Can anyone recommend a pushchair?

[imawigglyworm]

After months of OT trying to decide if DS needs a specialist pushchair she has now said the he can get one brought from the average baby shop but I dont know where to start.
Ds is a small at 22 months but it needs to be one that will last us for a few years as he isnt walking yet and we dont know if and when he will be. It needs a firm base and preferably adjustable (the part that he can sit on), something that is very supportive and can sit him almost completely upright.
The main problem im having is finding one with an adjustable base and that will last for a good few years.
Does anyone have any suggestions at all?
We dont have a great deal of baby shops locally and OT says I must look at it & get her ok before we buy it.

what about a maclearen xlr, they are bigger than all the other buggies and the seat is supportive, i have used one for a four year old. they are very easy to push too and fold up .

bit off of her to say that and then make no suggestions what does she mean by adjustable base? Seems she's listing all the things that a specialist chair would do but asking you to pay out. Kiddicare have quite a range on line as do boots and plenty of other places, maybe start there and then when you find something see if you can view it locally.

Thanks, yeah im a bit miffed with it too ninjagoose. I dont really think that she is a supportive of our needs (if thats the right way to put it) as she is with other families I know and yeah I think it is all down to funding. She says there is none yet other professionals I know say theres charities crying out to fund peoples pushchairs. Ds's portage worker is excellant and is going to help find funding and she was disgusted that OT just left us to sort it after months of her not being able to make up her mind.

The part that he sits on needs to be firm and be able to move back and fowards as he grows as he has a habit of slouching in his seat so the shorter it is theres less for him to slouch in iyswim.

Thanks will look at kiddicar, boots and I will look for the macleraren xlr too, any other ideas still appreciated as I think im going to need all the help I can get.

personally I can't think of any pushchair where you can adjust the base in that way, there are a couple (think my maclaren did?) where you can move the crotch strap back or forward but I'm not sure that'll be good enough support wise. I'd be tempted to go back and tell her you can't find anything that will be suitable. Have you looked at more specialist pushchairs yet? If you need a special one it sould be funded through wheelchair services and she should refer you to them.

you can adjust the base on the slivercross pop buggy BUT do not buy it i think its crap! MyDD2 does not sit right in it at all she always seems to flop, then i looked at my friends and her boy sits funny in it as well. You can sort of adjust the the bit where their legs hang down

Hes is only 22 months so she said he was too young to be funded through wheelchair services and at the time she had to get 3 other children pushchairs funded too so I feel she looked at it as though my Ds was the least physically disabled so was the least important. They all got new chairs whereas my Ds got given a secondhand (not that theres anything wrong with secondhand) rusting, chair that had damaged material all over and was really not the slightest bit nice to look at.

He had crappy specialist pushchair from her but the strap broke and that would of cost her department £200 to replace. The seat adjusted on that but ive never seen or heard of any other pushchair where the whole base adjusts.

I will look around (just so I can say I have) but i reckon I will be contacting her again soon

I think its absolutely appalling for your OT to push this back on you - although it doesn't surprise me at all as our OTs are similarly useless and will do anything to avoid providing equipment - they have made some utterly ridiculous suggestions to us in the past. I have looked at a lot of pushchairs trying to find one suitable for DS who has CP (they won't consider him for a specialist pushchair until he's 3...) and I haven't seen anything which would fit your requirements - I really don't think they make one with an adjustable base like you need.

I have seen something mentioned on this board before called the Otto Bock Kidsert which is something you put into a normal buggy to help with support and positioning. However I have been trying to find somewhere which sells them and can't so not sure if they are still available! Might help if you can find one though!

We have a Quinny Buzz by the way, which is comfy and quite supportive for DS although not amazing for positioning and wouldn't fit your requirements. We will soon be getting a Phil and Teds explorer which he also looks ok in. However really I think you should go back to the OT as I don't think that what she is telling you to get exists outside the special needs market.

We were going to have the otto bock kiwi until OT changed her mind. we tried a demo one and it was really good Ds loved being in it.

Seat depth adaptation is the technical name for what I need. Just typed it into google and it only came up with specialist pushchairs and one other that cost £800! no chance I can afford that one.

The kidsert actually might work I found it here dlfdata2010.dlf.org.uk/product.php?product_id=0042520&groupid=2794 £40 is much cheaper than a new pushchair but whether they have any in stock or not?
And I agree that I dont think one actually exists.

As you said she told you that wheelchair service would not fund it.That may not be true.I would push for a referal to wheelchair service.It is appalling that your son has been treated like this.As you say there is nothing wrong with second hand but there is second hand and second hand.

imawigglyworm I used a kidsert when dd was very small - I live in US so I bought it online from adaptivemall.com. I may even still have it, I'll take a look tomorrow. It was okay - you have to feed the pushchair straps through it and it acts as extra padding. There's a slightly raised part at the front to stop kiddo sliding forward, but it didn't always work for us. My dd has quad cp so can't sit unaided so we moved onto a specialist chair when she was 1 yr - a kidcart - huge bulky heavy thing, but kept her safe when it got tipped over at preschool . When she was 5 we got 2 wheelchairs - one manual and one electric, and I now have a fab "travel" chair - an Alvema Ito which I bought from the UK importer in Liverpool when I was over visiting family. The only disadvantage with it is it doesn't look like a wheelchair, so I get funny looks when I ask for special help. (like getting on and off trains, planes etc) Strangely, all the good equipment here is European - the US stuff is horribly made, bits fall off, they are bulky and heavy. I look longingly at the otto bock website, but their nicest stuff isn't available here.

What about a special tomato stroller or jogger, they come up on ebay

www.specialtomato.com/specialtomatobuggy.html

I have the seat liners which you can use on any chair, perfect as a booster seat, on trains etc

Have a look on ebay as things do come up, I got a kimba spring which has the adjustable seat you are looking for and the seat can be reversed for less than the price of a "normal" pushchair

We have the special tomato jogger. We don't need the support just the need for it to last. DS is 4 and has ASD, but his 7 year old brother also sits in it when he is feeling lazy. However we got it as DS had outgrown his old one. My sister also bought it for us in USA so we got it reduced.

I have found kidsert - it is a bit flimsy - but one better than stuffing teatowels down the side of the seat (which is how I used to keep dd from falling over in her high chair). Would anyone like it? Happy to post it to a new home.

Hi, thanks for the replies, havent checked in here for last few days been feeling a bit down.
The website I had that listed people that stock them was especially for Ot and i didnt realise that I only had a preview for a limited time so when I went back to it I couldnt see anything without subscribing (£200+)... no thanks!
Wentshopping I would love it to give it a go if its not been snapped up? how much do you want for it? Happy to pay as they seem so hard to find.
Have looked on ebay for pushchairs too with not much luck but will keep trying.
Thanks for all the advice evevryone it at least gives me an idea where/ what to look for.
I thought I might also email some pushchair companys to ask if they actually do make anything like I need rather than taking a screaming kid round all the shops.

imawigglyworm it's yours! I'm still a bit new on here, so is there a way you can send me a personal message with address, rather than in a reply like this? I am in United States, so parcel will take a week or so to get to you. No need to pay for it - I got my money's worth when it was new. Let's see what the postage comes to!!! If it doesn't work out, do you mind mentioning it again here and passing it on to someone else?
Good luck with the pushchair search.

Thank you wentshopping, I have sent you a personal messageyou should get an inbox message at the top of your page -its the 1st time ive done it so let me know if you dont receive anything.