Having a new baby in your life means embarking on an adventure of joy, love and discovery.

But between the giggles and snuggles, parenting includes a packed list of daily tasks, from feeding to diapering to transporting to playing.

Baby product manufacturers know this well. At specialized boutiques and baby-themed megastores, one can buy everything from baby wipe warmers to high-tech audio/video monitoring systems. There seems to be a gadget or piece of gear to ease just about any baby-related task imaginable.

With one major exception.

Perhaps you've noticed that most baby stores have no designated "wheelchair-friendly" or "parents with disabilities" section. Parents who use wheelchairs or have other disabilities have found an astounding lack of accessible equipment designed to aid them with child-rearing tasks.

What's worse, inaccessible cribs and changing tables, tiny snaps on infant clothing, intricate buckles and other items intended to be helpful instead become insurmountable barriers for a parent with muscle weakness and limited movement.

Fortunately, that hasn't stopped millions of people with all types of disabilities from taking the parenthood plunge.

The U.S. population includes about 8 million couples with at least one parent with a disability, according to Through the Looking Glass, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco that receives federal funding to serve as the first National Resource Center for Parents with Disabilities.

"It's pretty incredible and, in a lot of those couples, both members are disabled," said Nikki Brown-Booker, TLG's information and referral specialist. "Adaptive parenting equipment is a huge issue for most new parents who are learning how to take care of the baby, whatever their involvement is with their disability."

Keys to surviving the baby-to-toddler years include creativity in adapting equipment, finding re-sources and appropriate help, and perfecting fundamental parenting techniques, say some experts and parents with disabilities. Not to mention preparing yourself to feel exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated and overcome with immeasurable amounts of love and pride — sometimes all in the same hour.

Daily Challenges, Creating Solutions

Since Karole and Marshall MacFarlane of Tempe, Ariz., became parents, the challenges have ranged from creating a network of child care providers to adapting available equipment for transporting Mikaela, now 2.

Occupational therapists at Through the Looking Glass have invented harnesses to aid parents with disabilities in lifting and transporting children. Photo by Suzanne C. Levine.

Karole has spinal muscular atrophy, which limits her ability to lift and do other tasks for her daughter. She operates a tutoring business from her home, and needed assistance with tasks such as lifting, diapering, bathing and feeding Mikaela when her husband was at work.

The challenges are similar for Newark, Ohio's Tessa Walters, a single mom whose limb-girdle muscular dystrophy prevents her from lifting her son, Travis, who is 2. Travis' father, Chris Clayton, and grandmother, Pam Cummings, play important roles, pitching in as Travis has grown into a curious toddler and daily tasks have become more difficult and often impossible for Walters.

These are common challenges, said Judi Rogers, an occupational therapist and parenting specialist for TLG. Rogers is also the author of Mother to Be: A Guide to Pregnancy and Birth for Women With Disabilities.

Parenting problems tend to fall into three categories for people with neuromuscular diseases, Rogers said: transitional tasks, carrying and moving, and visual history.

Lifting the Baby

Transitional tasks are the linkages between tasks like diapering or feeding, things like putting the baby on a diapering table or on your lap. And most of these actions require lifting.

"If you have upper extremity weakness, one of the biggest things is, how do you pick up that baby?" said Rogers, who has cerebral palsy and is the mother of two adult children.

So TLG therapists invented a "transfer harness," which consists of a bib that goes over the baby's chest and a crotch strap, plus handles or a mouth strap for picking up the infant. It can be designed with loops made of webbing material for parents who can't execute a pincher grasp with their hands, she said.

The harness is one of 50 items in TLG's Adaptive Parenting Equipment Idea Book, which describes adaptive equipment and solutions developed by the organization's therapists and other professionals. Other innovative items include a "baby care cart" that's easily accessible to a wheelchair user, "diaper loops" to make changing easier and a baby bathtub attached to a serving cart on wheels.

Carrying the Baby

For carrying and moving a baby, many parents who use wheelchairs have found success with commercial baby carriers or front packs that strap on to the parent's chest.

Rogers recommends a carrier called Sara's Ride. The simply designed pack lies flat "so you can just put the kid on your lap and put the top strap over your head and over the baby's," Rogers said. (See "Resources" below for product details.)

Another solution is the Baby B'Air, a harness de-signed for children riding in commercial airplanes and sitting on a parent's lap. It keeps the child safe, yet unrestricted.

Rogers pointed out that buckles on harnesses and carriers, as well as snaps and buttons on children's clothing, can be replaced with Velcro for easier handling.

For the MacFarlanes, a baby carrier quickly became too heavy for Karole to support Mikaela's weight. But attaching a baby backpack with a metal frame to Karole's wheelchair has allowed mother and daughter to travel together in style.

"I stick it on the front of my chair. The two metal pieces go in where my footrests are supposed to be, so she's kind of mounted on the front of me, and we just go on our way," Karole said.

For Tessa Walters, safely strapping her son into her wheelchair with a seatbelt works well, now that Travis is able to climb up onto her lap, she said. Travis is sometimes allowed to stand on the back of the chair for a short ride, which is a treat for both mother and son.

"He loves it. It's like flying for him," Walters said. "I love it because he gives me kisses and stuff while he's holding on."

Seeing a Different Way

Visual history refers to the ways you've seen it done. But seeing new ways to accomplish familiar tasks can help parents with disabilities, Rogers said.

For example, there are many ways to burp a baby other than the traditional over-the-shoulder method. The purpose of burping is to rid the baby's stomach of excess air he's swallowed when sucking on a bottle or the breast, by putting pressure on the belly to force the air out.

"An alternative way is getting the baby on your lap, with the baby's back lying on the mom's chest, and putting a hand on the belly and just gently moving back and forth," Rogers said. "All you need is pressure on that belly."

New Ways of Diapering

Innovating thinking about diapering, a task that must be done several times a day, can cut down on a parent's stress.

The MacFarlanes relied on the help of neighbors to change Mikaela's diapers since Karole couldn't do it alone. Walters was able to diaper Travis when he was an infant, but that changed in toddlerhood, she said.

"When he was younger, I'd have someone set him on the table and that way he was up at my level and I could do it," Walters said. "But now that he's wiggling around and wanting to get up and stuff, pretty much Grandma and Daddy have to do it."

Rogers recommends different strategies for children of different ages. For younger babies, a technique involves the child's participation when lifting the baby's legs is difficult for a parent: Teach the child to lift his bottom off the changing surface so the parent can slide the diaper underneath.

"It's better to start when the baby is little because you are teaching them and they're having fun," Rogers said. She has a video of a man who tells his baby "bottoms up," and the baby lifts up its torso and Dad slides the diaper into place.

"A lot of time, what we also want is a partnership between the parent and child. It's not putting any more work on the child, but rather it's allowing them to practice newfound skills that all children like to do. It builds on their development," Rogers said.

When kids can climb safely, they can be taught to climb up on the lap of Mom or Dad or onto a changing table. "When they're old enough, kids like doing it."

As an alternative, Rogers recommends simply using a desk or a card table as a diaper-changing surface, since many commercial changing tables aren't wheelchair accessible. Then, creating a soft but safe surface is the trick.

Baby stores sell diaper-changing pads with safety belts. But many of those pads are so thick they raise the height of the changing surface too much.

"Sometimes you're better off going to a foam company and getting a flat pad with a seat belt," she said. Parents can use Velcro for the seat belt instead of a buckle.

Toddlers sometimes resist lying down or holding still for a diaper change, making the task longer and more difficult. To combat this, TLG therapists have created a mobile that dangles books, toys or other items to capture a child's interest during the few minutes it takes to change a diaper.

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