Families with children on SSI

[julie]

I'm hoping some of you might email me privately if you don't want to post the specific stuff on here, my email address is <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="mailto:division902@hotmail.com">division902@hotmail.com</a>.

My husband and I have researched the possiblity of our children recieving SSDI off is his record. I called them today and our family maximum (including his SSDI payment) is $1102. OK, not much but more than nothing.

So then I researched SSI for premature infants. Seeing as I am pregnant with triplets, I am sure that our babies will be premature and meet the minimum weight requirements to recieve SSI. I want to talk to some other families who have childen on SSI and find out what the income of the family is, because I know SSI is based off of income. The only tricky thing for us is that we will have 3 children (possibly, very likely) our of 5 family members on SSI and I'm not sure if they count each SSI elgiblity when they add up the income for the family (is this making sense???). I'm just trying to plan ahead a bit for diapers, formula (I am going to do my best to breastfeed but with 3, I just don't know how it will all go), and we need a van (that we can't afford) so life is just plain stressful for us right now.

I would appreciate any help or recommendations or whatever.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

 

[Haileysmommy]

When I applied for Hailey they said we could not make more than 3600/mo for a family of 5. If 2 people are working you are allowed to make more(I think it was only like an extra $300). I think it varies form state to state. We were denied because we made too much and it wasn't worth it for Abe to take a cut in pay just to get SSI. It never hurts to try though.

 

[Lisapatg]

Just wanted tp say congrats on the babies. The money thing will work out. My hubby has cf and we have a 4 year old daughter and twin boys that are 2. I know this doesn't help much with your question but I just wanted to say congrats and I hope you have a safe pregnancy. Lisa

 

[JennifersHope]

Julie,

As far as looking for extra help with formula.. Have you looked into WIC? (women, infant and children) it is a great program that pays for, or helps pay for formula, milk, cheese, juice, eggs, etc.

I do know it is based on the income level, but having triplets sure does help you quailfy for it. Also, just as a side note, I would called the Carnation Good Start program... you can find the link online... They have great assistance programs for helping to get formula. At our hospital, we use Carnation Formula for some people who have twins because it is cheaper and just as good as Similac etc.

Also, I am not sure if you wrote to any of the diaper companies, but they usually will send you free stuff as well.. When I found out my friend was pregnant with my God baby, I bought a bag of diapers a week till she was born.. It really added up fast...Luvs has great prices these days....

When I get done with school in a few weeks, I will help you look into these programs but look into WIC that should really help

THinking of you guys all,

Jennifer

 

[julie]

Thanks Leeann, we do make WAY under 3600 a month so we should qualify. I'm just concerned if each baby qualifies for SSI, does that drive up our total income?? I guess I'll just have to wait and find out, or maybe go in to the office and see what they can tell me as of right now.

Thanks for the encouragement Lisa, it does help for others just to be positive. It's just so overwhelming (I'm sure you know with the twins) because the expenses are all at once. It's not like I can reuse a swing and a crib and clothes and such, it's such big purchases of 2-3 items all at once.

Jen, I actually am on WIC, and it does help a bit. I get 6.5 gallons of milk a month (I drink 9-11), 1 cheese (I eat 2-3), 2 cartons of eggs, 1 box of cereal and 6 small juices. It does help, but right now food is our biggest expense. A friend at work brought in a giftcard from safeway that her grandma got her last year for christmas. Silly her, she was upset it wasn't a better gift. I JUMPED for joy!!! Who doesn't go to the grocery store??? <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

I already signed up for luvs and huggies coupons and have a list of some benefits for multiples 1 free month of formula for triplets, 1 free outfit of clothes and 1 free set of bottles. For all of those things I have to wait until they are born because I need to send in a birth certificate. Other than that, many companies listed (I've called them all) have done away with their multiples program since they are so common now. I'll keep searching though.
I didn't know about Carnation good start program, I'll contact them and see what they have to help out. any little bit helps.

Thanks Jen and everyone else!!!

 

[S]

a little fyi, we have been told over and over again that pampers work best for girls and huggies for boys and after a few messy experiments we are now believers.

 

[damiensmom]

You can go to social security. gov and it will answer all SSI SSDI questions you might have.

 

[ashton2005]

good morning julie we were told that SSI does not drive up your income on qualifying for other assistance we re lucky to get WIC and food stamps since only my husband works and we are waiting on SSI to be approved but i did check and they said SSI does not count for other programs as money coming in but for like mortgges and loans it does,

christi

 

[anonymous]

Just a word of caution on stockpiling the diapers. You never know which brand will work best for your baby. Of course, in your case, if it doesn't work for one, you have two more to try<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> My boys had no problem using any brand, huggies, pampers, luvs, even the off brands. My 2nd son we used the wal-mart off-brand and they worked really well. My daughter was a totally different story. SHe rashed out if we used anything except pampers or huggies supreme (6 years ago, don't know if they have the same brands now?) We couldn't use any off brands on her at all. We couldn't even use regular huggies or pampers. Don't ask me why, but only the supreme brand of pampers or huggies kept her from rashing out majorly. She has lots of allergies and at 6 still has eczema and has had several staph skin infections from her eczema, including in the diaper area. Just a word of caution...

