parenting with an sci

Hello nikita and thankyou for posting, i am sure you have a lot of insight that you can share with other members who have the concerns you talk of....


This is the link to the discussion that has some talk of parenting that DJ has mentioned:

inspiredsciforum.com/thread/415/doing-speeches

Great post nikita Also, do you think you can post the article on here as well incase others need to know in the future?

Parenting article-online pub.pdf (396.19 KB)

I wasn't sure if the article would be too big to attach but it worked...i'll try to post pics too...

ok...so first...planning is key when it comes to parenting....don't assume you and ur partner can manage on ur own....its a struggle for every new parent regardless of ability and many able-bodied people get extra help from family members or live-in nannies so don't feel bad about needing help or feel you need to be a super mom/dad to prove to everyone you can be a parent in spite of your disability...its better that you have the help, assistive devices, services etc in place before the baby comes than get caught off guard and scramble after the fact....I say this from experience cause hubby and I felt this way and I really had a supermom complex and then when baby came and you start running on 3hrs of sleep you burn out fast...luckily we had family who stepped in and helped with nights until we found a night nanny who came from 11pm to 7am so we could get some rest and be functional in the day...by month 4 baby was sleeping almost through the night so we didn't need her anymore.

as for me, I didn't want to put pressure on myself and feel overwhelmed or discouraged..i was very determined to master childcare but I took it one step at a time...focused first on breastfeeding in bed...then breastfeeding in chair...then practised bottlefeeding cause we were giving her both...once I got comfy with those I worked on changing her diaper, then dressing and transferring her from one surface to another...etc.

in my article I divide childcare tasks into 6 groups: feeding, dressing/changing, bathing, transporting, leisure, bedtime  so I can tell you all how I managed each one...i'll put in another post so they don't get too lengthy :-)

feeding:
--in bed I had an electric bed that I could raise up to a reclined sitting position so I could feed her at night...I found an inexpensive bassinet with collapsible sides at walmart so I could keep her in bed beside me and then slide her in/out for feedings.
--in my chair I used a breastfeeding cushion that had loops on the ends so I could loop a belt through (originally I had tourniquets tied together like a giant elastic band) so I could pull it over my head and it tied around me and my chair so it didn't slip off and then I put a pillow on top of it so the baby was high enough to feed without me slouching over which caused neck/back pain.
--bottlefeeding in chair I had her on breastfeeding cushion and then used a skinny pillow to wrap around her like a hotdog in a bun so her head was supported while I fed her..i'll post pic
--as a toddler I found it easier to feed her in stroller because I could put my elbow on tray for support and balance as I transferred her from my lap into stroller...I also had a booster chair with tray that was tied on to a regular chair in kitchen that worked well because it was a good wheelchair height and I would lean my elbow on table for support to transfer her into booster chair

This is excellent info & pictures nikita, thanks again for sharing! It'll definitely be helpful to many I think you've done great managing to have a baby and taking care of her. Even though you're a "complete" quad you find ways of doing things that everyone else able bodied can which is amazing and I'm sure reading this info you've posted will inspire/motivate others with injuries too. (shawzfun, I'm looking at you!)