In my journey with our son, I’ve come across a variety of products after trial and error and when something works, I’m excited to share it with other parents! Every child is different so the products below may or may not work for your child but I’d like to share my experience with them. I am giving you my honest opinion about the products below and will not post any products I have not tried with our son on this page. This post does contain some affiliate links but my goal is to inform you about the product and give you a link you can quickly take a look at it.

Bibs

These are by far my absolute FAVORITE bibs.

They are stiff so catch all kinds of food and are super easy to clean. At the age of 10, our son is still using them but I think in the next few months they’ll be too tight around his neck. I emailed Baby Bjorn to see if they had a product for older children or if they would consider making them but no luck. I have purchased a few silicone bibs and although they fold up nicely for travel they don’t do the job nearly as well as the Baby Bjorn bibs. They are a little pricey at $19.99 for 2 but they were worth every penny for me. Here is a link to Baby Bjorn Bibs.

Silicone Bibs for older children – Now that our son is 10, I felt it was unfair of me to have him wear the Baby Bjorn Bibs out in public since the logo is quite visible. Here are some bibs with cute verbiage that I felt still do the job but were more age appropriate. They still fit around his neck at 77lbs but will likely be snug fairly soon just to give you an idea. I purchased the version below, by Simka Rose. They are good because they are more age-appropriate, but functionally, they can’t compete with the Baby Bjorn Bibs.

Textured Grip Utensils

Some children with limited hand use might need a “built up” handle which can help the child grasp the utensil. We’ve tried a few that were specialized products from occupational therapists, but we’ve found the following to work just as well at a fraction of the price charged for most utensils specifically designed as adapted utensils. The Nuby fork and spoon are textured with a somewhat wide handle as you can see below:

Gerber Graduates also has a pair with less texture and a rounded handle or a flat but wide handle which may suit a child who needs less texture.

Ikea Folding Gym Mats

These mats are inexpensive compared to any mat on special needs equipment websites and do the job well, in my opinion. They are lightweight compared to the heavier options sold on these websites, but that makes it easy to fold them up and put them away so your house can have a brief moment in time when it doesn’t look like a therapy center. They can be used for tummy time, physical therapy at home, stretching, and any other floor activity. Even after our son learned to sit up, we place him on these mats while in the sitting position in case he loses his balance to protect his head. When they are folded, they can also serve as a safe elevated surface if you need one. I love these mats for under $40!!

PLUFSIG Folding gym mat, green, 30 3/4×72 7/8″ – IKEA

Adaptive Strollers

Maclaren Major Elite Stroller – Has your child outgrown most baby strollers but you need something for quick trips? We purchased the Maclaren Major Elite Transport chair when our son was still light enough to be lifted into and out of the carseat and when we took him on quick trips and did not want to keep folding and unfolding the wheelchair. It’s quite an investment at $425 plus extra for the canopy but we found it to be worth it. We opted for the red/gray color but it also comes in navy/light blue as pictured below. It’s fairly light compared to other special needs strollers and folds up easily to the size of an extra large umbrella stroller.

Accessories available at an extra cost include lateral supports, a seat liner (which appears to be slightly cushioned), a raincover, and a canopy. I think it’s worth mentioning that the canopy (the only accessory I purchased and can comment on) can be taken on and off but does not fold out of the way such as in most baby strollers. It can be annoying at times because if you decide you don’t need it you are either stuck with it on or will need to carry it when you remove it.

Our son is now 51 inches and 75lbs so I’d say we were able to get about four years out of this stroller since his head is now above the backrest. We can still get away with using it for neighborhood walks for one more summer, but that’s about all. At the time Amazon had the best price so that’s where we purchased it from. I also purchased one of those attachable stroller bags that hangs from the back of the stroller as it does not come with the basket that is pictured on the stroller above). I don’t even think I saw the basket available for purchase as an option anywhere.

