Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Modification Attempts

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Homemade attempts at a bath chair


The quest is still on to find ways that Noah will learn to love a bath without his toddler tub. The manatee just isn't working no matter what I do or how I force it on him. Then Chris and I spend gobs of time trying to calm him down after his bath in order to even try to go to sleep. I dismantled one of his highchairs that we tote to various places and sit him in occasionally in the family room. I stripped it off all the metal, the padding and reclined it. I thought I had found the perfect fix. But Noah was still unsure of it and it slid all over the bottom of the tub floor because it doesn't have suction cups. So Chris rushed to Target and got a bath mat, and we're hoping that helps the cause. I really would love him to enjoy a bath like other kids, to be able to play with toys or push them around or even swat at them with his feet or hands.

I also purchased him a toddler indoor swing from especialneeds.com. I thought it would work. It has a five point harness, however the straps cut into the sides of Noah's neck because they aren't soft, and he still wants to lean forward and sideways. Chris says we should keep it, that Noah will eventually learn, and in my mind I'm still trying to find ways to modify it so it will work. I hate feeling like I keep failing at equipment for him. On the brightside however, a Convaid representative has been diligently attempting contact with the equipment vendor we've been going through. It sounds like if I'm patient that a cuddlebug trial may be in our future. So far he's been unable to make contact with them, but I'm still hopeful they'll make a connection soon and that we can try something that has the potential of working for Noah.

The weather has us cooped in again this week. No sensory class today, and no pool therapy last week. And his therapist got stuck on the way to the house today, so no therapy today either. At least we had a miniature break in the weather for one day and were able to get together to celebrate my birthday with my mom and Chris. We had to sing happy birthday three times because it gave Noah the giggles. Maybe someday he'll be trying to sing along. He certainly loves birthdays. It's a combination I think of the candles and the singing that he seems to enjoy. Noah also loved the fleece pajama pants that his daddy gifted me with. We placed them on his lap on his highchair and he clung to them looking down to pet them occasionally. I think he liked the fuzzy feeling of them. It was cute. Anything that will trigger a positive sensory response in him is truly wonderful.

Chris and I have also decided that it's time to redecorate Noah's room a bit. He's no longer a baby. Even though his skills may very much make him look like an infant, he's simply a toddler. And a change of scenery might be nice for him. Noah has latched on recently to Blues Clues, and seems to have put Elmo on the back burner. Blues Clues is a little harder to find because it's no longer being made, but I was able to find some cheap stickers to throw up on his walls and some curtains that were on clearance at Target. Noah won't mind that it won't be fancy and elaborate. It's just time to put away the baby decor. We hope to make that our spring project, Chris and I are slow to get things accomplished these days. There never seems to be enough time to do all we need to. We want to make sure the room stays simple. We aren't going to paint the walls a color or do anything loud, as I think it would be overwhelming for Noah sensory wise, not to mention financially something we can't do. He can't focus on things that are overly busy. He needs simple. And everyone needs a "zen-like" place to sleep. Noah has also outgrown his baby changing table. I researched pedatric changing tables, and without surprise they are in the thousands! I found a really nice one by Sammons Preston with drawers, and doesn't look like a doctor's table that you attach to your wall. And I bet a million dollars that Medicaid won't go near it. I don't even know if I could score that on appeal if special needs children can't get beds approved how on earth would I even think I could get a pedatric changing table approved? And the list of things that Noah needs just keeps growing...

"Sleep is an Art" (That Noah has not learned).
Unknown.

Love,


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Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.