Should I Practice Lying Still with my Child at Home before their Mri Appointment?

Yes, we highly recommend practicing lying still with your child at home before their appointment. Because staying still for 30–45 minutes is one of the biggest challenges for young patients, practicing in a familiar environment can make the actual scan day go much smoother and may even help avoid the need for sedation.

To make this effective and stress-free, we suggest the following approach:

• Make it a game: Frame the practice as a fun activity. You can ask them to “be a statue” or pretend they are an “astronaut rocketing into space.”
• Start small: Begin by practicing on a couch or bed with “quiet arms and legs.”
• Build endurance: Start with short intervals and gradually extend the amount of time you ask your child to remain perfectly still.
• Explain the goal: Help them understand that keeping body movement small prevents the pictures from becoming blurred.

Our team has seen that structured preparation and practice genuinely matter. In fact, programs using tools like mock scanner training and education have achieved significant success in helping children complete exams calmly and safely.

Please consult with a healthcare professional for diagnosis and treatment advice. Results may vary based on individual patient conditions.

• How to Prepare a Child for an MRI: A Step-by-Step Parent Guide