INTRODUCTION: Research on parental pain management tends to focus on children’s postoperative pain. Little is known about how parents perceive and manage other types of acute pain in their children. AIM: To explore how parents who sought the Emergency Medical Service with their child perceive and manage children’s acute pain at home. METHOD: Ten parents with children 1-6 years were recruited in three Emergency Medical Services in the area of Stockholm and were interviewed by telephone. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed through qualitative content analysis. RESULT: Parents were versatile in perceiving pain in their children, e g by interpreting verbal, emotional, behavioural and physical cues in the child. Although parents used various pain management strategies, such as providing emotional support, facilitating, distracting the child or administering analgesics, they expressed uncertainty and difficulties to manage the children’s pain adequately. The child’s pain awakened a variety of feelings in the parent, such as worry, resignation, frustration, compassion and responsibility. CONCLUSION: The result indicates that parents would benefit from support from health care professionals in managing children’s acute pain at home. The paediatric nurse may support parents’ competence and self-reliance in managing children’s pain, which in turn may alleviate the suffering of children.