Am I missing a trick? Re: transporting multiple children

[NiceCupOfTeaAndASitDown]

I'm having a really tough time at the moment and can't think straight.

The biggest problem seems to be how to get my DC from A-B without a shitload of stress for everyone.

I have 2 children with ASD, one of them very likely has PDA. DS nearky 6 has hyper/hypomobility (not sure which as physio hasn't said but he has stiff clicky joints and gets tired legs a lot), he can walk well sometimes and at others needs to go in a pushchair. He also has refusal episodes but they are to a lesser degree than DD (4) She is prone to very dramatic, explosive, violent and loud outbursts and they both lose all danger awareness when anxious and become unable to walk.

Neither myself or DH drive. We have a nearly 2 year old who can walk quite well at times but has a tendency to wander off/stop/want to be carried as toddlers do. I'm also heavily (albeit only 6 months) pregnant, cannot bend very well and have to be careful with lifting/pushing heavy things as I have a history of pelvic and back issues which can appear from nowhere if I do too much.

We are lucky enough to have 3 pushchairs as the family fund helped us out with a special needs one. They are as follows

1. Baby jogger city select - single/double with buggy board - currently has no basket so all bags need to be hung on the handlebar which makes using the buggy board difficult. I can't physically push DS in it any more and the more weight it has in/on the harder it is to push and more pain it causes me

2. cheap buggy that is meant for DD2 but can carry DD1 for a short time

3. advance mobility special needs pushchair with buggy board attached. Can hold any of the children and be pushed easily. Buggy board can only hold one of the younger 2 as the pushchair doesn't sit upright and as it is their upper bodies get a bit squashed.

4. we also have an ergo baby carrier which DD2 goes in for short journeys on my back. When DH is with us she mostly goes on his back with DD1 in the baby jogger as a single and then DS can go on the buggy board if he needs to. But mostly it's just me and the children so I need a better solution.

It happens a lot that DD2 is tired so not walking safely/reliably, then DD1 starts having a very loud refusal episode and DS will get tired legs. I can't physically carry/push them all with the current set up and I'm really worrying about how I will manage logistically when DC4 comes along

Can anyone think of a solution I may have missed? I was looking at a lascal saddle but I couldn't rely on DD2 to hold on and DD2 wouldn't be able to if in meltdown mode. I feel like I'm missing a trick but I'm unable to figure it out.

Anyone have a similar situation or any ideas??

I'm wondering if one of those double cycle trailers used as a pushchair might work for you. Or a double special needs pushchair, but those are pretty expensive. Do you actually need to be able to push all 3/4 at the same time though? Like a triple buggy plus baby carrier? How big is your 6yo?

Funnily enough I've just been looking at those bike trailers, they look pretty good but would probably only carry 2 of them and I don't think there's the option of a buggy board or similar.

Sometimes I need to transport all 3 at once but not all. DD is at nursery weekday mornings and sometimes they can all walk fine.

DS is pretty big, haven't had him measured for a while but looking at the centile charts online I'd say he's about 95th for weight (22kg roughly) and pretty much top of the charts for height.

Oh sorry meant to say I will probably have baby in a sling for quite some time. Had DD on my front for 6 months and then on my back every day until she was about 18 months so will probably do the same by which time DD2 will be 3 1/2 and hopefully reliably walking much of the time. If she is as neurotypical as we think/hope she is

I've seen a parent of triplets pulling them along in a wagon but I'm not sure how good that would be for meltdowns and keeping a child contained.

www.earlyyearsresources.co.uk/baby-room-c100/baby-transport-c112/winther-turtle-seater-kiddy-bus-4-or-6-seater-p27633

Mega expensive but this might work!

You can get double SN pushchairs. With seat and option for changing the second seat.

Activate do a good one and you'll likely get charity funding towards one if you apply. Either through FF again or try new life

http://www.activateforkids.co.uk/assets/tandem-brochure.pdf

I used a bike trailer with my two, as a buggy ours was not very practical, the front wheel attached to the tow bar so the whole thing was really long. Not something I would have wanted to take round the supermarket. Also ours was one seat with no divider between the two children, there was a LOT of poking.

Maclaren do a double major buggy which might work for a combination of the 6, 4 and 2 year old. You can fit a buggy board on the single, so it might work on the double if you need all three contained (ish).

Mountain buggy also used to do a double with one seat adapted for an older child. The main seats were generously sized anyway, so might still be fine for your 4 year old. You'd have to hunt down a second hand one though.

If you mean transport to school, could you apply to the LA for transport? If I remember correctly, there is no minimum distance if the children are unable to walk safely to school.

I would look at the crotec wagon. Googling will bring up a youtube clip showing 4 kids in in. It can also come with a storage bit you clip to the back so can put bags etc in. Not expensive either.

I want to get one of these now!

I have an 8 year old (25kg) and 4.5 year old twins (20kg each) who all have a rare metabolic condition that affects their ability to walk and follow simple instructions. Leaving the house is a major event and is never done frivolously!

We use a baby jogger city mini double and that fits any two of my kids. The other child either walks holding on or goes on a buggy board behind.

I try to limit trips out alone with the kids and get important stuff done when they are at school or in the evenings when they are asleep. It's too hard to take them all out.

When the twins were smaller and my oldest couldn't walk very far I used to have one of the twins in a carrier, but I had to stop once they reached 18kg!

I am looking for a replacement for my city mini, but there is very little around and at the moment my best option is to zip tie two maclaren majors together as they don't sell the double anymore (well, not in Australia).

My next option is to buy in/beg for help from people as it's getting too hard physically for me to do all this pushing around.

I don't know if you can get it in the uk, or how big it is, but there is a quad pram made by the adventure buggy company. I think it's called the Everest.