I LOVE this cart. I keep ours in our bedroom next to Rowan's changing table and crib. I keep a little bit of everything in here: small dialysis supplies, gloves, tapes, scissors, oxygen tubing, Gtube belly bands, wipes, thermometer, and more. It keeps everything that I need on a daily or weekly basis close by and easy to grab when I need it. It's easy to keep organized because the drawers are shallow but deep. I got our cart on sale at Michael's for about $20!
2. Room Essentials™ 3 Compartment Bin at Target
These containers are awesome. First of all, they look cute and are only $9. They are great for storing things on countertops, while still looking like part of your home decor. I have 4 of these and I keep one on my kitchen counter to store some medications and supplies that I use frequently for Rowan.
These little guys are awesome for organizing smaller items. I keep a couple of these in some of the drawers of my rolling cart (that I listed above) and also in some kitchen cabinets and drawers where I keep supplies. They're great for storing syringes, small wipe packets, pulse ox stickers, tape, small medication bottles, etc. They come in packs of 3 at Michael's and are only about $2-$3 per pack!
3pk Long Storage Trays, 3pk Medium Storage Trays, and 4pk Small Storage Trays by Room Essentials™
These are also great for organizing smaller items and are similar to the ones above. They come in packs of 3 or 4 at Target and are only $2 per pack!
These are mostly for moms with babies that have a PD catheter, central line, or anything else that can't get wet. Rowan has a PD catheter that cannot be submerged in water so I give him sponge baths on our kitchen counter. I used to buy the infant foam bath mats, but Rowan quickly grew too long for those. I decided to buy this 2 pack of memory foam bath mats (both longer than the infant foam mat) and they work great! I used the smaller one for a while and Rowan has grown long enough for the larger mat now. It's comfy and best of all, I can machine wash and dry them without them falling apart or getting ruined!
So I originally got these to use as actual mattress protectors, but I found that they were unnecessary and an extra step in making Rowan's bed (he already has a waterproof mattress). Instead, I use these under the bath mat during bath time. Even though Rowan still fits well on the mat, I still end up getting water all over the place (and if you use the foam infant mats, the water goes right through them) causing the countertop to get all wet. These probably aren't necessary, but I try to tuck the end of the PD catheter under this mat to give extra protection from water.
This one is for the babies with ureterostomies. Rowan has a ureterostomy and when he was tiny we could just use an extra-large diaper to cover his ostomy for the urine to drain into. As he grows taller, larger diapers are not an option so we use women's incontinence pads (I keep them in place by using a belly band, which I list next!). I've tried a ton of different sizes and brands of pads and Poise Ultra Thin size 3 or 4 pads are my favorite for day time wear. They are thin, but still hold a good amount of urine. I usually change the pad every 3-4 hours depending on how full it is. At night we use Always Discreet Incontinence pads in size 5 or 6. This allows us to leave the pad on Rowan all night without it leaking.
I use these belly bands for two reasons. First, it covers Rowan's Gtube button so he can't pull it out, but has a velcro flap so it's easy for me to access to attach the extension for feeds. Second, I secure the incontinence pad to the side of this band and it covers his ureterostomy perfectly to soak up any urine. It's the best solution I've found to solve a couple of our problems. Also, the woman who owns this Etsy shop is awesome and was great at working with me to customize the size for Rowan with all of his sites.
Cavilon is great for protecting baby's skin. We use the wipes before we apply Rowan's PD catheter dressing to protect his skin from constantly being covered with a sticker in the same spot. We use the spray version on his cheeks before attaching the tender grips for his oxygen cannula for the same reason. It helps to reduce irritation and redness, and also makes the skin area a little stickier. Other skin prep pads and skin barriers either don't protect the skin well or burn Rowan's skin in spots where it's already irritated.
9. Hypafix Tape
I use this tape constantly. It's gentle on the skin, you can cut it to different lengths and sizes depending on what you need it for, and it's easy to take off without hurting or pulling at the skin.
I use these brushes to increase the length of time I'm able to use a Gtube exstention. I just get the brush part wet, rub a little dish soap on it, and stick it all the way down into the extension, pull it back out, and then run water through the extension and it's all clean! You get two brushes for only about $8! I have a tutorial video in my "Feeding Tube Highlight" on Instagram on how to use them.
I bought this after constantly buying new bottle brushes. I get really grossed out by sponges and brushes because they get so dirty and smelly after you use them a few times. This silicone brush is easy to clean, dries quickly, doesn't smell, and fits into smaller, thinner bottles and even fits well in pump parts. This doesn't even necessarily need to be used for medical moms, this is just a great, small dish brush! And it's only about $6!
