wheelchair or sn buggy?

[hazeyjane]

Ds is nearly 5, he has low tone, can walk but is very unsteady on his feet, has hip and feet problems and tires quickly. He uses a sn buggy with postural supports issued by Wheelchair Services.

I think he is going to need a new buggy soon, as he is getting quite big for the Tom Cross he is in now.

As he is very short, I think he would still be ok in a sn buggy, but I am wondering if a wheelchair whould be a better option for him.

We use the buggy everyday and it always goes out with him, we rarely do any off roady type walking, although camp a lot.

Does anyone have any ideas of positives/negatives of sticking with a buggy or going for a wheelchair.

DD2 nearly 4 has a wheelchair. She has CP and is unsteady on her feet and tires quickly. I allowed her to choose between the wheelchair and the SN buggy at Wheelchair Services (they showed us both and let us try them out).

She said the buggy was for babies and wouldn't be swayed to the contrary. A wheelchair is more appropriate for us as we expect her to be able to self-propel in time - this would not be feasible with a buggy. So we were happy to go with the wheelchair option and it's working for us.

Also might be worth considering fitting it into your car, if you get to compare a wheelchair and a buggy, and manoeuvrability and ease of dismantling (storage and stowing in car etc).

Ds who is 5 also chose a wheelchair which is much more age appropriate for him, he self propels and it gives him independence.

Self propelling isn't an option for my DD but we also went for a wheelchair. I didn't want to look as if I was trying to fool myself about her disabilities by having a buggy (not saying that people that choose a buggy are in denial btw, just that for us I prefer a wheelchair). The buggy/wheelchair man though couldn't get his head around it and kept just pointing at the buggy and saying 'this is what parents with kids your age choose'. I stuck to my guns anyhow! I am really pleased with our wheelchair, folds down really small, is light etc

Interesting points thankyou.

At the time, wheelchair services thought that the buggy would be better as it has postural supports, and Ds would often sleep in the buggy still, and it has a tilt in space mechanism. I am not sure how much support he needs now, but he doesn't sleep in the day unless he is ill.

As he gets older he is becoming more self aware, and his friend at school uses a wheelchair, so maybe that is an angle to consider.

A 4 year old I know asked why he was in a 'baby buggy' the other day, to an adult it is obvious that it is not a standard buggy (although actually that hasn't been the case on the bus!) but I guess children just see buggy and think baby.

I hadn't even thought about the self propelling thing!

You can get a wheelchair with tilt in space and also good postural supports but you are then looking at a more cumbersome wheelchair - it's what we were told we had to have to start with despite my dd never sleeping in the day. It was a two piece wheelchair (chair clips on to the frame) but it was bulky and very heavy to get in the car etc.

So that's another angle for you to consider if you want something with those features.

Thankyou Moo, the buggy ds has now doesn't fold, and has to be disamantled before fitting into the car, and to be honest we are thinking of getting a larger vehicle partly for this reason, but have to wait back to hear whether ds gets his high rate mobility renewed.