Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Adapted Ideas

One thing that we have done for Nicholas at bath time is to allow his bath seat to support his head while he moves and plays in the water. We start his bath with him sitting on his bath seat and wash his hair, face, and body. After that, we place the bath seat sideways at the end of the tub and place Nicholas's head on it. That way he has head support and is able to freely move his arms and legs as he chooses. He grabs for toys and moves more than he ever does out of the water. We have started doing water therapy with him twice a day: once in the morning and once in the evening so that he can move those muscles without the pressure of gravity holding him back. We are also seriously considering buying one of those above-ground swimming pools for our backyard this summer so Nicholas can enjoy swimming outside.
After Nicholas's physical therapist, Katie, gave him this Tumble Form Seat, she suggested we buy or make a small table for Nicholas's toys. Yesterday, my mom and I went to Toys R Us to buy Nicholas's birthday gifts (he will be 1 in a week!) and we found this tray. Since the tray wasn't tall enough when placed on the ground, I grabbed several magazines that I had lying around and placed them underneath the tray. The magazines elevated it enough that Nicholas can easily play with his toys. The tray also has compartments on the side that Nicholas enjoys pushing his toys into. He also tries to push the tray off the magazine ledge, but has a difficult time with his limited strength. We think that him even trying to push it off helps with his arm strength!

This is just the start of adapted ideas for us. As Nicholas grows we will be trying to come up with more creative solutions to meet all of his daily needs.

3 comments:

Themorrisbunch said...

Wonderful!
We have that same tray, and the boys use it in the car on trips to do their school work on.
Is there anything that you might need for Nicholas? Please let me know, we have a TON of stuff, or we might have ideas for things to get!

Cass said...

Jessica, I am so pleased that I ran into this post of yours when I did. First of all, we have that same table from Toys R Us, and it works well with my kids when they sit in the Bumbo seats. But the reason I'm thrilled to have read your post today is your idea about the bath. We use a bath pad called the Safer Bather, and I think I can use it the same way as you use N's bath seat--sideways, at the shallow end. I like it! Will try this soon. Thanks for the idea. : ) And God bless.

The Lane Family said...

What great ideas!! It would be nice if you did not have to think of these things but you you guys are certainly good at it!! May God continue to bless and guide you.