Man modifies a wooden crib for parent with disability

Parents with disabilities face numerous challenges when caring for a newborn. Besides the usual lack of sleep and anxiety about such a small and dependent life, much of the equipment for infants and children present substantial barriers for parents with disabilities. Changing tables are built for standing, bathtubs can take two hands, and cribs require parents to have substantial flexibility and lifting strength.

"My wife, Liz, is a little person; when she’s out of the house, she uses crutches and a lower-body brace that doesn’t bend. Around the house, we keep most of our storage low to the ground, and our activities are on the floor. By the time we brought our daughter, Madeleine, home from the hospital, we’d been thinking about the many adaptations needed to care for her. We consulted several times with Judi Rogers at Through the Looking Glass in Berkeley, Calif., a terrific organization with resources, advice, designs, and uniquely engineered equipment for parents with disabilities", Michael explained.

Cribs are manufactured according to strict standards designed for the safety of the child, not for universal access. The railings are all 2 or 3 feet off the floor, and a foot or more above the mattress. Because infants are left unattended in cribs overnight, they need to be built in such a way that the child cannot accidentally fall out of the crib or get any part of their body (especially the head and neck) trapped between components.

So he created a crib where the railing opens from side to side, and the mattress is positioned just above the floor. This make it easy for parents to access the crib!

Adapted from: http://www.instructables.com/id/Modified-Crib-for-Parent-with-Disability/