Also, when the babies get here, WIC will give you a lot more than they do now. If your income falls within the guidelines, you should get enough formula to feed all 3 babies. The only issue I've heard with it is that WIC has certain brands they use. If your baby needs something special like nutramegin or progestimil (sp??), they may not cover it. Also, they always required the formulations with iron and if your babies can't tolerate that, you'll need a dr's excuse to get them to cover a brand without iron. Also, I think they only cover powdered formula here. I find it the most convenient; however, with multiples you'll likely need/want some ready to use formula.

As far as baby items, you don't necessarily have to have 3 of everything. I mean, obviously you'll want 3 high chairs, 3 carseats, and 3 cribs. However, if you just buy one each of some of the other things, you can just rotate the babies time in each. For example, if you have a battery operated bouncy seat, a really good swing, and a really nice play gym with lights/sounds, you can put one baby in the swing, one in the bouncy seat, and one under the gym. Then, after a little time, rotate them around. When they're older, if you have one of the jumper seats, one activity center, etc, do the same. We have friends with triplets and this worked well for them. Obviously though, you will need more variety of items then we did with singles only. One thing that worked well on the high chairs for us - we had a GRACO brand that allowed you to position the seat for infants (at a recline without a tray), as a highchair, and as a toddler chair. We really liked it because when the baby was little, you could have them at the table with you, reclined in the high chair (or while you're cooking, etc.) I'm no help on the van!

Have you though about daycare or will one of you stay home with the babies? Just trying to imagine how ANYONE could afford daycare on 3 infants, let alone how a cfer could! Are you members of any church? Many churches are good at helping out.

Good luck!! Keep us updated and feel free to vent anytime<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> Has to be hard to be really excited/happy but at the same time a bit scared and overwhelmed!

 

[anonymous]

Money money money! Kiddos are expensive. It's great that you are getting a head start on some of the financial things.

Daycare is so expensive for infants. It's just amazing. Do you plan for Mark to stay home with the babies or will he be putting that degree to use with a job? A girl I work with goes to a subsidized daycare because she is a single mom. She loves it and it's not near as expensive as what I pay at a private daycare.

That's interesting about the diapers. Not only did we find one brand worked better than the other with each child. We also overbought a certain size and then couldn't return them because they didn't sell that quantity of package anymore. Stockpiilng diapers just didn't work out the greatest for us. Like someone else said though, you will have 3 babies to distribute the diapers between so you may have more luck.

The van. I suppose you could go to the dealer who you bought the car from and ask for a deal. Maybe a used van is the best bet. I have to agree with you though. You definately need a van. Car seats take up so much room.

Medical expenses for the babies if they are in the hospital for a long time. That would be another HUGE one.

Paying back the relative that paid for your IVF. I guess that could be done in monthly payments. I'd feel a nagging need to start slowly paying that back as a showing of good faith.

Saving for their college. YIKES. It's never too early.

It never ends with kids! lol You'll do fine Julie! I know you will not leave a rock unturned when it comes to finding assistance. It's out there for situations such as this.

 

[anonymous]

julie, my family income is about 2500.00 per month for a family of 5 and then we get 360.00 per month ssi but this changes if my husband gets overtime. I was told if my other child w/cf could get ssi it would be the same amount because they would only use the 2500.00 income level. We are not able to get any other state help (food stamps,medical assistance ) so I don't know if that would count as income or not.

 

[anonymous]

I stockpiled huggies for DS -- the were horrible -- he was forever peeing his way out of them. Used Pampers swaddlers and cruisers. Lady I work with -- complete opposite huggies great -- pampers bad. So we traded coupons. Liza

 

[JazzysMom]

I have to say I NEVER used Huggies or Pampers. I didnt get ANY for my baby shower so when I went & bought mine I used a generic version Called Fitties. I have to honestly say that the number of problems we had with leaks is probably the same as those with brand name diapers. They cost half the price & I loved them. Jazz had very sensitive skin & they didnt aggrivate her anymore then when my Mom used Pampers. Its just a thought!

 

[anonymous]

Julie: If I were you I would look into a conversion van, we have one with a high top, tv, 2 cd players, leather inside and lots of room to walk around in the van! A lay down bed in the back, much BIGGER than the normal van. You can even walk from the front to the back. The tv would come in very handy on long trips with the kids. Ours is a 2001 high top, conversion Chevy Limited express, it has low graphics and looks quite sharp. (not like a granny vehicle) Just a thought, I know how handy ours come in place with 4 kids, we fit 6 peeple in there VERy comfortably. you can get 8 in there comfortble and you have lots of leg room and can stand and walk around.

 

[anonymous]

Julie

I always used/still do "White cloud" diapers, much cheaper and work just fine. If the kids can get SSI you can use that money towards diapers. I have 2 children on SSI, Our family makes grosses $2900 every month for 6 of us and our kids each get about $300 each, depends on if any O.T. is worked that month, which the more O.T. the less money they get. Kind of defeats the purpose, but that is the way it goes. We were told that YES this income does count towards medical assistance-- almost lost insurane because of it and we much more need the medical coverage than the SSI, no comparasion! $3500 a month just in med's. Good luck with everything!