If you have the new Enfit Gtube button and extensions, these syringes are a MUST HAVE. I used the regular slip tip syringes with a separate extension piece to fit our extensions for the longest time because I didn't know I had any other options. When I found these online, I decided to try them out and I am so glad I did! They twist into the ENFit Y-port extensions perfectly and easily and I don't have to deal with any small, separate extension pieces. They have plenty of different sizes, but I use these two (3 mL and 6 mL) the most for Rowan's medications and flushes. I also have 1 mL ENFit tip syringes, but I wouldn't recommend them unless you need them for tiny amounts of medicine. The tubing is so small that the stopper/ pusher part gets stuck inside and it's hard to pull up medicine and push it back out after a few uses.
I love having these caps to use for pre-drawing meds whether we're traveling or just want to have everything prepped at home. We use ENFit syringes so I found these caps that fit the tips and love them! I try to draw up as many meds as I'm able to prep at the beginning of the week and just use these caps to keep the syringes cloesd until I need them. I organize pre-drawn meds in some of the long, skinny containers that I mentioned above. I just wash the caps with the syringes after I've used them and can continue to use them. One pack of these should last a LONG time if you wash and reuse.
I found this at TJMaxx for $7 and bought it for storing syringes and small medicine bottles while we're traveling. Syringes fit perfectly in here! There are 3 separate pockets (2 zipper pockets and 1 flap pocket). Any tech organizer would work great for travel for the same purpose.
I use this lunch box to store Rowan's feeding pump bag for his overnight continuous feeds. This keeps the milk cool all night until the feed is done so I don't have to wake up every 4 hours to add more milk to the feed. This lunchbox folds up small so you can store it in the freezer. Freezable gel is built into the walls of the bag so the entire bag freezes and you don't have to insert a separate ice pack unless you want to. I use a safety pin on the inside of the lunch box to hold the feed bag in place and I cut a small hole in the side of the lunchbox next to the zipper for the cassette to go through (which needs to happen in order for the zipper to be zipped closed).
16. Command Hooks
I found a huge pack of these at Costco for $9 and bought them to have "just in case", but I find myself using them often! I have one hanging by my kitchen sink to hold the Gtube extension brushes, I use one on the changing table to hold the instruction manuals for our dialysis machine, and I've also seen people use them to hang feeding pump bags instead of carrying around the IV pole.
I have 6-7 of these bags in different sizes for packing supplies, syringes, etc. while traveling. I love that they are clear so you can easily tell what is in each bag and they are reusable so you don’t have to waste ziplock bags every time you travel! The brand I have is called Full Circle and you can order them from their website, but I usually find them at TJMaxx. I also found similar ones at Target by Ello.
18. Cord Organizers (Leather Snap) (Colorful Velcro)
These are great for keeping all of the cords and wires we deal with as medical moms! I have the faux leather ones on the left. I love them, but I wish I had the velcro ones because they're bigger so you can wrap the thicker wires up easier. That being said, either of these will help keep you sane!
I use this to attach Rowan's feeding pump backpack to the stroller or to the headrest of a car seat while traveling. There's not much to say about this other than that it is worth the $8!
For anyone with a kidney kiddo who is on dialysis, this bath seat is a great way for your child to play in a bathtub without being submerged in water. This fits perfectly in our tub, was easy to install, and stayed safely in place. I filled the water up to right above the seat, and Rowan was able to play with bath toys and splash around without soaking his catheter with water. It was such a fun and "normal" experience for us and I would totally recommend trying it!
These cord keepers are great for a lot of things. I have one clipped onto our IV pole and use the opening between the two snaps to hold the feeding bag cap while feeds are connected to Rowan's extension. You can also use it to hold the feeding bag in a backpack or to strap up excess tubing, as shown below. Sometimes, I'll wrap Rowan's pulse ox probe tubing up and clip it to the back of his pants while he's playing to keep it out of his way. There are a lot of sellers on Etsy who make these, but I linked the shops I bought mine from!
I LOVE this changing pad. It’s only $5.99 at Target and it’s the biggest changing pad that I’ve found. It folds up really compact and is very easy to clean. I use this for diaper changes on the go, but you could also wipe it down with Clorox wipes and used it as a “sterile” surface for medication prep or dressing changes if needed!
I originally got these rain shields for rainy day walks/ errands, but now I use them as a "mask" for Rowan when we go out in public. The mesh on the sides makes it breathable, but the plastic keeps Rowan safe and dry. The car seat cover is a little small on our Graco car seat, but it works for what we need it for. The stroller cover fits our Mini City GT stroller perfectly.
24. HALO® SleepSack®
We use a Halo SleepSack every night for Rowan. They have cotton ones for warmer months and microfleece ones for cooler months. They are cozy and Rowan sleeps well in them. And they are much safer than blankets in the crib! During dialysis, I find that running all of Rowan's wires and tubes down through the bottom of this sleep sack keeps everything a little more organized and dialysis drains pretty well. I cut a hole in the side of mine for easy access to his Gtube so I can hook up his overnight feed without unzipping the sleepsack.
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