Maclaren Major buggy or wheelchair, or something else?

[bigwombat]

This has probably been done to death before, so sorry! We have finally just been for an assessment with wheelchair services and we decided to go for a Maclaren Major buggy for dd2. She is 6 with SLD and can't walk (yet!) Up to now, she has been in a normal from birth pushchair but this is as you can imagine getting a bit small.

She can't propel herself so a wheelchair didn't seem quite right, also it doesn't seem so manoeverable (sp?).

Do people have good experiences of the Major buggy? Could you take it on the beach or is that a ridiculous idea??! Also is there a rain cover or do we need to get one of those cape thingies? Thanks

Hiya bigwombat,
We had one of those buggies, tbh didnt really use it much. I think you could take it on the beach tho if you wanted - depending on if it wasn't too stoney!!

Not sure about a raincover tho, sorry.. One tip I do have tho, is practise folding it before you take it in the car!! When i first used ours, I couldnt get the bloomin thing down to get it back in the car! Luckily a woman who was with someone in a wheelchair was able to help me, as her grandson had one!!

Hope you're not waiting too long for it

we had one and have to say it was brilliant

We have one for DS aged 7, its been a godsend. Its pretty good on rough ground although havent tried it on the beach. Argos sell a raincover to fit it for 9.99 - they sell two, but one says on the packet to fit the maclaren major.

A friend of mine has a chunky all terrain but with 4 wheels pushchair for her 5 year old with mobility problems and it is fab ( and I have my beady eye on it for DS4 when her DS grows out of it LOL)

I am trying to find it online, will keep looking.

we have a mountain buggy XL - it's fab!

We got £200 in wheelchair vouchers towards it. The frame size is identical to an ordinary mountain buggy, but the seat is much deeper and the footrest is lower. It's very manouverable and a really smooth ride on all surfaces, and doesn't like a special buggy.

We would be lost without our Major. It does have tipping problems which you have to be aware of but it is quite easy to push and manouvre even on fairly rough ground. We have had it on the beach but like many other pushchairs it was a case of dragging it backwards and not trying to go too far.
One thing I might mention is that it's quite long when folded and absolutely wouldn't fit in the boot of our old Peugeot 205 (we had to put in on floor behind front seats) so if you have a small hatchback you should probably check that.
You can buy all sorts of bits and pieces as well as the raincover but they are quite expensive. We find the shopping basket to be very useful though.

Thanks everyone, the OT mentioned the tipping, so will have to watch that. Glad there are rain covers and shopping baskets etc. She is pretty immobile, so don't think she will try to stand up - they are having to adjust the foot rest anyway as it's either too low or too high on the standard settings.

we have one of these and love it. Bought it ourselves but I know some people use their wheelchair vouchers for it. We tried a few, including the mountain buggy xl but there wasn't much 'growing room' in the montain buggy esp with a winter coat on etc. Folded it's about the same size as our ordinary double buggy 3 wheeler. It's most def all terrain and we've had it on quite a few beaches. easy to push though the handle is quite high which for us is a bonus but wouldn't be for a 'shorter pusher'. Absolutely love it. and so does DS.

Isn't much more I can add to this except the Major has been a godsend for us also.

Thanks to Skipsmum for mentioning the raincover was available in Argos, I never knew that, I will get my nectar points out now.

To those who have mentioned a basket for underneath, where did you get this from, did you buy it from wheelchair services?

I ordered it from a company online but I'm now trying to remember the name of it. If I think of it I'll let you know!

www.babysroom.co.uk. They do everything for the Major. There are probably plenty of other places you can get them but I remember looking at other sites and the prices didn't seem to vary much so I just went with this one. I've just had a quick look and unfortunately they don't show a picture of the shopping basket but (unless they've changed the design) it's just a plain navy sort of canvas rather than mesh type. HTH.

ds2 loves his major buggy, it is easy to push etc but rubbish on the beach, our beach is all stones & it just won't move, it also doesn't fit in our boot as it is long when folded.

You can get beach wheels for it here (scroll down about two thirds).

Thanks for all the replies (luckily we have a motability car with a large boot). Teejaye, that website looks great - do you know how much those sand wheels are? (it says price on application which sounds ominous!)

No idea sorry, I just heard about them on another SN website.

We have a wheelchair and a mountain buggy for our 6 year old. Getting the wheelchair felt like a step backwards, but in many ways its been really positive for us. My duaghter sees the world from a different angle, its great for sitting at tables, and people are generally alot more understanding. We use our mountain buggy if we are out and about, as everywhere is accessible in it - good luck

Love those sand-wheels but like Bigwombat I gulped a bit when I saw 'price on application'.

I had a Major Buggy for my DS which i managed to get through his school which was brilliant as they serviced them every year. Sadly we managed to "condemn" three i think because we had a stony front garden and it didnt like being pushed with ds's weight in it on the gravel. He could walk ok then but when he ran we couldnt guarantee that he would remember to save himself if he fell!!