 

[julie]

Do you recall the pirce on your conversion van? sounds very very useful but $$$ is really a concern for us right now.

Maybe stockpiling diapers isn't such a good idea.....Although we'll just deal. It's not like we'll be going anywhere except the doctor for the first few months.

I've talked to some other mom's of triplets and more and they say DON'T get a less number of swings than you have children. Even substitutions with bouncy seats or whatever the case may be, they are urging to have 3 swings.

We are repaying the family member, we have been paying them since they gave us the money. I know that sounds funny, but we pay $50-100 a month and they are ok with us paying whatever we can afford. We have a very understanding family member. I just feel so bad that we owe them, I hate owing people money.

Luckly medical expenses are covered by my military insurance AND I qualify for pregnancy medical coupons because they count all babies. So we are very lucky in that department.

Mark will be staying home with the babies, daycare around here is about $225 a WEEK PER CHILD... um, no thanks. Mark will have his degree by August but going out and getting a job right away might be a little though. And I can request to get out of the military but there are no guarantees that they will approve it. I only make about 30,000 a year so he could probably get a job making at least 40-50,000 a year but it's just finding the right job. I don't want him to rush just because we need the money. I want him to find a company he's happy with. We don't qualify for daycare subsity because I make too much each month.

I just went to the local SSA office today. Spoke to the NICEST lady ever!!! She totally redid our income because they input mine wrong, but we still don't qualify for SSI for Mark (which would get him medicaid, which would then pay for his medicare premiums). He got medicaid in CA because of the in home supportive services program, but we aren't elgible here and we have just been charged for 3 months worth of medicare premiums. We never wanted the medicare in the first place as my military insurance covers almost everything but when he became elgible for medicaid in CA, they HAD to pay his premiums. We changed our address when we transfered up here and I admit, I wasn't proactive about looking into canceling the medicare. I just assumed we would get something in the mail for it. So this morning I foudn out we CAN CX the medicare (which we will do) but we can't cancell it back to DEC when CA stopped paying his premiums. Even though we NEVER used it, NEVER, from December until now. CAN THIS MONTH GET ANY WORSE!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?????????????????????????????


Ok, I think I am done complaining. THanks for listening-and sorry.

THanks for the ideas and sugestions

 

[anonymous]

I can get a discount from GM & they currently have a thing going where we can share our discount privilege with up to 2 people between now & the end of May.

 

[anonymous]

Julie: I have seen vans like ours for $8,000 to $13,000 used with 30,000 to 40,000 miles. We paid much more than that 3 years ago. If you could afford it it sure would help you! If the kids would get SSI you could take the number of people in your family which would be 5 and divide by the van payment Let's say $300 van payment divided by 5= $60 each times 3 kids = $180.00 that the SSI could help with on the van expense. It helps alot and it is much needed for the kids. Just a thought.

Also you stated you need 3 of everything, go to garage sales, alot of times you can find like new for next to nothing.

Take care

 

[anonymous]

My sister in law order all her diapers online from 1800diapers.com she said it was the cheapest place out there, I also called around today to a few people I knew that had diapers ministries at their churchs or other organizations they worked for but its for people in their area, so you might want to look into something like that in your area. I know money is such a stressful topic but hey I'm the daughter of a precher and we were raised on practically nothing and all 4 of us turned out great. Lots of Love and imagination!!!!! Have you updated your registry? We really need to through you a shower, I've been thinking about you all day!

 

[julie]

I'll look around for a used conversion van, see what I find in my area. The biggest most important thing to us is easy access to get all 3 babies in the car. In the oddsey, you can slide the seats over (2005 model and newer) to get in the third row easily-which is what Mark needs because he's a big guy.

We've been tossing around the idea of cloth diapers. anybody have testimony on them????? For triplets, it's like $225 in our area with weekly pickup and delivery. I've been pricing disposables and we would be paying about $500 a month for them. I am just questioning the convenience with 3 babies vice 1 or even 2. Any recommendations????

I will keep 1800diapers.com in mind if we do disposables-thank you for that information!!!

We have "dates" for lots of garage sales <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> As nice as it would be to get new stuff, it's just not do-able with all these babies on the way. So I've resigned my hopes of a "dream" nursery and am just looking around for sturdy (when 2 of them start jumping around in a crib) items and bedding and used swings, clothes, bouncers, bottles (I will just buy new nipples), bottle warmers, triplet strollers.... the ONLY thing I insist on getting new is carseats, but that's for safety more than anything!!!

Glad all 4 of you turned out great!!! Love really is all you need, and of course as you mentioned the imagination <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">. I'm not worried what we can "give" our kids-they will have eachother, 2 dogs and lots of love. I'm worried about feeding them, clothing them, keeping them in diapers and not loosing our house, our car and still feeding ourselves. That's the hump we are trying to get over right now. This too will pass, I know. I'm just sweating it now.

Thanks to all for the suggestions, oh, the discount from GM, I'm interested... maybe you could PM or email me???? (division902@hotmail.com).

Thanks