|
Equipment ideas ‘They said what?’ Bathing your child
Lifting and carrying a baby or young child may be difficult for many disabled parents. Adapted equipment may help but there is little available commercially. We look at some examples of equipment that has been custom designed for use by individual parents. (see Equipment ideas)
|
 |
‘They said what?’ by Jenny Morris is an information booklet for disabled parents, which explores some common myths about disabled parents and community care legislation.
DPPi has updated its information sheet Bathing your child
Equipment ideas
The DPPi information service often receives enquiries about adapted
equipment, especially items that may enable a disabled parent to lift and carry his or her child. An information sheet on the subject is currently being developed and further solutions are welcomed.
Described here are various items of adapted equipment that have been custom designed for use by individual parents. Unless otherwise specified, the equipment featured here has been made available by the UK charity REMAP. Occupational therapist Ulina Chorley describes the buggy (pictured above). The other items are featured in the REMAP 40th Anniversary Year Book.
Adapted buggy
The buggy (pictured above) was adapted to enable a disabled mother to go into town independently or take her younger child to school without requiring help. The mother sustained an injury to her lower back in a fall and is also registered Deaf. The injury to her back causes difficulty in bending, lifting and standing tolerance, and also does not allow use of a conventional baby sling.
Initially the use of a conventional baby seat was considered but the seat proved to be too large to be fully enclosed within the buggy cover. REMAP made a wooden seat, but this placed the baby in an upright position. Following discussion, REMAP sourced a baby seat used for supermarket shopping trolleys. This came complete with body harness and placed the baby in a more suitable position. The seat is very cleverly positioned on the buggy using the base of a computer chair with two levers – one to move the seat forwards and backwards and the other to enable the seat to be fully rotated for ease of access.
One-handed baby sling
Following an accident, a mother was only able to use one of her arms. She found it difficult to lift and carry her baby, and commercial baby carriers were not suitable since she was not able to lift the baby in the first instance.
A small hammock (pictured here) was made up with the ends attached to a 100mm wide sling that would go over her shoulders. Parachute cord tensioners ran along the edges of the hammock and were set by a toggle clamp. The baby is placed on the hammock. The sling is then put around the mother’s shoulder and the edge tensioner cords tightened. This has the effect of drawing the baby to her and lifting her in the sling. She can now pick up and carry her baby safely.
|
 |
Height adjustable trolley
|
The mother of a boy with cerebral palsy has arthritis and cannot pick him up or grip anything. She needed a variable height table to transfer him between the toilet, bath and bed.
A powered elevating table on a trolley was constructed (pictured above). A base unit on castors was made using rectangular section steel tube. The table top is elevated by a scissor jack raising mechanism which is powered by an electric linear actuator from a hoist. The table height can be adjusted between 430mm (for the toilet), to 900mm (for changing her son’s clothes and putting him to bed). The trolley dimensions were optimised to allow it to be moved around and between the bathroom and bedroom. |
Baby lifter
A mother with general weakness in her hands, arms and back cannot carry heavy weights. She was concerned that she would not be able to care for her new baby properly.
A mini forklift truck was constructed (pictured above) with a ‘C’ frame for a base and a vertical pillar that contained a shaft/guides on which the lifting frame moved. A winding drum driven by a windscreen wiper motor provided the motive effort and a rechargeable battery provided the power. A suitable container was constructed on the lifting frame to hold the baby and the unit was mounted on castors to enable it to be moved around the house. The height of lift can be adjusted from floor level to 1 metre.
The baby lifter is in daily use and the mother doesn’t know how she would manage without it.
|
|
Pushchair brake
 |
A mother with epilepsy wanted a brake that would automatically immobilise a pushchair if she had a seizure.
A brake lever was connected to the brake via a cable (pictured above). To release the brake, she places her wrist under the rod and plastic ball and, by squeezing the brake lever, a small latch falls into place to hold the lever closed. The lever remains closed while the wrist is lifting the ball. If the hand is removed, the ball falls: this releases the latch, which applies the brake. |
REMAP, Hazeldene, Ightham, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 9AD, UK
Tel: 0845 1300 456
Fax: 0845 1300 789
E-mail: info@remap.org.uk
Website: www.remap.org.uk
REMAP is a registered charity which designs, manufactures and supplies technical equipment to disabled people, free of charge, where no commercial equipment is available or suitable. REMAP will modify commercial equipment to suit individual needs. There are various REMAP groups throughout the UK.
