We take great pride in providing beds that are not just about safety - they are cherished by the children and families that own them.
Many of our customers tell us that they love their beds, and a big part of that is our customisation process. Here's a chat with Paul Wood who looks after the customisation process at Creative Care.
"So we've had it all really, space themes, you name it! Kids will have a space wallpaper with astronauts and that sort of stuff and we have even built a grey bed with grey oval windows and then on the padded corners on the front, on the outside of bed, I designed a pattern that looked like the outside of a spaceship, with all the docking ports and various levels and blasters and all that sort of stuff on the outside. So it made the bed look like it was a spaceship in the space room.
We also match beds to wallpaper like jungle themes, and dragons and all sorts. The last one we did had a dinosaur thing. So I actually took the picture they sent me and I took those elements of those dinosaurs and applied them to the bed.
I've installed many beds and you often see the child rush up to it.
I mean, I've seen them hug the corners, it's heartwarming, you know, to see them run up and jump inside the bed because they've already got this connection with the design. It's often A TV favourite, a TV series or something like that.
We can incorporate designs inspired by those images into the bed design and the padded corners. It's got to help, hasn't it? Also it brings a lot of confidence for the family because if the family think they're providing something that the child will like, that's their priority.
Families that have stayed up at night for the last six or seven years. They've been solely responsible for their child at night time, and their child has been with them, sleeping beside them in the bed or maybe on a bed on the floor, because if the child wakes up they need to make sure that they are not in any danger and the family has got to be there for them straight away.
So, to transition from that to leaving the child on their own, in a bed is quite a big change for the family. To realise that they're now helping to support the child by giving them somewhere safe to be at night, the child is now learning to be self-settling, and slightly more independent.
If the bed looks friendly and nice and is perceived as comfortable and pleasant for the child, because there's something in the design that the child already likes, It helps I think the family as well to feel confident that it's going to be a success and they are providing something that the child is going to like from the start, and it also helps the family to feel that they've got a bit of input into it.
The family have a lot of input as to what it looks like, how it's going to be used, that sort of stuff, like positioning of windows. We often position windows based on input from the family. Not necessarily because it's the best place for the light to come into the window, but because if the bed is at an angle from the door, the family want to be able to open the door quietly and look through the window without disturbing the child, so we'll put in a window where they need it.
So that's a function of the family, not just a function of the light. So again, part of the reason for the customisation of the bed is to help the child become a bit attached to the bed and for the family to feel they have some control and input.
The other aspect that's important is colour.
I have to say the colour is important, some children are sensitive to light so they don't like bright areas so, we'd suggest a darker bed and possibly not have windows on the ends, always have a window on the front of the bed so your child can see out and the family can see and see that they're okay and how they're sleeping.
But there again, others like a lighter area, they don't want to be you know, enclosed in a darker space, it depends how sensory they are. Sensory seekers will like a smaller low sensory space, and that's usually indicated when we're doing assessment if the child is a sensory seeker I will ask how does that manifest itself?
Do they like to go under blankets when they become stressed or do they like to go behind the sofa? You know, we have visited families where the child will only sleep in a cupboard because they just need that confining space that lowers the sound of the world. If they feel the the world is shouting at them continuously with light and sound then they will try to reduce it.
All of these things are taken into account."
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