Devices and special needs equipment are one of the hardest things to find in the special needs world. What I mean by hard is all the amazing stuff is way expensive and not typically covered by insurance. So yes some items we have had to pay for out of pocket, some items we have had help from local foundations, and some items insurance has covered. In this post I will share out favorite Items from when Emma was first born to what we use now.
ROCK N' PLAY
When Emma was little she had really bad acid reflux as well as the newborn startle reflex that was out of control. We found that the Rock N' Play from Fisher Price was our saving grace for her (as it was for Ava too). Emma slept in the Rock N' Play for many months after she was born it helped with her reflux and it helped with her startle reflex as it kept her arms from flying around when she would get startled. Emma used the Rock N' Play through out the day up until she was about 25-30 pounds and about 2.5 years old. It is also a great way to do tube feeding if your child has a feeding tube it keeps them elevated and its comfortable. Here are some pics of her time in the Rock N' Play.....
DAY DREAMER
The Daydreamer was also great for Emma as it kept her on an incline which helps with reflux and being able to see things around her. She would also occasionally sleep in it just to change it up a bit. Another great option for gtube feedings.
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| *HACK* The keys in her hands are connected to balloons. This is also another great strategy to use to help hold on to the balloons better cause the sting can be hard to hold. So we tie the keys so she can hold the keeps easier but still be able to pull on the balloons. |
FOOTBALL BOTTLE HOLD (Hack)
Emma had a hard time holding on to her bottle. Her hands were so small and didn't have a ton of grasping skills for something that big so we got a football toy with all the holes in it and then cut out the bottom just the right size for her bottle. She was able to start holding her bottle and then eventually so held it all on her own.
TUMZEE - FOR TUMMY TIME
This was great to help Emma to start bearing weight through her arms and to help her hold up her head for tummy time. This strengthened a lot of her muscles that we couldn't get her to use during typical tummy time. I will say chunky thighs can get in the way LOL!
HUG-A-BOO SITTING SUPPORT
This supportive sitting device is very similar to a Boppy. However it a fully enclosed Boppy with hole for the legs. It's easier to see it in action than to explain it. See pics!
The Boppy
This is the one thing that we use DAILY and we still do even at 3 years old. We now have 3 Boppys and use them all! If you don't have one then get one. Where Emma cant sit up and who likes to stay in once place all the time, these boppys can help prop her up on the couch, help her be slightly elevated on the floor and helps under the arm for me when we are snuggling. There are many many more uses so honestly just get one!
TUMBLE FORM - GOTO SEAT - SWIVI HIGH CHAIR
These are our favorite seating options as Emma started to get bigger and didn't fit in her rock n' play anymore and other options outside the house. The first one is the tumble form we used this for playtime and feeding. It was a great way to keep her from always laying down. They are also a great item to take to family pictures it worked great!
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| Tumble Form covered with blanket makes a great sitting idea for pictures |
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| Eating in the tumble form |
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| Brushing teeth with sister in the tumble form |
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| playing in the tumble form |
Her high chair was another great seating device for us to use since it had 3 levels of recline which really helped due to her lack of head control. Her chair was called a Swivi seat and we got it from Walmart. She could use it for eating, playing and helping bake in the kitchen. I wish she still fit in the seat I loved that I could use it on the floor or attach it to a chair.
PRIMO TUB - NECK RING
This tub saved us! Once Emma got too big for her infant bathtub I didn't know what we were going to do. We found this tub and Emma fell in love with bathing. We got it at Babies R Us but I have seen them on amazon too! Best 20$ We ever spent! The neck ring is also a great option but our tub wasn't deep enough for her to float correctly. It worked great in pools and large tubs but our tub at home didn't work as well so it wasn't as beneficial for us. But again great for pools.
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| Primo Tub |
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| Loving Primo Tub |
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| Neck Ring - Loved it in Gma and Gpa big tub! |
SHOWER CHAIR
As Emma got too big for the Primo Tub I again started to panic but then we got the Rifton Wave shower chair with transfer system. It has been great for Emma.
