DS, ASD. Too heavy now for his maclaren major I think - what next??

[WhoWhoWhoWho]

Noticed the other day his frame on his major wasn't lining up right and I was having to strain it to get it in one of it's side clips.

Then thought, I wonder how much he weighs..... He is very big for his age, he's only 6 but in age 8-10 clothes and upon weighing him he is now 5 stone! I'm not sure what the maximum weight is for the major - does anyone know?

I try not to use his major as much as he gets older but sometimes it's unavoidable, particularly for trips into town centre. He is literally a risk to himself and others, and he demonstrates this at every available opportunity.

I have called wheelchair services and told them there is a problem with it but that I think the problem is due to his weight, and they have recommended a reassessment of his needs.

It is tested up to 50kg Who so should still be fine. Could it just be broken?

That is nearly 8 stone BTW

Oh that's good, Hmm maybe it is just faulty then! Had it a couple of years and it's just recently started doing it. Thanks for that Ben10is

Will ring the repair line as we are going away end of the month and I need it working well for then - don't want the frame giving up in the middle of our holiday!

Justabout - I'm not sure how I feel about a wheelchair. Some days I wish I had had one to begin with as it ould cut out alot of the judgy looks and comments but then on the otherhand it seems so...... I don't know. I think I would feel a bit fraudulent of something. I can't put it all into words very well, I'm not the most eloquent of posters.

I never thought when ds was six I'd be worrying about when his prescription pull ups were coming and whether I should eventually opt for a wheelchair or not (urgh - I know there are people in worse situations, I will snap out of the wallowing in a moment I promise).

DS is 7 in October, I have found out through very scary trial and error where our trouble spots are (mostly built up or busy places, and mostly in the centre of town) and know now to keep a very firm grip on him or have him contained (in his maclaren or in a trolley).

That's another thing isn't it, what it says to them about their asd, I try my utmost to focus with DS on his positives as his self confidence in his abilities isn't great. Urgh I don't know. I'll cross that bridge if I come to it I guess.

The max weight is over 7 stone! We're on our second major for DS2 who is just 5 and about 3 stone, though, because our old one ended up all bent and bits were falling off it. I had visions of it just snapping when we went down a kerb with it. (Actually, it's our 3rd, because the brand new one we bought to replace it had stiff, squeaky wheels which we couldn't do anything about - we'd lubricate, they'd seize up again the next day - so we got Boots to replace it)

If you don't want a wheelchair then there are special needs jogger style buggies available which take larger children like these:
www.specialneedspushchairs.co.uk/
You have to buy these yourself but you may be eligible to get a voucher from your NHS/Wheelchair services dept towards it which should be the equivalent value of what they would be paying for providing a wheelchair - you then just pay the difference.
Appreciate it doesn't get away from people staring at large child in buggy - but thats something we have to get used to unfortunately.

We get the squeaky stiff wheels too ouryve, I have at least 3 bottles of lubricating stuff in the cupboard that I've had to buy during days out when the queaking has been driving us crazy.

Thanks for that link bigbluebus, I will have a look. I do like his major though because of how light it is and how small it folds, will check out the jogger style ones though.

Our replacement doesn't squeak as badly and isn't getting so stiff it's painful to push like the one we sent back did, but we certainly can't creep up on anyone in it. The old, blue one is a dream to push in comparison, but we daren't use it anywhere bumpier than a supermarket!

we have a w/chair for ds2 and tbh he prefers it to his major as he feels less like a baby (his words) so maybe it would be a good thing for his confidence?
DS2 has v mild CP so some muscle tone problems but uses his w/chair mainly to help with his ASD/anxiety

bigbluebus those are really nice buggies! and look very comfy

I didn't think of it from that point of view anon. DS gets very upset if children say his 'stripey pants' are nappies, because "he's not a baby" but doesn't bat an eyelid at the judgey looks and very very obvious staring he gets whilst in his maclaren major. Strange eh! I suppose the former is very obvious and ds picks up on it and the latter, whilst just as obvious to me - is too complex (facial expressions and ack of social graces) and just isn't picked up on by him.

I did take a look at that link bigbluebus, but then got interrupted. They do look really nice. I have to consider storage though and getting it folded and on a bus whilst keeping an eye/hand on DS.