Author Archives: Jeanne Lowry

National Breastfeeding Month

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 25, 2014 under Everything Baby | Be the First to Comment

August is National Breastfeeding Month and to celebrate, the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) is holding a social media campaign. This campaign asks the questions “What does breastfeeding mean to you and how can every one of us play a role in supporting breastfeeding?” Participants are to use the hashtags #NBM14 and #SixWords with a picture to answer. We thought we’d take today to highlight a few of these great pictures and answers:

Find the original post of the above picture here.

And our favorite:

Find the original post of the above picture here.

If you make your own on Twitter, we’d love for you to tag us (with @THCSupplies) so we could see it. And you can find all our baby supplies here, including breast pumps and accessories.

Bedwetting and Sleepovers: Tips

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 22, 2014 under BladderMatters | Be the First to Comment

Although it may seem like your child is stuck at home until they can grow out of their bedwetting, that doesn’t need to be the case. These days, the right products and smart moves can create moments that are memorable for all the right reasons.

Tip #1: Get the right attitude
Talk to your child about their enuresis, or their particular issue. Make sure they know what’s going on. That will help them with any fears they have about spending the night with a child who doesn’t have this problem – it will let them know they’re still normal and there’s nothing wrong with them. Let them know you’re going to let the host parents know what’s going on. Then talk to the host parents (not the other way around).

Tip #2: Find the product that works for your child
Your child needs a product that is absorbent, not bulky and makes very little noise. These Sleep Overs are all over those requirements. There are sizes for children from 45 to 140 pounds, and they have a discreet profile. Additionally, they’re cloth-backed, meaning less crinkle noises for your youngster. You can purchase a sample pack here, to find the right fit.

Tip #3: Make some adjustments
If your kid doesn’t like the idea of changing into their pull-ups at their friend’s house, ask the host parents if they can request that all kids arrive in their PJs. Provide your child with a trash bag so they can dispose of their diaper and place it back in their overnight bag. Or arrive super early and help them out, if you or the child isn’t comfortable with the host parents helping out.

Tip #4: Get social
If your child is reluctant to go to sleepovers, or you want to make sure they can handle them, host one first. That way you can be there to make sure your kid has the privacy they need.

Tip #5: Embrace technology
There are many tech pieces out there that want to help your child beat their bedwetting. But many parents find that audio alarms do not wake their child up. It seems the only option is to wake the child up themselves – not an option if your kid is at a friend’s house, or even sleep-away camp. But vibrating alarms on watches do sometimes succeed where other alarms have not.

With these tips in mind, your child should have a great sleepover and a good night’s rest (if they actually ever go to sleep!).

Alzheimer’s and Incontinence

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 20, 2014 under BladderMatters | Be the First to Comment

Imagine you’re sitting on the couch, at the end of the day, watching your favorite show. You’re relaxed, you’re in a good place, you’re comfortable.

Suddenly, you experience an unpleasant sensation as warm liquid pools under you, and the liquid quickly cools. How did that happen? You didn’t have to go to the bathroom a second ago, but apparently, your bladder decided otherwise.

This is what it can be like for someone with Alzheimer’s. During the disease, the messages that the bladder sends to the brain to tell it it’s time “go” can get mixed up, misdirected or lost altogether.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only reason why people with Alzheimer’s can become incontinent. Other factors can include the medications that patients take to deal with anxiety, not remembering the location of the restroom and underlying medical problems that may not yet be addressed.

These issues may not become evident until the moderate to severe stage of Alzheimer’s, but they will have to be addressed. The caregiver can provide support by gently reminding the patient to use the restroom and by making sure the way to and from the restroom itself are easily accessible.

However, sometimes leaks happen. At that point, the caregiver may want to utilize incontinence supplies. These days, adult briefs can be an unobtrusive as the average pair of underwear. Or, if the patient refuses to wear protective underwear, an underpad can be placed on chairs and beds to manage the leak.

Alzheimer’s can be very distressing to both caregivers and patients. Taking the stress of incontinence out of the equation can help.

Caregiving in Other Countries

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 19, 2014 under Caregiver Corner | Be the First to Comment

The ways in which older adult caregiving differs between countries depends on that culture’s view of the elderly. Are they respected? Are they ignored? Are there laws in the country that require children to regularly visit their parents? These issues and more can influence how caregivers interact with their charges.

