10 Jul 2025

Should you lie to your children about pain?

From Afternoons, 1:41 pm on 10 July 2025

Off the back of Jesse's chat with American psychiatric nurse practitioner Allison Sweet Grant about lying to kids about pain, we speak to an expert here about how she deals with children and pain. 

Nicola Woollaston, manages the Play specialist team at Starship Hospital and says there are different techniques depending on children's age.

Stylised illustration of child scared of pain at the dentist.

Parents might lure their children to the doctor or dentist under the guise there won't be any pain, but experts say that's not a good idea. Photo: RNZ