Does your SN DC have a special seat?

[mm22bys]

The OT visited us at home on Monday, and it was a bit of a waste of time (her best suggestion for DC was to encourage side-playing on the floor...). She also talked about getting him a special bath seat so he can sit up in the bath and play with toys. At the moment he is still small enough to bathe in a baby bath that has a seat built in, and he LOVES it, but these seats look really medical and ugly.

She also suggested getting him a seat so that he sit up and be supported while he plays with toys. I don't know if any of you are familiar with these seats, but they have names like "Ladybird", "Bee", and "Giraffe". They look to me like it is a small step away from a wheelchair (they have head supports and straps), and they are very big. Our house is small enough and overcrowded enough as it is without such a monstrosity taking up a lot of room.

He can sit on the floor unsupported, and he is reaching more. A special seat seems to me a step backwards...

Do any of your DCs have special seats? Have they helped your DCs at all?

DS is 11 months old...

My son was given a tumble form initally but this was just for feeding.....he now has a Jenx bumble bee chair. It broke my heart when I first saw it. I had seen other special needs children in them but seeing my own son in one brought home the fact that he had special needs himself.

It is very bulky however fab. The benefits far outweigh how bulky it is. He sits like a little king in it. My son can sit unaided however when he is he has to concentrate so much on sitting that he cannot do other things but when hes in his chair his body is aliened perfectly and he has brilliant posture that he can then use his hands more freely to play.

e have a very small house and out front room is overcrowded but its what my son needs to progress so we just have to put up with it!!

I guess your OT wouldnt have mentioned it if she didnt think it would benefit your son, it is so hard at first though, I can ttoally relate to how your feeling.

Hi as the others have said the benefits do outweigh the ugly factor but it doesn't make it any easier.
ds 2 had a supportive sn padded chair but only for a very short time & it did allow him to focus on learning new skills as the others have said he wasn't concentrating on balance etc.
Also he was able to progress to a less supportive chair which looked more like an average kids chair -just a curved wooden seat, some playgroups have them & he had a sticky patch on the seat to stop him slipping then he was able to sit supported with his feet flat on the floor & play at a table.
Hopefully this equipment won't be forever but will help him achieve.
Take care x

We have a special seat that is ghastly cos dd can't sit (she's now 3).
Correct positioning will help him gain better arm/hand control if he's not having to concentarte on sitting too. But then if his sitting is totally stable then maybe you should talk to the OT again. The final decision is always yours.
DD has an R82 Panda chair. Its blue so not as offensively coloured as some of them. In our small living room we also have her hideous standing frame with a stupid moneky stuck to the side but it gives me somewhere to put her splints when she isn't wearing them.
Her wheelchair is parked in the hall. I feel like we're being over-run! Next it will be a tracking sytem and celing hoist plus a mobile freestanding hoist. But if she needs them she needs them.

Just to say...although slightly on a tangant. We are currently being assessed for an extension due to the huge amount of equip we have and we only have a 2 up- 2 down....!

dd has
a manual wheelchair, powered chair, caps seat. adapted trike, toilet seat(don't have a bath seat as we have padding for bath) 3 over head hoists.

We first had a Tumbleform chair for feeding from about 8 months, which was great as even thought it was as ugly as chuff and massive, it supported her so well.

Then we 'progressed' to a standing frame, and then a wooden corner chair (looks like a wedge shape). It looked very uncomfortable but she sat really well in it and as she wasn't having to "think" about sitting and holding herself up - even though by this time she could sit unaided - she played so much better.

We now have a modified Tripp Trapp highchair for seating, table activities and eating, and a little plastic moulded seat for when she sits on the floor eg at nursery. She is now 3 yrs 8 mths.

I found it hard having all this disability equipment in the house, but it did help DD2 and made her life so much easier so I had to grin and bear it.

my ds has had his special seats now since he was about 5/6 months old. He started out with a small(ish!) corner seat, but slumped too much with it. Now he's got a Leckey seat which have adjusting sides and a bit in between the legs to keep him from slipping forward. I would say that they are more help than not, but ds isn't sitting on his own yet. He does ok on someones lap or on his roll, but not yet on the floor or in a chair.

Like others have said though, if he's in his chair it takes the energy that he's usually using to balance and stay upright, and he can use it to focus on playing and doing more with his hands.

We're due to get a 'scoop' seat next week, but I've not seen it yet so can't comment.

Ours is also right in the main living room, and takes up a fair bit of space, but as I do all of his therapy in that room I can't really keep it anywhere else. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to set up a special room for him in the house with all of this extra 'stuff' in it.

As your ds is already sitting unsupported, maybe they're just wanting you to try it for a short while to see if he can get more done with his arms while he's in it? If you just give it a try and you don't feel he's any better in it, then perhaps the OT could suggest another way to develop those skills?

Hi, I'd agree with all the others, It really helps them concentrate on other things, especially fine motor stuff, and not focus so much on what their body is doing. From about 8 months old we have had a bath seat, which we gave back only a few months ago, a corner seat, a heathfield chair which looked like a little armchair and all his friends wanted to sit in it! We now have a Bambach saddle chair which sits at the dining table which looks more like an office chair with just a riding saddle instead of a seat, it has freed up floor space in the living room! It does take getting used to but they are really worth it.

Thx for all your responses, do appreciate them. DH and I are still coming to terms with all this (today has not been a good day...). I think we might start with the Ladybird, and if/ when he grows out of that see what's out there.

Thx

I think 'special' equipment kinda brings it home that its all real
And it never matches your decor

Friend of mine told me to check you can hang washing off it too, when your child isn't using it.

on the "matching decor" bit JCM have a lovely range of fabrics, like chocolate brown suede effect etc,

www.jcmseating.co.uk/pdf/fabric-choices.pdf

altho they do also have the mad brightly coloured patterned ones too.

apparently these patterns are great for kids, very stimulating but if the kids sitting in it how can it see it