Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Feeding Bag Adaption

Junior is on continuous feeds so we keep his feeding bag in an insulated back pack with an ice pack at all times.  The back pack came with his pump and is made just for the bag and pump and allows us to easily go out with it.  Problem is that we use ours all the time not just on outings so they wear out.  These back packs are very pricey because of their "medical" label and not easy to replace.  I decided I needed something else to use while at home, so the back packs can be saved for outings and will last.  I pulled out my fabrics, velcro, etc and tried making something to hold his feeding bag and an ice brick while at home. 
This is a "rough draft" and I just kind of figured it out as I went so it is far from perfect.  I will test it out for a few days and if it works well I will make another one and then post step by step pics when I do that. 
For now here are a few pics of it and the short version of how I made it.  Does anyone make insulated bags for their feeding bags?  Any ideas on the best way to make them.

I used 3 layers of material the outer is denim(I am sure you could use something different for that), middle is fleece and inner layer is PUL(the waterproof fabric used in cloth diapers).  I turned them inside out and sewed a tube then turned that right side out and folded the tube in half.
I used some more of the PUL fabric to make an inner pocket to hold the ice brick.  Cut a hole in the top which I then edged with some bias tape and I ended up putting bias tape along the edge of the entire bag.  I then lined the sides and bottom with velcro and thats about it.  I also made a loop at the top to hook to the iv pole so the cloth wasn't getting pulled too much.
That may sound very confusing but when I make another one and post again I will have better directions and step by step pictures.  As I mentioned before this was just a rough draft.
 I was going to just have the bottom open but realized that would be a real pain when it came to putting the feeding bag in and changing out the ice pack.  Instead I lined both sides and the bottom with velcro so the entire bag can open for easy access.
 After putting in the feeding bag, the ice brick is also in the pocket though it can't really be seen in this pic.
 Velcro closed and ready for the iv pole.
 Hanging on the pole and being used.  After a few days to testing I will see if any major adjustments are needed before I make one more for him.  I need to see if the fleece and PUL are enough insulation so the ice brick keeps the feeding cold for several hours and if I can easily fill the bag and replace the ice brick while it is hanging. 
update to come......

2 comments:

  1. Nice job. I do something very similar. Do you have to deal with a Farrell bag too? Any ideas on how to have one going while in a wheelchair, but somewhat covered up so as not to be visually distracting/disturbing, say at school?

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    1. Hi there, yes I did make farrell bag covers as well. Junior uses them every night and when not feeling well they have to go out with us. Here is a link for the post about them. http://adaptions4kidz.blogspot.com/2013/08/farrell-bag-covers.html

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