The nursing tray built for me and my Mommy at the National Rehabilitation HospitalEven before our daughter was born, I decided that I wanted to breast-feed. But the truth was, when Diana was first born, breast-feeding was a lot of WORK for both of us, because I was not able to support the baby enough to feel comfortable for feeding. We tried all kinds of positions and lots of pillows, but nothing really worked. Then, when I was staying at the National Rehabilitation Hospital after I fell and broke my knee (THAT’S another story), my doctor asked the Rehab Engineers to design a lap tray that would be lightweight and easy for me to put on and take off without assistance. What the engineers came up with was to carve a piece of hard gray foam to the shape of my wheelchair, and attach canvas straps with a quick-release latch. One end of the latch is on the lap tray; the other end is attached to my armrests. There’s a 1/8″ thick sheet of plastic glued to the top of the tray so that the foam could not suffer puncture wounds, and there are Velcro strips on the plastic sheets. The Velcro helps hold the soft foam pillow that the baby lies on for nursing, or sits on when I is carry or play with her. Neat, huh? (Note: This tray made all the difference in the world for successful breast-feeding; Diana was instantly comfortable on it and we could now focus on the really important business!)