In several Asian countries, the elderly are held in high regard. In Korea, the celebrations for 60^th and 70^th birthdays are a huge event. In China, they recently passed a law that says children of the elderly must visit their parents, or face fines and even jail time. In Japan, most old folks live with their children. Japan has a comparatively large elderly population, meaning most adults have their parents living with them. There is such a huge aging population, in fact, that adult diapers in Japan now outsell baby diapers.

Italy has an influx of Ukrainian caregivers, who may be leaving their own families, that come take care of Italy’s elderly. Because of this, Ukrainians make up the fourth-largest immigrant population in Italy, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

In India, the smaller villages often have few opportunities for young people, who move away to cities or overseas. A company called UberHealth has recently offered a way for the children of India’s elderly to monitor their parents’ health. These long distance caregivers are able to use the software UberHealth provides to keep up with their parents’ medical records and even order cars to take them to doctor’s appointments, all from a computer thousands of miles away.

No matter which country caregivers and their charges are living in, there needs to be more support for caregivers, and there are several international organizations who are trying to provide that support. We here at TotalHomeCareSupplies.com would love to hear about any experiences you may have with caregiving outside of the US.

Baby Diaper Issues: Wiping

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 18, 2014 under Everything Baby | Read the First Comment

Last year, I helped out a neighbor every so often by babysitting her two-year-old. She quickly filled me in on the basics: the child’s food allergies, TV rules and diaper changing specifics. The mom mentioned something I hadn’t heard before, but a quick Internet search told me she was not alone in her thinking. She asked that I only wipe the child if there was poop, but if the child had only peed, to just change the diaper and move on. Wiping after just peeing, she suspected, caused her child diaper rash. It was just a theory she had developed over time, but does it have some validity?

Logically, yes. The idea of wiping as an adult is to keep the area dry. But when a baby is wearing a diaper, that moisture gets whisked into the fluff of the diaper. Urine is sterile at first. Bacteria only start to develop over time. Most of the time, when changing a diaper with only pee, the child’s skin will be dry.

Another issue with wiping causing diaper rash can be the wipe itself. Wipes with perfumes or alcohol can irritate the baby’s sensitive skin. Check to make sure the wipes you’re using are perfume and alcohol free, such as Cuties Premium Baby Wipes. These wipes also have the added advantage of being hypoallergenic and having aloe and vitamin E in them.

An Internet search reveals that many doctors believe wiping after changing a pee diaper is unnecessary. Does this mean it’s always harmful to wipe a child after changing a pee-filled diaper? No. Every child’s skin and PH-balance is different. If your child is developing diaper rash, first pay attention to the diaper changing regimen, and see what changes need to be made.

Veterans and Caregivers

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 14, 2014 under Caregiver Corner | Be the First to Comment

Caregiving is difficult no matter your relationship to the charge or the reason why the person needs caregiving. But different challenges face each of those relationships and reasons. Veteran caregivers have a specific set of challenges, hardships and rewards.

One of the challenges is trying to understand the mountains of paperwork it can require for a veteran to get care. Of course, this can be a challenge for all caregivers, but as the news has shown over the last couple months, the VA system is a particularly rough road to travel these days. This trouble can be mitigated by keeping a close and organized watch on all paperwork related to the veterans care. But that still doesn’t mean that they’ll be able to get an appointment any faster than otherwise.

As for the hardships, there are many. Again this is true for other individuals with disabilities, but oftentimes veterans have problems that are not apparent on their body. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) often don’t leave outside marks. This means that the veteran and their caregiver have to deal with outside people treating them like everything is fine, even when it isn’t. That can be a blessing, but also can mean having to explain more to strangers than one would like.

But being there for a veteran can be tremendously rewarding. As the parent, spouse or friend of a veteran, that person is taking part in an effort larger than themselves. They are part of what makes that veteran function every day and they should be thanked, just as veterans are thanked.

So thank you, from us here at TotalHomeCareSupplies.com, for your service as either a member of the armed forces or as a caregiver of one. We are grateful for you.

Back to School

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 13, 2014 under BladderMatters | Be the First to Comment

Back to school is a significant time, even for those without kids (more traffic on the roads!). But for parents and especially Sandwich Caregivers out there, it can be both a time of relief and of added on stress.

The return to school can mean a more predictable schedule. Your child/children are at a place until a certain time every day, meaning you can plan for when to be at work or caregiving for parents. Many parents celebrate this time of year, and we can bet you’re probably one of them.

