Mother with Children BannerVincent was born at 26 weeks and had severe IVH and PVL. He has a mild-moderate hemiplegia as a result but he is a very capable little child. has been much better than Gary and I expected - I guess because we had no idea what cerebral palsy (CP) would be like when we were first told Vincent had also just begun to sit at age 12 months corrected (15 months). I remember because he ate his birthday cake sitting in a high chair, his body wedged in with towels so that he was fully supported. pleased - seeing him sitting up eating cake looked so "normal" after the dreadful year we'd had! But he wouldn't have been able to sit up without this support. (We were showing off for the relatives!) It was great when Vincent started commando crawling. best thing for spastic CP because weight-bearing is so good for high tone. In fact, it's one developmental delay that has a positive spin-off. a toddler is walking, the weight bearing is only on the legs, so the arms
That is, unless you can get your child to play crawling games after they've begun to walk or play "wheelbarrows" - neither of which Vincent would have bar of, once he learned to walk. Vincent walked on his second birthday (21 months corrected). now, he wears an AFO which he doesn't mind. He leads a happy active life, although he won't usually walk more than about 100 yards. He has has two Botox treatments with another one due next month and these have helped to keep his spasticity under control. With an Early Intervention program, you'll probably be given exercises and therapeutic games to play. Anything that encourages crawling will be a big help - that probably means you'll be doing a lot of crawling Your child will probably learn to support her weight on one arm or elbow so she can reach for things with the other, and this will be good forYou can encourage this by placing objects that she wants in places where she has to reach out to get to them.
I always kept interesting things in the bottom kitchen cupboard (egg beater, plastic measuring cups, ballsand left the cupboard open for Vincent to get into. Once he'd got there, his desire to get into the cupboard would motivate him to take his weight on one elbow and stretch out his other arm. I've heard that swimming is great for spastic CP although we haven't got around to that yet. When Vincent was little I used to get in a big bubble bath with him and play "washing machines" - he would sit on my lap leaning back to take the stress off his tendons and I'd hold him while he kicked with both legs for a minute or two at a time. The aim of the game was to make lots of bubbles. We'd play with the bubbles for a few minutes until they went flat and then it would be washing machineWe'd do this until we both looked like prunes. When Vincent was a baby, he was quite tolerant of passive stretchingWhen he learned to crawl and later walk, he became "the
boss of Vincent" and would only cooperate with his physiotherapy program if he felt like it, which wasn't very often. I thought this attitude, although inconvenient, was good for his self-esteem. We've had the most success with games that Vincent feels he's in charge of. Self-esteem is another thing you can work on with your child. with a disability needs bucketloads. I think Early Intervention programs can help most when the goal of each "task" is explained well so you can find other ways to get there, if you need to. to have encouragement and support when you're spending a lot of time and energy on your child's mobility. Being the mother of a special needs child is a unique kind of honor. Life with Vincent has been so rewarding for us. is the mother of Jessica and Vincent (born prematurely at 26 weeks). website and listowner with her husband Gary Hardy. They live in Melbourne, “Charlichair – where was this product when I was trying to bath a new born and a toddler at the same time.
This is a ‘high chair’ type device built for water – with patents and safety approvals.. Also fantastic for kids with Cerebral Palsy. Loved the product .” "Showers and hair washing was getting very hard. If I got a visitor I'd be like "I just want to shower while you're here!" But when my husband went away for 2 weeks then 4 weeks I knew it was going to be impossible. Best "baby" thing I've seen xxx" "The Charli chair made washing him a lot safer as I didnt have to worry about him slipping under the water." "Sending out a HUGE thank you to the inventors of the Charlichair. "The CharliChair will be worth its weight in baby wash for those who don’t have a bath and for those who just plain find it difficult to bend over a tub." "We've used our Charlichair with our 6 week old twice now and he loves it! instead of big tears, which is what we got with the regular bath, he just sits there calm and relaxed and enjoys the experience. Thanks for the great solutions."
"The CharliChair makes it easier to bath a baby especially for people with limited mobility" "What an awesome idea! I wish we had this when the boys were little." "With the CharliChair shower chair I was able to have a shower "hands free" without the anxiety that comes with holding a slippery baby." "We've used our Charlichair with our 6-week old twice now and he loves it! Instead of big tears, which is what we got with the regular bath, he just sits there calm and relaxed and enjoys the experience. Thanks for the great solution!" "Probably the best thing is using it in the shower & not having to bend over, great for my sore back so I could imagine those without a bath & those with back problems it would be a godsend. "We see a lot of new & interesting baby products here at Best Buys. The Charlichair is one of the most interesting ideas we've seen recently." "My 5 month old LOVES her showers using Charlichair, Mummy LOVES the ease it provides in the shower."