Baby seat/rollator adaptation
Julia Redhead has avascular necrosis and cannot walk unaided. She wanted to get out and about with her baby so asked UK charity Demand if it could devise a way of modifying a baby seat, which fits in the car, to be attached onto Julia’s rollator. This would enable her to take her baby in the car and, when the destination was reached, to lock the baby seat to the rollator and continue on foot. The adaptation (pictured above and on front cover) has the effect of creating a pushchair that can carry a baby, yet can also support Julia safely.
Demand has also produced a baby sling that enabled a mother with hemiplegia to carry her baby with one arm, and is also working on an adaptation for an electric buggy for a mother who has multiple sclerosis.
Demand – Design and Manufacture for Disability
The Old Chapel
Mallard Road
Abbots Langley
Hertfordshire
WD5 0GQ
UK
Tel: 01923 681800
Fax: 01923 682400
Website: www.demand.org.uk |
 |
Demand is a registered charity which designs and manufactures one-off pieces of equipment for individuals where the need cannot be met in any other way. Can respond to enquiries within a 100 mile radius of Abbots Langley.
Trailer for children
 |
Evtec, the UK importers of the Mini Crosser scooter range, also imports a bicycle trailer that has been specially adapted by Mini Crosser to be attached to the scooter. The trailer (pictured below and right) may, with a little alteration, be attached to the back of a wheelchair or other electric scooter.
Cost of trailer: approximately £600.
Contact Glen Till for details of local suppliers.
Tel: 01455 554242
E-mail: sales@ev-technology.co.uk |
| |
 |
Buggy boards
A buggy board attaches to the back of a pushchair and the child stands on the board supported between the parent’s arms and the pushchair and is able to ride along. The Bath Institute of Medical Engineering (BIME) – a design and development organisation linked to Bath University – is trying to find out if there is any demand for an attachment system for linking buggy boards to wheelchairs.
There are, naturally, safety concerns for power chair use and also if the child is behind the wheelchair as they are then without the additional supervision or support of someone pushing. However, there may be families where a parent is pushed in a wheelchair and the option of a buggy board would be a useful interim solution for a toddler who is keen to walk but tires over distances.
Nina Evans at BIME would like to hear from you.
Tel: 01225 824103
E-mail: info@bime.org.uk
Website: www.bime.org.uk
They said what?’
Jenny Morris
Published for the National Centre for Disabled Parents
ISBN 1 85935 195 6
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has funded DPN and DPPi at the National Centre for Disabled Parents to distribute an information booklet for disabled parents. Called ‘They said what?’ it explores some common myths about disabled parents and community care legislation.
While the title and the cartoons in the publication may present the issue in a humorous way, the consequences of such inaccuracies can be very serious. Disabled parents often find that they are passed from adults’ to children’s services when trying to get help in their parenting role. This can lead to them being denied the support they are entitled to under community care legislation. Some parents then find that they cannot get help from children’s services until their family is in crisis and this can mean their ability to look after their children is called into question.
If someone is disabled they are entitled to an assessment of their needs for community care services, and government guidance says that such an assessment should include ‘family roles and responsibilities’. The guidance, Fair Access to Care Services, goes on to say 'In the course of assessing an individual's needs, councils should recognise that adults, who have parenting responsibilities for a child under 18 years, may require help with these responsibilities'.
Some parents have been told that they can only receive help with personal care and not help with looking after their children. This is not true. The government clarified, in its practice guidance, that community care assessments must cover the assistance that someone needs to carry out ‘family and other social roles and responsibilities’ and that ‘family responsibilities’ include ‘parenting roles and responsibilities’.
DPPi and DPN hope to increase knowledge among both parents and professionals through this publication. It is available free of charge.
Print copies are available from the National Centre for Disabled Parents.
Tel: 020 7263 3088
E-mail: info@dppi.org.uk
For other formats contact Susannah Swinton, Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Tel: 01904 615906
E-mail: susannah.swinton@jrf.org.uk
Download booklet from www.jrf.org.uk
|
 |
Bathing your child
 |
DPPi has recently updated its Bathing your child practical information sheet. This contains tips, strategies and ideas for bathing babies and young children. It also gives details of useful equipment, organisations and resources. Available in standard and large print, Braille and on audiocassette (free to disabled parents, £3.50 to others) or download from our website (coming soon)
“As a disabled parent I found it useful and timely as I am looking for a bath at present.” Disabled mother
“It is easy to read and well presented. An excellent guide. Well done.” Midwife, parentcraft co-ordinator |
|