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| Chair can be on the stander or placed right in the bottom of the tub like pic below |
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EARMUFFS - HEADPHONES
As Emma got older sound started to bother her more and more. So we took a chance on some headphones (earmuffs) that we found on amazon and BAM they worked like a charm so we also got the child size after the infant size. They are from a company called Ems for Kids.
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| Even work amazing at Monster Trucks (little cousin is using Emma's old ones) Ava is even using some they are great for everyone not just special needs kiddos! |
EAZYHOLD
These Eazyhold hand grips are great for helping them to learn how to hold on to items. Not only that it helps them be able to participate in things that maybe they couldn't because they can grasp items. Here are a few ways we have used them for Emma.
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| Holding wands at dance class |
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| Coloring with sister |
WUBBANUB PACIFIER
This binki saved us! Emma was so tiny and her suck was good but not strong enough to always keep her binki in her mouth. These wubbanub pacifiers helped to keep it in her mouth throughout the night so much better than a typical binki. I also have added a little hack that we learned to do with a pacifier and it saved us. Now Emma has a gtube so all meds go through the tube which is amazing and a big stress reliever.
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| She's not obsessed she's committed lol she has 4 different ones |
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| medicine hack! |
BEADED PLAY ARCH - Hack (make yourself)
Our vision therapist made this for us and Emma absolutely fell in love with it. We recently got a new bigger one that she can now play with in her new PPOD Chair (see below). Emma loves pulling on and swinging the beads around. She also loves it when we hang lights from it. It's easy to make its just made of PVC pipes and then we decorated it with duct tape.
STANDER
AT 12 months old Emma was fitted for a stander. Ours is called a Super Stand and we really like it. Its lays flat to put Emma in it and then we slowly raise her up to the angle we would like her to stand at.
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| It has a tray table that can stay on or be removed |
WHEELCHAIR - STINGRAY R82
This wheelchair has been incredible for Emma. It is very supportive for her trunk control and head control. I love that it can face either way, so she can face us or face out. I also love that it can recline completely flat which makes it nice incase we have to change her diaper since she doesn't fit on changing tables anymore. The Shade cover also comes down so far that we don't have to worry about sun, wind and/or rain. We also love that it is a wheelchair stroller
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| also has a tray table for work at school |
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| you can see the canopy on top |
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| great head support |
PPOD CHAIR
This chair has been our most recent equipment purchase. I wish we didn't wait so long to purchase this item. Yes it is very very costly but o boy do we love it. Plus Emma gets to sit up more at home instead of just laying down and most importantly she is comfortable its her chill chair!
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| she loves it so so much! |
MONITORS
IBABY MONITOR AND OWLET
Our favorite monitors to watch over Emma are the ibaby video monitor and the Owlet monitor. We have had both monitors since Emma was a month old. To be able to watch her heart rate and oxygen levels was such a peaceful feeling. Then to be able to record any movement with the video monitor was great it would catch seizures that sometimes we might have missed. The owlet also alerted us to actually get a sleep study done due to lots of oxygen drops and sure enough severe sleep apnea (admitted to PICU during sleep study it was so bad she was taking 2 breathes a minute) So scary without the owlet we would have never known.
FEEDING TUBE DIAPER BAG HACK
After Emma got her feeding tube I was not excited to carry around one more bag. So instead I decided to get a new diaper bag backpack and turned it into a feeding bag along with a diaper bag. It's big enough to carry g-tube pump, feeding bag, as well as typical diaper bag supplies. I got the diaper bag off of amazon, then I got grommets for a shower curtain from Walmart.
As we find more items or if we think of anymore we will definitely come back and add them. We have many more items that we love but these ones are the ones we use the most and that we feel the most passionate about. I hope that this post can help as you start or continue on your special needs journey. I always like to do research before purchasing an item but there isn't much out there to give info from a special needs point of view so I really hope this helps.
