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Another Request for Help from Alex - For parents with arthritis Options
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Sally-NRAS
#1 Posted : Friday, October 22, 2010 10:53:04 AM Quote
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Posts: 78
My name is Alex and I am studying Product Design Engineering at the University of Glasgow. I’ve decided to use my final year project as an opportunity to design something to help the daily lives of people with arthritis. I’m currently in the research phase of my project and am aiming to find out what are the hardest things to do in daily life in order to design a product than can resolve these issues.

How did/do you cope raising your child with arthritis?
Are there any tasks that are made a lot more difficult?
Are there products available which help out?
Do you have your own special methods for doing things more easily?
Do you ever wish there was something to help you out with certain tasks?
Perhaps you could give me an idea of your daily life and troubles faced.

If you would like to respond to Alex's request, please either post your response on the forum or alternatively email us here at membership@nras.org.uk and we will happily pass your responses on for you.

Thank you again for your help ThumpUp
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Kathleen-M
#2 Posted : Saturday, October 23, 2010 6:25:32 PM Quote
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Posts: 89
My children are grown up now, but recently being at a friends house, turning the pages of a book to read a story was a bit difficult, and I should imagine doing up the poppers on a romper suit could be difficult too! Thank god nappy pins are a thing of the past I bet they would be dangerous to mum and baby. Kathleen xx
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jenni_b
#3 Posted : Tuesday, October 26, 2010 1:46:55 PM Quote
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Location: nr Southampton
Sally-NRAS wrote:

How did/do you cope raising your child with arthritis?
Are there any tasks that are made a lot more difficult?
Are there products available which help out?
Do you have your own special methods for doing things more easily?
Do you ever wish there was something to help you out with certain tasks?
Perhaps you could give me an idea of your daily life and troubles faced.


Hi

I think I had best talk about my 3 year old. After birth, with a tiny baby there were some things that really helped me. the Mei Tai slings (as no fiddly catches) the Rabbitt changing mat (for when baby rolls) and a cot with the 3 heights was a big help. Found the doomoo easier to use and baby liked it more than a baby bouncer. Baby baths are something I couldnt do when baby got bigger at all but the tummy tub was great while she would fit in it. Buggys were a nightmare as there are a lot of fiddly catches. The best one at the time I had Bernice were the Bebe Confort travel centre as it has a push button release. It was really heavy though and so as soon as possible at 6 mths we switched to using a Maclaren Volo as it was the lightest on the market at the time.
Bernice has always held onto me easily and has learned from a few wks how to hold on me safely. She knows for a cuddle I have to sit down and I used to use my pregnancy pillow to lie her on to do baby massage on her.
I found routine important and to sleep when she slept. The OT advised us to invest in a really good chair for me to rest in downstairs
I do find that a robust support network is vital actually, you need to be really clear what happens when you are sick and who can come in an emergency.
Having adopted my older 2 children I was very very conscious about attaching well with the baby and so took her out on my wheelchair everywhere. Remap made me a holder for her.
Car seats are a real issue.
I just cannot do them and the kite mark thing stops remap fiddling with them. The catches are impossible. Let alone adjusting the straps.
Some sort of buggy board on the front of a power chair would be great.
Simple things like putting velcro instead of poppers are valuable.
Bottles- some sort of griping/ holding like a cup holder for a slippy cylinder would be great. we use the MAM bottles.
1 in 3 mums have some remission during pregnancy and often after the birth the shock of things causes a flair.
Stair gates are another issue- we found one with no lip on the bottom and spent a lot of money on it but actually the catch is too hard. the cheap ones are actually easier but are worth looking at lots of different ones.

Jenni
how to be a velvet bulldoser
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Katie-M
#4 Posted : Wednesday, October 27, 2010 8:15:16 PM Quote
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Location: preston
i found there was no products (like cushions or pillows) for women who don't have ginormous boobs when they're breastfeeding!! i borrowed 'my brest friend' from my sisiter in law whuch is a great product except there was still a big gap between my boob and aidan which meant i still had to hold him up higher defeating the point of him resting on a cushion and freeing my arms up!!! not exclusive to peeps with arthritis but just makes it even harder and arms/hands ache more! i know the midwife just said use a pillow mountain but then you take so long getting it right and one false move and they all topple over!!!
i tried every sling i could find and they were all difficult to use as i don't have any strenght on my left arm to lft and manouvere aswell as do up and fasten!!
love my rabbit changing mat. no chance of carrying a car seat with a baby in and most buckle son car seats and prams are a nightmare as they're so stiff.
i can't carry aidan in the conventional sense as i have to do it all from my right arm and we've been wracking our brains to think of some device that would help to lift him into my arms but have drawn a blank.
poppers and small buttons are very difficlt. i'd love a cot where you can put the bed at floor level, let them crawl in and then raise it off the ground - no mass market for that though - just our house!!!
overall the main probs for me are lifting and carrying, the heaveier he gets the harder a problem its becoming!
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