Objective To deeply understand the lived experience and needs of family caregivers caring for adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)，and to provide a reference for development of health education strategies in clinical settings for IBD families. Methods Purposive sampling method was used to select 16 family caregivers of IBD adolescents in July 2023. The participants were interviewed in a semi-structured approach, and the interview data were collected using phenomenological research methodology. Then themes were distilled by applying Colaizzi′s 7-step phenomenological analysis. Results A total of 5 themes and 14 sub-themes were extracted, namely, complex psychological burdens (disbelief and non-acceptance, worry and anxiety, self-blame and guilt), heavy family caregiving burdens (family financial difficulties, family tension, disruption of family life), adequate internal knowledge base (enhancement of disease-related knowledge, communication skills), well-developed external support systems (reliance on family support, family solidarity, refusal to be "specially treated" by society), perceived positive changes (adaptation to caregiver roles, reordering of life priorities, adjustment of life style behaviors). Conclusion Family caregivers of IBD adolescent have complex psychological experiences and heavy caregiving burdens. Healthcare professionals should pay attention to caregivers′ psychological burdens, strengthen disease-related knowledge and skills education, and unite family and social multi-support systems to help caregivers foster positive caregiving experiences, so as to improve their psychological status, reduce their caregiving burdens, and enhance the quality of caregiving.