3 Reasons I Love our Bathing Table

We call it a bathing table. Pressalit Care calls it a Nursing Bench. We use it as a dressing table - most of the time. 

While the lift is critical - absolutely could not do without it - this bathing table has been a lifesaver, and we only found out about it because my husband was using google while his brother and I discussed the "flow" of the bathroom. 

My husband is an expert question asker. He gets great comfort from listening to the opinions of as many people as possible. He wants to know what works, what doesn't work, and why. In this case, he wanted to know what to do once we'd figured out the bathing process. Every parent he asked told him that once they'd bathed their disabled child; they would take them back to their bed to dry them off and get them dressed. Or they would do what I had been doing in our old house - just get them out of the tub to the floor - thankfully there was a carpeted section of our bathroom. 

The bed/floor option was not satisfactory in our opinion. Barry was sure that there must be a better option. So, while Jered and I debated rather the bathtub or shower area should come first along the track, Barry typed and searched and finally found a real answer. 

This "Nursing Bench" is usually only found in nursing homes in Europe, but we asked our plumbing company Kenny and Company, and they figured out how to order one for us. (We also ordered hand rails to go on each side of the toilet from the same company). 

I love this table for three specific reasons:

1. When not in use, it can fold up against the wall creating more space for wheelchairs and caregivers.

2. It has a motorized lift system in it. After a bath, we start the table off pretty high. While Katherine is up there, I get her dried off and dressed - with shoes on. Then I lower the table down almost as far as it can go and drive her chair up next to the table. Now that Katherine has her shoes on, she is able to stand up and help with the transfer. If ever there was a situation where I (or a caregiver) did not feel confident allowing her to transfer this way - we could reengage the lift system at this point to get her into her chair. 

3. Since moving in, we have done two orthopedic surgeries which required us to keep certain parts of Katherine's body dry for a few weeks. In these cases, we are able to lie her on this table to wash her hair or wash just part of her body. You'll notice that there is a shower head right there with its own thermostatic valve. 

This table does carry a large price tag - we paid a little more than $7,000 for ours. If I had to pick only one way to bathe - this might be it. It does come in a smaller size which would accommodate smaller spaces and smaller kids and smaller budgets. This is the model we have, but do explore the other options - Pressalit Care offers so many great solutions.