One piece of playground that most children enjoy is the feeling of freedom that comes from swinging. In some cases, the higher the better! But with special needs swing seats costing anything from $400 to $2000 the cost can be very prohibitive.
Thankfully there is a cheap, and relatively easy fix to this problem. Out of date car seats! These are often given away, if you haven’t got one laying around, or even an older seat that is sold cheap at a garage sale, or on you local buy sell pages. And for bigger kids, something like an old Columbia special needs car seat can work well. We picked one up for $30.
This one is just made from a regular car seat, and is being used by a 4 year old boy with CP. As long as they are comfortable in it, you don’t need to worry about where the shoulder markers are, because hopefully you won’t be having any high speed crashes! You can choose to remove the upholstery for outside use, or leave it in place if it will be under a roof, or you live where it never rains! If removing the upholstery, some EVA foam could be cut to fit to provide a bit of comfort, and you could even glue in some cut down pool noodles to provide extra lateral or head support. To adjust the recline of the seat, simply lengthen or shorten the front ropes in comparison to the back ones.
Now for the Step by Step instructions.
YOU WILL NEED
- Used car seat that is not hinged in the middle, complete with straps. Upholstery is optional.
- EVA foam, pool noodles etc and a good plastics glue if wanting to add extra support.
- Rope or chain, hooks, etc. Here we have used premade swing rope that came with the loop for hanging, from an old swing. You can buy these at the likes of Bunnings or toy stores. You could also use plain nylon rope, or plastic covered chain with those little bent pins to hold it in place. Just work with what you have or can easily get.
- A drill and sandpaper
- Somewhere to hang your swing – a tree, a swing frame, a beam. Whatever you have handy.
First, check your seat to see if there are any conveniently located This one had some slots located at the bottom front that were a good size to thread the rope through. 
Next, drill any holes you do need. Two at the top back, and two at the bottom front. If you are keeping the upholstery on the seat, you may want to think about where would be the best placement. In some cases, you may be able to thread from the back to the front, so long as the knots won’t be in an uncomfortable spot for the child. Use sandpaper to smooth the plastic so it doesn’t rub into the rope and fray it with time. You could skip this if using chain, providing there are no sharp bits of plastic that could scratch your child.
Attach the rope or chain to the seat, and affix by using a knot, or locking pin if using a chain. If using plastic covered chain, put this on before attaching the chain.
If using chain, you can simply adjust the recline by selecting which link to hang the swing from. If using rope with a protected loop like this one, it is easiest to adjust the recline by adjusting the length of the rope before tying the knots. Just make sure your knots are tight, cannot slip through the size of the holes you drilled, and leave a bit of extra hanging so you can adjust the recline in the future.
Now, hang your swing, insert child, strap in, and enjoy!
with each feed consisting of an attempt at breastfeeding, followed by thickened EBM in a Habermann bottle, (because it was thickened it was a real guessing game, as we had to discard what she didn’t drink as it wouldn’t fit down the tube), and then she would finish off with the rest of her feed through the tube. Gradually, we got to the point where she was completely oral by 8 months.
Find the toy you want to operate on. For me, this took longer than the surgery! Samara has a habit of hiding her toys in the strangest places, and I had to check all of them!
Gather your supplies. You will need a thin needle (you will be stitching through the plastic tube, and do not want the resulting holes to be too big), thread in a colour that is not too different to the toy, a pair of scissors, and a g-tube button (you could use an expired one, or even a used one, as you will be cutting off the gross bit). If you have some fray-stop, or clear nail polish, this would also be a good idea. I didn’t have either, but I plan on getting some to be on the safe side.
Cut the tube leaving around 5mm at the top. This is what you will stitch through. Discard the balloon end of the tube.
Prep the patient for surgery. Normally this would have meant giving her a good wash, but I was too impatient!
Make a small an incision as possible to fit the tube through. On Soxy, I just poked a pencil through, and wriggled it around to move the threads aside. But this time, I made a small cut with scissors. this is when you would add some Fray Stop or clear nail polish if you have it to prevent fraying. I briefly considered hot melt glue, but that would leave a granulation ring, and we have enough issues with granulation without inflicting it on the poor doll!
Thread the needle, and tie a knot in the end of both threads. You will be stitching with the threads doubled for strength. as you make your first stitch, loop the needle between the threads to stop the knot popping through the loose weave of the fabric.
Stitch straight through the tube, catching the fabric on both sides. Work your way around the tube, passing through it around 6-8 times. A thimble comes in handy for getting the needle through, although it isn’t too hard as the plastic is very soft. Don’t do too many stitches, as you don’t want to split the plastic.
Once you have stitched all the way around, finish with a triple knot, and thread the loose end of the thread through the body a bit before cutting off, so it doesn’t come undone with rough play.
Give the button a couple of gentle tugs to ensure it is well fastened, then make sure any Fray Stop or nail polish is dry before handing the patient back to her owner.Once you have seen how quick and easy it is to do, you may find your collection begins to grow!
m married to Michael. We have seven daughters Alicia 27, Sara 24, Renata 23, Christiana 21, Bryanna 19, Mahalia 17 and Samara 7, and 2 grandchildren Ashley 3, and Audrey 1. We are from New Zealand, and moved to Australia in July of 2007.
mara due to a loophole in the system, but our fight for Permanent Residency was a long and expensive one, that we finally won in June of 2013.