Dom

My Requirements

Our daughter was born 11/2022 with low level spina bifida and hydrocephalus. She is now 2.5 and we are looking to find somewhere for her to attend a couple days a week, probably short sessions initially with a view to extend down the line when we are comfortable.

We want to give her some socialisation with other children, build her independence and give her new experiences whilst giving her dad (full time parent) some rest time whilst mum is working full time.

She is a happy little girl, very interested in the world and is always in the go. She isn't yet able to walk but we're working on it with the help of her physio team. She can crawl around no problem, pulls herself to standing and can cruise along furniture. She can get herself into a small chair to sit at a table unaided. She wears AFOs on her feet during the day to stabilise her anes as she only has partial movement in her ankles and toes, but this doesn't affect her getting around.

Her speech is delayed, so she only says a few words but does make sounds and sings along with a tune. She is very aware of what she wants and will communicate in other ways, such as guiding your hand to what she wants, pointing or making hand gestures. She has a good comprehension of what you are saying to her. We have started trying to learn some BSL with her with the help of the speech & language therapy team.

She loves being outside, playing with water, drawing and colouring, or playing with building blocks. She likes to stick things up or move small toys from one container to another. Loves to throw balls around and is getting quite good at catch.

She can eat unaided but sometimes struggles with cutlery so opts to use her hands. We have a messy play style apron cover we use when she eats to keep her clean, but not necessary for snack foods. She isn't a fan of water so normally has a dilute squash, sometime fresh fruit juice. We use a 360 non spil cup, as she does have a habit of shaking an open top cup and sending it everywhere or playing with it with her hands.

She has weaned herself off of naps, however if she has been busy she may put herself down for a nap. She has her blanket and dummy she will ask for if she is tired for comfort.

She does require intermittent catheterisation every 4-5 hours for bladder safeguarding against infection, but we can manage that before/after setting sessions. She does wee by herself, but we don't know yet if she fully empties her bladder, hence the catheters. We can also arrange training for any childcare settings that are willing if she progresses to longer care sessions, or we can make arrangements for someone to attend to do it if necessary.

We don't have fixed days or times in mind for the childcare sessions. We do have to get out son to and from school, but we can make arrangements with family to potentially help us get both children to their places if the times clash.