Eating and drinking before surgery
Children who are having surgery must stop eating and drinking before their operation. This is important because if there is food or liquid in your child’s stomach during the anaesthetic, it could come up into the back of the throat and damage his or her lungs.
Children are more comfortable if they do not wait for longer than necessary without food and drink. Children having an afternoon operation who miss their breakfast may feel more unwell after their operation, so it is important to try and make sure that they eat this meal.
We give the following timings in clinic depending on if we expect the operation to be in the morning or afternoon. Please be aware that this may change. You will be given final instructions when you are phoned by the nurse the day before surgery.
Children having surgery in the morning
- Normal dinner the night before.
- Miss breakfast in the morning.
- Water till 6.30am
Breastfed babies may feed till 4am on the day of surgery.
Children having surgery in the afternoon
- Light breakfast on the day of surgery to be completed by 6.30am
- Water till 11am
- Breastfed babies may feed till 8am on the day of surgery