pushchairs, wheelchairs....a couple of questions!

[hazeyjane]

Ds is 2.3, low tone, he has just started walking but is still unsteady, has an odd gait, tires very quickly and is, um erratic in the way he walks (ie he will only walk if holding a hand, but then does an odd bending down thing, meaning he ends up being dragged along). He can walk independently, but only for very short bursts, and would be unsafe walking along a road. His physio has issued him with a Kaye walker, as she thinks it may encourage him to walk independently (it hasn't arrived yet).

He has always used a baby jogger elite and a maclaren. I find that he slumps a lot in his pushchair, and his head often goes to one side. When i asked he physio about it, she suggested puuting some board under the seat to make it firmer, but this made no difference. I bought a cushion to go around his neck. He is now nearly 15kg, but not outgrowing the pushchair in length yet.

I just wondered whether a sn buggy or wheelchair would be an idea? Would they be more supportive? Or is there no point, is it better to keep him in a pushchair, which will hopefully last for another couple of years? Our physio/ot and disabled equipment services are not great and usually suggest things we can buy for ourselves, so we would have to fight for anything we didn't buy.

Any thoughts would be great.

[TheNinjaGooseIsOnAMission]

if it were me I'd be asking for a referral to wheelchair services. Wheelchair/buggy would definitely be more supportive, so long as they provide the right sort, most have options to add more support where needed. Round my way you'd probably be offered something like this which you can add all sorts to. The downside is that they are very heavy and accessories are hugely expensive unless you can find universal stuff that fits as you don't usually get things like raincovers with them.

dd3 has a maclaren major at the moment and it doesn't really offer any support so don't get one of those

[Pixel]

I didn't find the Major very supportive either but you can buy these, don't know how helpful they are.

[hazeyjane]

Thankyou for the replies.

The buggy you have linked to looks amazing, Ninja, something like that would be perfect. From our recent experiences we have a snowballs chance of getting one, but I will ask, and see what our physio says.

I hate seeing him looking so slumped in the pushchair, and of course when he is tired or ill he slumps even more. I am aware that as he gets bigger, it will be more of an issue.

[mymatemax]

Let the physio see how he is sitting & slumping in his pushchair. Thevphysio should refer to wchair services if not self supporting & posture is poor. We had mac major & then mmajor with additional supports. We have had a couple of wheelchairs since and are just waiting for new chair with additional trunk & head support, even though ds2 is mobile much of the time.