Supporting Communication Needs While Your Child is Intubated

Important information:

It can be difficult to support your child when they are awake but unable to speak due to intubation. These strategies from speech-language pathology and child life will help you communicate with your child and help them cope.

Instructions for caregivers to communicate with their intubated child:

• Make sure your child is awake and focused on what you are saying.

• Keep instructions short and simple (for example: only one step).

• Praise your child when they are trying to tell you something, even if it is hard to understand.

• Make sure you look at your child when you are waiting for a response. Try not to interrupt if they are trying to respond.

• Ask questions that can be answered with yes or no.

• Identify one way for your child to respond "yes" and one way for "no". Keep this the same every time you ask a question. Remind them how to respond yes or no. The easiest way to show yes and no may be a head nod or shake. If your child cannot move their head, try hand or foot movements (thumbs up or down, squeeze hands, wiggle toes).

• Keep yes or no questions short and simple.

• Avoid statements like "If you want the TV on, squeeze my hand.” Ask simple questions like "Do you want the TV on?"

• Avoid questions with negatives like "Do you not want a pillow?” These kinds of questions can be confusing.

• When offering choices, ask one at a time. Avoid offering more than 1 choice per question: "Do you want TV or music?" Ask about each choice separately: "Do you want TV?" Yes or no, "Do you want music?" Yes or no.

• Avoid asking open-ended questions like “What do you want?”

• Start by asking broad questions and then ask more specific questions based on your child’s responses.

• Stop and wait after you ask a question. Allow extra time for your child to respond to your question.

These are general strategies for communication. If you have further questions or concerns regarding your child’s communication, please speak to your child’s medical team. Your child may benefit from a speech-language therapy consult to further support their communication with additional strategies or augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) supports.

Instructions for caregivers to support coping:

Provide information about hospital stay  

• Location: “You are at the hospital. You are safe."

• Medical status: "You had an accident or surgery. You hurt your ______ and your body is getting the help it needs.”

• Immobility: “You cannot talk right now because you have a plastic tube in your mouth helping you breathe. We are keeping your hands at your side to keep the breathing tube safe.”

Address physical concerns and needs

• Pain: “Are you in pain?” yes or no. “Is it your _____ (head, belly, arm)?”

• Discomfort: “Are you uncomfortable?” yes or no. “Do you need/feel ______ (itchy, cold/warm, lights on/off, suction, change positions)?”

• Comforting touch: “Do you want to _____ (hold hands, hug your stuffed animal)?”

Offer emotional and coping support

• Presence of caregiver: “_____ (Daddy, Mommy, nurse) is here with you.”

• Engaging activities: “Do you want to do something fun?” yes or no. “Would you like to_____ (watch a movie, listen to music, do an activity)?”

• Validation and encouragement: “It is okay to feel scared or frustrated right now. This is really hard. Your job is to rest and let us help you. You are doing a good job _______ (following directions, staying calm).”  

Remember  

• Connecting with your child is the most meaningful part of communication!

• Offering choices can give a child a sense of control, especially when most of their hospital experience is out of their control.

For further coping support, please ask the medical team for a child life consult. The child life specialist can help with play, diagnosis education, procedural preparation, or support.

Contact your speech-language pathologist with any questions or concerns.

Center for Childhood Communication
1-800-551-5480

For non-urgent issues, send your speech-language pathologist a message in the MyCHOP portal.

Reviewed March 2026 by Kimberly Bradley, MS, CCC-SLP