(0-3yo)

Advice & Resources

Advice for Parents and Caregivers

Be prepared—have all supplies available and all material prepared and ready to go before starting a pouch change.

Stay calm—your child can sense when you are anxious so staying calm will help them stay calm.

Be aware of your facial expressions as your child can tell when you are upset, fearful or anxious.

Try not to be over-protective. Although your child has an ostomy they need to be allowed to live as normally as possible and participate in as many activities as possible as other children of the same age.

It is ok to mix and match products from different companies (Make sure they are compatible).

Support & Resources:

Websites

American College of Surgeons Pediatric Ostomy Home Skills Program 

https://www.facs.org/education/patienteducation/skills-programs/ostomy-program 

This site provides written and video content to master ostomy care at home. 

Shadow Buddies: Ostomy Buddy Scoop Sheet 

https://shadowbuddies.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/OSTOMY 

Shadow Buddies Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides condition-specific dolls designed to help normalize medical conditions for children. There are over 30 different Shadow Buddies including a “Pre-op Buddy” to help prepare children for surgery. The Ostomy Buddy comes with a stoma and a pouch. Ostomy Shadow Buddies are sponsored by Hollister, Inc. Call for more information 1-888-808-7456. Shadow Buddies also offers activities such “Pink Parties” and “Superhero Parties” for boys and girls with medical conditions.  

Ostomy supply company educational materials: 

Coloplast: Life After Your Child’s Ostomy: 

https://www.coloplast.us/Global/US/Ostomy/Life%20After%20Your%20Child’s%20Ostomy%20Surgery.pdf 

ConvaTec: Caring for a Child with an Ostomy: https://meplus.convatec.com/article 

Hollister: https://www.hollister.com/en/ostomycare

**There are videos on Youtube that parents can visit. Many parents have posted videos on how to change the pouching system.**

Support belts and pouch covers:

Benik ostomy belts: https://www.benik.com

Ostomy Armor: https://ostomyarmor.com 

Gus Gear: https://gusgear.net

Nu-Hope Labs: https://nu-hope.com

Hope, support, and finding community

Parent Stories

Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like). Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).

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