Emily's highlight of every week is doing the weekly shop with mummy and nanny. She absolutely loves it from start to finish. Laughing and looking at all the lights and not forgetting the attention she gets from all the passing elderly men and women.
Up until the last few weeks she would lay in the newborn seat but as she is nearly 12 months old it was getting a little snug for her once the insert was in (our trollys are very hard so madam needs a cushion).
We were really stumped as to what we would do as there was no way Emily would be able to sit unaided in the seat part of any trolly and our local supermarket do not offer specially adapted trollys. My husband works long hours so it would mean late night shopping while he stayed at home and looked after the girls. It didn't seem fair as Emily loves shopping so much.
On one of the special needs buy and sell sites I noticed a lady selling a trolly cover. Although this just covers the trolly a lady had posted a link underneath to a page on Facebook called Bags of Style. I messaged the lady who then pointed me in the direction of her trolly dolly section.
I cannot explain how excited I was when I first see the trolly dollys and what they had to offer. Its basically a little jacket that velcros onto the child and then there is a piece of material which is attached that then velcros over the back of the trolly seat. The next big decision was what material we should choose. After much deliberation we decided on mini mouse. We wanted something girly but not something that we would need to match that days outfit with.
I emailed the friendly lady that runs Bags of Style with various measurements of Emily and also the fabric that we wanted (there are loads of fabrics on the Facebook page that you can choose from). I was then emailed an invoice which needed to be paid before the item could be made for obvious reasons. After a couple of weeks I was then tagged in a picture of the finished product. I was so so excited. Having a little one that isn't able to sit, crawl, walk etc is hard as I am sure other parents would be first the agree, so finding things like this that helps make the little ones life as normal as possible is brilliant.
Fortunately the trolly dolly arrived on Friday morning which is the day I do the weekly shop.
I literally opened the package in the car park of the supermarket and was so pleased with the look of it. Super cute and nice and girly!
Emily wondered what we were doing to her when we put her in the trolly seat at first. Once we figured which piece of velcro goes where she loved it, kicking her legs wildly at the freedom of feeling them hanging and making the most of not being laid down as she had always been.
As Emily has such low muscle tone it took a while to work out the best place to put the cushion but decided she was most supported when we put it directly behind her head.
Off we went into the supermarket and Emily really loved the freedom it gave her, not to mention the extra attention it brought. Mummy wasn't so sure as I like to blend in and not stick out but that's a total different story for again.
Unfortunately after about thirty minutes Emily grew tired and couldn't hold her head up anymore so we transferred her into the newborn seat to finish the last of the shop. That said I have every faith that each time she will grow a little stronger and be able to stay in the trolly dolly longer until we won't need the newborn seat anymore.
For babies and tots with low muscle tone I cannot reccomend this product enough. It's not that cheap to some people but to me it was worth every penny and I would not hesitate buying again if I needed to. It's great that its made to fit your child so providing you get the measurements correct it won't be too big or too small.
Bags of Style come very reccomended from myself and I know that a number of other mummies would agree. They offer a number of bespoke products for children and adults with additional needs, the list is endless!
Visit Bags of Styles facebook page and I am sure you will find loads that would suit your little one I know I have a list of wants that's rapidly growing. They also have competitions for some if there products to promote certain additional needs events.
There is also a phone app so you can use Bags of Style on the go!
Bags of Style Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/christined265
Don't forget to also like my Facebook page which I will be adding random bits and pieces and also links to future posts on my blog
https://www.facebook.com/introtoemily/info
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