Sunday, January 26, 2020
Today my seven-year-old, Mika, and I emptied the baby cage. Yes, it was really a cage for my baby. I call it the baby cage because I remembered an old Doris Day movie in which a particularly rambunctious young child was occasionally placed in a wooden cage with a baby crib mattress in it. The movie was Don’t Eat the Daisies and apparently that scene stuck with me. My older daughter was already six months old when I had my automobile accident, and I spent so much time in the rehabilitation hospital and other hospitals that I never had any adaptive baby equipment made other than diapers.
When I had Mika, a friend that I worked with had a friend that was a cabinet maker who owed him a favor. The cabinet maker made a beautiful bassinette that had a side that folded down so I could place it on a table and slide Mika in and out for diaper changes and feeding time. Mika was born premature and spent a month in the NICU. My friend brought me the bassinette a few days before her release so we could test it out. The bassinette worked exactly as planned and I had a place to keep Mika when we were alone together until she was able to sit up.
I realized I would need an area to contain Mika once the bassinette was no longer safe and before I could let her roam on the floor. I decided I needed a baby cage. I visited a custom woodworking company in Colorado Springs with my idea for a baby cage that was secured to a table for wheelchair access. I was told they had a four-week backlog and would let me know when they were ready to start. Five weeks later I received a call.
The builder told me their legal department had reviewed the build and because the design was basically a modified baby crib affixed to a table, it would need to be tested for safety by the state at a cost of at least $25,000. I explained the baby cage would only be used under direct supervision, Mika would not be placed in it over night, but the company would not build the baby cage for me even if I signed a liability waiver.
I then started the great baby cage builder hunt. I called at least ten custom wood builders and was told each time they could not build a baby cage for me because that was not the type of woodworking they did or for liability issues. I finally got a yes, scheduled an appointment, and the next day Mika and I trekked across town to the builder’s store. The person who I met with was the owner and was not the person with whom I spoke to the day before. When I showed the owner my drawings, he told me they would not be able to build the baby cage due to liability issues.
I explained that I was certain we could jerry-rig some contraption to contain Mika, but I wanted a builder to be sure it would keep her safe. The owner decided my concern for her safety would make me a responsible user and he agreed to make the baby cage for a signed waiver of liability and $800. Eight hundred dollars was more than I had planned on paying, but I gave him a $400 check as a deposit and decided Mika’s safety was worth the cost. I was making approximately $1,000 per month at my part-time job.
The next morning the owner called me, and my heart sunk. I was sure he had changed his mind and asked him if he had. The owner told me he had talked to his staff and called a few suppliers. The suppliers were donating building materials and his staff was donating their building time. He was not only committed to building it, he was returning my check and gifting me Mika’s baby cage. The baby cage came to my house a few days after Christmas that year.
My piece of advice to you is keep pushing for what you need. We only used the baby cage regularly for about a year; four months continually before I could pick Mika up from the floor, and eight months more for day-time naps. Mika and I sorted all the stuffed animals that have been calling it home for the past several years today into donation and keep piles and within the next few months, the baby cage will be disassembled, stored, and I will have a long table in my lower level great room perfect for playing games.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
Today my seven-year-old, Mika, and I emptied the baby cage. Yes, it was really a cage for my baby. I call it the baby cage because I remembered an old Doris Day movie in which a particularly rambunctious young child was occasionally placed in a wooden cage with a baby crib mattress in it. The movie was Don’t Eat the Daisies and apparently that scene stuck with me. My older daughter was already six months old when I had my automobile accident, and I spent so much time in the rehabilitation hospital and other hospitals that I never had any adaptive baby equipment made other than diapers.
When I had Mika, a friend that I worked with had a friend that was a cabinet maker who owed him a favor. The cabinet maker made a beautiful bassinette that had a side that folded down so I could place it on a table and slide Mika in and out for diaper changes and feeding time. Mika was born premature and spent a month in the NICU. My friend brought me the bassinette a few days before her release so we could test it out. The bassinette worked exactly as planned and I had a place to keep Mika when we were alone together until she was able to sit up.
I realized I would need an area to contain Mika once the bassinette was no longer safe and before I could let her roam on the floor. I decided I needed a baby cage. I visited a custom woodworking company in Colorado Springs with my idea for a baby cage that was secured to a table for wheelchair access. I was told they had a four-week backlog and would let me know when they were ready to start. Five weeks later I received a call.
The builder told me their legal department had reviewed the build and because the design was basically a modified baby crib affixed to a table, it would need to be tested for safety by the state at a cost of at least $25,000. I explained the baby cage would only be used under direct supervision, Mika would not be placed in it over night, but the company would not build the baby cage for me even if I signed a liability waiver.
I then started the great baby cage builder hunt. I called at least ten custom wood builders and was told each time they could not build a baby cage for me because that was not the type of woodworking they did or for liability issues. I finally got a yes, scheduled an appointment, and the next day Mika and I trekked across town to the builder’s store. The person who I met with was the owner and was not the person with whom I spoke to the day before. When I showed the owner my drawings, he told me they would not be able to build the baby cage due to liability issues.
I explained that I was certain we could jerry-rig some contraption to contain Mika, but I wanted a builder to be sure it would keep her safe. The owner decided my concern for her safety would make me a responsible user and he agreed to make the baby cage for a signed waiver of liability and $800. Eight hundred dollars was more than I had planned on paying, but I gave him a $400 check as a deposit and decided Mika’s safety was worth the cost. I was making approximately $1,000 per month at my part-time job.
The next morning the owner called me, and my heart sunk. I was sure he had changed his mind and asked him if he had. The owner told me he had talked to his staff and called a few suppliers. The suppliers were donating building materials and his staff was donating their building time. He was not only committed to building it, he was returning my check and gifting me Mika’s baby cage. The baby cage came to my house a few days after Christmas that year.
My piece of advice to you is keep pushing for what you need. We only used the baby cage regularly for about a year; four months continually before I could pick Mika up from the floor, and eight months more for day-time naps. Mika and I sorted all the stuffed animals that have been calling it home for the past several years today into donation and keep piles and within the next few months, the baby cage will be disassembled, stored, and I will have a long table in my lower level great room perfect for playing games.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.