Toddler Onesies

TIP & TRICK #3

I took a bunch of old work uniform t-shirts I had, they were large and v-neck. I turned them backwards, and placed one of Puzzle’s T-Shirts and paid of jeans and placed them on top of my T-shirt and created a stencil outline of this outfit size. What I was left with was a full body suit stencil with a v shape in the back. I sewed along the edges, cut off most of the legs and made what I called his “Peter Pan onsies”. Having the V-neck in the back allowed easy capability of pulling the body suits on, like a leotard and he was not able to pull them off himself. Because of his strength I couldn’t use a clasp or set of buttons anywhere on the suit, so I had to heavy duty sew every seam.

    

Viola – I put the onsies on underneath his regular clothing, they were light cotton, breathable t-shirts and you barely noticed! He was able to go to school, function normally, and he never was able to pick his stitches, stick his hand in his pant, or remove them!

Band-aids

TIP & TRICK #2

With the lovely sensory issues my son has, HE HATES band aids. Always has. anything that he can feel or see, he immediately removes. This one is important for all my S.P.D. parents (sensory processing disorder). How was I going to keep this burn patch and gauze and an ace wrap on my son. Well I wasn’t! There was so much aggravation in that little boy every time I had to re-dress that wound. I had to come up with something, anything that would keep his little hand safe and somehow still functional. I found some fun colored, character themed socks, and turned them into gloves.

Sounds boring and frankly kind of basic, but oh-my-goodness did it work. (why wouldn’t I just buy finger-less gloves you ask?) My son has a sensory processing disorder, and more extremely, the body coordination of a toddler, I mean, he was only two! Have you ever struggled to put a toddlers finger’s individually through the finger wholes of a pair of gloves? not easy! This was a very successful alternative to the ace wrap. I found socks that were snug to fit his hands, cut a thumb hole, and cut the tips off for his fingers. And he KEPT THEM ON! There was no itchy fabric, he kept them on, and because they were cotton socks, they were easy to wash and keep clean! From then on, any open wound we have needed a bandage for, gauze and socks!

Burns

TIP & TRICK #1

One thing I definitely wanted to include in these blogs, are tips to make life easier, not only for your special needs children, but to make any parents life easier. This tip is about burns. If only I knew that day what I  know now. My secret special tip for the day : Lavender Oil. Doubt me if you will, but I promise – this is the #1 item that you should have in stock in every house.

It was not until years later that this beautiful miracle was shared with me, but if I can do one thing in this life (and I have many times) would be to spread this knowledge to anyone and everyone. You can purchase pure lavender oil almost anywhere, local grocery, super market, drug store, online, anywhere. I personally have two vials at all times. I leave one in my kitchen, with my spices, and the other either in my purse or in my car. This is literally the CURE  to burns. Ideally flame or heat burns. Applying a small amount of pure lavender oil directly on a burn, as soon as possible, literally (in every experience I’ve ever had) reduces the pain, stops the burning process, and prevents any blistering.

Im sure many of you are going, “Uh- huh” , “sure just another crazy lady obsessed with essential oils”, i assure you I am not. Ill be the first to stand up and admit, I don’t believe ANYTHING until I try it for myself. So try it, I promise, it has worked FOR ME. I love cooking, and baking even more, but I am NOTORIOUS for burning myself on the oven. (This is why I have a vial in the kitchen) The second I burn my self, I get out my vial, rub a little on the area like lotion, and voila !! I move on with my day. No pain, no blister, no scar! I also bring my little miracle camping, to bonfires, and best of all I use it on curling iron burns! I know you ladies have been there before, the fancy flat iron or styling wand burn, that just so happens to be right in sight line with whatever audience you have dolled yourself up for that night! Lavender Oil.Tip for men: or the handy woman! Ever burned yourself on an engine block? muffler? Hot hoses? Lavender Oil!