Visiting

When my son had his tonsils removed at Child's Hospital, he was 5 years old. Child's  hospital specialized in cleft palate surgery,  which was performed when the child was about one year of age. So during the 4 days or so when my child was hospitalized, we saw a number of year-old babies who were patients, either pre-or post-surgery. 

   The routine was that the babies would be strapped in their high chairs and the nurses would wheel them with them, chatting and socializing with them, and stationing them in the doorways as they visited the rooms of other patients. 

  Parents then could stay with their children overnight, as I did for the several nights he was in the hospital. As I recall, the length of hospitalization for post  palate surgery was quite a bit longer, maybe 10-12 days or so. As a result, many parents could not  be present for much of their child's hospital stay. 

  Those babies had to be carefully observed during their recovery period, and measures were taken to keep them from crying, which could adversely affect their surgical repairs. And it is true that the babies were mostly silent; I never heard them cry, thanks to the constant attention of the nurses. 

 The protocol was that unless the parent(s)  could stay with their child for the entire duration of the hospital stay, they were not to visit at all, the reason being that the child would cry when the parent left.