special needs car + car seat recommendations

[paperlantern]

ds(6) tires really easy and has poor muscle control and motor planning skills. We're going through a difficult diagnosis process at the moment....

private ot has suggested that we need a more supportive car seat. I want one that it will be easy to get ds in and out of.

I know it leads onto the bigger question of replacing the car and recommendations there would be appreciated too. consultant wants us on motability and ot says we could do with sliding doors so we can bring a sn buggy or wheelchair alongside. ironically I will need to replace the car anyway...

All a little overwhelming so advice welcome

I guess it depends if you need 3 point harness or belt will do. Take a look at Recaro seats for that age. Very supportive for head and sides of body, comfy foam, dd 8 and still using it comfortably. Dint know about cars, think some of the mazdas have sliding doors, is it the Mazda 6? Decent sized family car but not too big. Hope all goes well for you, one step at a time...

don't need a 3 point harness, but wondered about swivel base

googling Ricardo

Carrott do SN car seats which are very supportive with swivel bases. They cost megabucks though but ours was funded by a charity.

We had the Recaro Start on swivel base and have just had to replace it with the Carrot 3 on swivel base and DD has atheroid/spastic quad cerebral palsy.

With the Recaro we found it good in the beginning but because it doesnt have a strap that goes up the middle of the groin, we found that even on short journeys she had twisted to one side in the seat(not good at all for posture!). So if your DS tires easily i would worry about slumping in the seat.

We have had the Carrot 3 for about 3 months now and i wish we had had it from the beginning. It has a 5 point harness so DD cant twist, it is slightly reclined so the slumping wouldnt be a worry and it has an isofix turntable base.

We were very fortunate and newlife funded both for us (especially grateful for the carrot as it was £2k+!).

Cant help you with the sliding doors as we have an Smax, but a friend of ours has a Cmax with sliding doors.

HTH