Night/day of operation guidelines

For your child's safety, it is very important that you follow these instructions the night before and the day of a procedure or surgery. The procedure or surgery may need to be rescheduled if they are not followed.

Type of feed and number of hours before surgery or procedure to stop liquids and meals

• Stop 2 hours before procedure -- Any J-tube feeds
• Stop 3 hours before procedure -- clear liquids (by mouth or G-tube)
• Stop 5 hours before procedure -- breast milk (by mouth or G-tube)
• Stop 7 hours before procedure -- formula (by mouth or G-tube)
• Stop at midnight the night before procedure -- full meal (by mouth)

Types of liquid or food allowed

• Clear liquids: Water, Pedialyte, yellow Gatorade, apple juice, white grape juice, Jell-O, popsicles. No red or purple liquids.
• Breast milk: Breast milk, fresh or mixed
• Formula: Cow's milk, infant or adult formulas
• Usual meal: Any foods are fine, even fatty foods, fast foods, cheeseburger, pizza, sausage, eggs

If your child has a condition like glycogen storage disease or diabetes, and can't be without food or liquids for a long time, talk with their specialty doctor about a plan. They will talk with the doctor who is doing the procedure.

For your child's comfort, do not eat or drink in front of your child while they are not able to eat or drink before or after surgery.

ALERT: Call your child's doctor, nurse, or clinic if you have any concerns or if your child has special health care needs not covered by this information.