But with a new school year can come with new friends and new challenges. If you’re living at home with both your children and your parent or parents, children may be reluctant to bring friends over. Try and understand where this embarrassment is coming from. Talk with them, and, if possible, be around when and if those friends do come to visit.

Additionally, new friends might mean a sleepover. And if your child has any bladder issues, dealing with any kind of protective underwear can be a potential nightmare. Luckily, nighttime pullups have come a long way. Sleep Overs provide discreet protection for children weighing between 45 and 145 pounds. Their cloth-like outer fabric means no suspicious rustling. If you’d like to try before you buy, you can find samples here.

Congrats from TotalHomeCareSupplies.com on getting through the hot summer. And good luck with a productive, fun and safe new school year!

National Health Center Week

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 12, 2014 under Caregiver Corner | Be the First to Comment

It’s National Health Center Week (August 10-16). A health center is generally a clinic that serves areas that have less medical care than the community needs. What can a community health center do for you?

Health centers provide immunizations, vaccinations, primary care and dental care.
Health Centers focus on more than just the health of your body! They also provide services like job training and housing assistance.
Free health fairs and other events are hosted by health centers, especially during Health Center Week.

At TotalHomeCareSupplies.com, we’re committed to keeping you as healthy as possible, so we encourage you to learn more about the services available to you. To find a health center in your area, see what events are happening this week or learn more about health centers, you can visit http://www.healthcenterweek.org. And check out the infographic below!

Quality of Care Provided by Health Centers

Different Types of Caregivers

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 11, 2014 under Caregiver Corner | Read the First Comment

There are as many types of caregivers as there are types of charges. Are you a caregiver? What type are you? We’d love to hear from you – let us know in the comments! Here are three main categories:

Family:
Family caregiving brings with it numerous rewards and stresses. The satisfaction that you are “taking care of your own” is very unique. But family also knows you well. They know that the facial expression you’re making now might mean you’re mad, but trying to cover it up. With someone outside your family, they may not notice it or know what it means.

According to the CDC, the typical caregiver is a woman in her 40s, providing care for her mother. This is an incredible act of love, and reciprocation to the woman who brought you into this world. But she may also be the person who’s able to say just a little remark that can bring up decades of past issues. These are stresses many caregivers of their own parents’ experience, and knowing you’re not alone can help (and you’re not, with 34 million unpaid caregivers out there!).

Friends:
The Internet abounds with stories of people who accidentally become part-time caregivers to their friends and neighbors. Often times, the caregiving begins incrementally: picking up some groceries here, dropping off the mail there. It may stop there, or continue on. These people know that they get along with their charge, which can be a help (who doesn’t love visiting a friend?) and a hindrance (when one person is unhappy, it can be awkward to let their friend know).

Hired:
Caregiving professionals are part of an industry that is growing and will continue to grow as the baby-boomers age. These individuals have devoted their careers to helping others. The satisfaction of that does not lower the stress that can come with the job, but it may provide comfort at the end of a long day. They may be temporary or long-term. Either way they are bringing both help and joy to their charge.

TotalHomeCareSupplies.com honors all the caregivers out there, and hope that they know we’re thinking of them. We’d love to hear about your caregiver experiences, past or present! See you in the comments!

The History of Adult Diapers

Posted by Jeanne Lowry on August 8, 2014 under BladderMatters | Be the First to Comment

The advances in adult incontinence products over just the past several years have come so far. There are now cloth-backed briefs that allow for air flow and leakage protection. There are underpads that can handle more liquid than imaginable. And there’s even gender-specific protective underwear that look more like regular underwear than ever. The improvements are convenient and there are always more on the way.

But how did we get here, to this place of convenience? Let’s take a look back.

Disposable diapers weren’t introduced until the 1940’s. Everything before that point was cloth. There’s not a lot of information about the prevalence of adult incontinence supplies during this time of change (so if you have any information, please be sure to comment below!). There is some anecdotal evidence about the US Army, Air Force and Marines using adult diapers during long-term or potentially chemically dangerous missions.

Kimberly Clark introduced their line of baby diapers in 1978, and in 1984 they created the Depend line, which began by manufacturing liners for adult incontinence. While Depend was one of the first to create specifically targeted adult incontinence products, many others quickly followed suit when they recognized the market need. First Quality, maker of Prevail, introduced their adult incontinence briefs in 1990.

Since then, with the baby boomers growing into a lively older age, the market need has grown even more, and innovation to keep people as comfortable and active as possible has grown as well.