Josi Jogging Stroller

After Nikhil outgrew the Maclaren Major at 4 feet, 10 inches and 90lbs, we began our research for an outdoor adaptive stroller. Due to the cost of adaptive outdoor strollers, we used the Quickie Iris wheelchair for most of our outings for quite a while with the hope that we didn’t need YET ANOTHER adaptive chair.

I must say that the Quickie Iris is not the easiest chair to push on grass or uneven terrain with a 90lb child in it. This is especially true when you are a short 5 ft mom like me! Nikhil loves the outdoors and started liking sports. After taking him to our nephew’s baseball game and a few outdoor social gatherings, we knew we needed something else for outdoor use. We decided on the Josi Jogging Stroller, which also can be used as a bike trailer. We had tried out the Duet as well (thanks to a friend who let us try it) but opted for the Josi so Nikhil could stretch his legs out. So, with the help of family contributions, we purchased the Josi this year. We’ve only been on one outing so far due to winter and the pandemic, but so far, he loves it!

Update: This stroller ended up being amazing. It was easy to push in the neighborhood and in the grass, and was super comfortable for Nikhil. He was able to fully stretch out his legs (for reference, he was 5’0″ tall). We also took quite a few bike rides using the bike trailer. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any good photos of that but you can check out the Josi link to see how it works. The front wheel was incredibly easy switch out for the bike attachment (I was even able to do it with Nikhil sitting in it!). Because Nikhil weighed 95lbs, I took the Josi inside the house and used the ceiling hoyer lift to transfer him into the stroller. Then, we were on our way!

Big Grips Protective ipad case

Nikhil LOVES his ipad!! For a while, playing with the ipad or watching a Barney video (yes Barney!) on it would even distract him out of a seizure. He does have the ability to knock it off his tray though, so we definitely needed a heavy-duty protective cover. The Big Grips covers are my favorite, so much that we purchased a second one. It’s extremely durable…..I’m talking about our son literally pushing the ipad off his tray many many times and the ipad remains a survivor.

The picture below shows the Big Grips ipad Frame ($34.95) with the Big Grips Stand ($19.95). It’s a little pricey I think but we’ve had other versions and I feel the Big Grip was a worth the investment to protect the device. I had my mom purchase it as a gift instead of buying our son something else he won’t ever be able to use. The nice part about Big Grips is that they still sell covers for older ipads, which is what we originally had. They have different versions of the case, including a newer bag version that I never noticed before. Here’s a link so you can check it out. https://www.biggrips.com/

Changing Table for older children

For those of us still struggling with potty-training an older child, baby changing tables quickly become a thing of the past due to their limited size. When our son first outgrew the first baby changing table/dresser we had, I did something that probably wasn’t so smart. I went and found a longer dresser and thought, “perfect, now I’m all set”. Well, the truth is that if your child’s condition does not impact their growth this interim option will only carry you so far unless of course your child successfully becomes toilet-trained during that time! Perhaps I was hoping for that when I pulled the trigger on that purchase and loaded it into my SUV but in hindsight, it wasn’t the smartest investment. Changing table #3 is the one I’d like to tell you about and it continues to reside in our home and has done so for the past 4 years. It’s actually a portable massage table but it’s sturdy enough that we have been using it multiple times daily as a permanent piece in our son’s room.

It can be easily folded up and has handles so if you needed to it would be easy to transport and extremely lightweight. I know many families who change their older children in the bed due to various reasons such as limited mobility, the child’s weight, in effort to avoid an additional transfer, or due to limited space for another piece of equipment. Currently we are changing our son in both places depending on if it’s during the day or at night in order to avoid unnecessary transfers. His bed is a little lower than we’d like so I find the changing table is much easier on my back so I think it’s going to be a keeper for a while. Check it out below if you think it might work for you!

I’ll keep updating this post as I find new products or think of other products that we frequently use. Become a subscriber and receive all of my latest posts without remembering to check to site again!