Background: Admission of a critically ill child to the intensive care unit can cause anxiety and stress to the parents.

Objective: To explore the experiences of parents in taking care of their critically ill child in the Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or Paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in  a Malaysian hospital.

Method: A total of ten parents were interviewed and selected by purposive sampling. The data was then analysed using thematic analysis based on Colaizzi’s (1978) approach.

Findings: The study identified four emergent themes from the data, which were participation in care, participation in decision making, challenges and coping mechanisms throughout the child’s hospitalization. Parents have emphasized on the importance of their participation in care and decision making of their child. They also have their own coping mechanisms that would make the journey less traumatic to them.

Conclusion: Nurses must enhance their communication skills and improve nurse-parent relationships.