed on 7-19 and will hopefully be sleeved by the end of October/early November. When I came home from the lap-band removal, my then 3 year old, now 4 year old son wanted to be able to jump on my lap as usual. My husband and I explained that I had some boo boos on my tummy because my Dr. had to do surgery to help me feel better. We also explained that my tummy would be hurting for a while and that he needed to be very careful with me and that if he wanted to sit in my lap, he would have to climb up gently because I could not lift him. We also told him that I would have to go back to the Dr. and have this done again. He has been really good... one of my incisions is still scabbed and can be painful at times and he sees me clean it, put Neosporin , etc. He likes to pretend to be Doctor Ian, like Doc McStuffins, and pretends that he is giving me medicine and putting a bandaid on me to make me better. (He invented his own pretend medicine that makes everything better within 30 seconds and apparently its in liquid, pill and topical form!)

[Kimmie-sleeve 34]

I told my 4 year old that my tummy was broken, and the doctor was going to fix it so I could play on the floor more easily with him.

Kimmie

[Barisaxylady 154]

I told my 4 year old that my tummy was broken' date=' and the doctor was going to fix it so I could play on the floor more easily with him.

Kimmie[/quote']

I like that! My tummy is broken and the Dr has to fix it. How simple!