Just hours before our family trip to the Jersey Shore, I got a call from my son’s school, he’d fallen at the park and needed medical care. At Urgent Care, I saw a deep gash on his shin, muscle exposed and bleeding. Calmly, he told me, “I fell on a stick.”

Faced with two options—being strapped down or held, I chose to hold him as he screamed through ten stitches. Once patched up, he bounced back to his usual self, but I couldn’t help wondering how traumatic the experience was and how I could better support him emotionally.

The strategies below come from research, clinical advice, and our own experience. They offer practical, evidence-based ways caregivers can help children cope with medical procedures and build resilience.

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