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Special Needs Stroller comparison guide. One of the best gifts a parent can give to a child is independence. These adaptive pushchairs are designed for older children with special needs, who are likely to find conventional strollers limiting.
Introduction
When taking care of children (and even adults) with special needs and limited mobility, one needs to plan well and use the right resources, especially when it comes to travelling long distances and transportation as these can pose major challenges.
This is where Adaptive strollers (or Special needs strollers and pushchairs) are of great help.
Compared to a wheelchair, Special needs strollers are compact, easily foldable and easily transportable.
These customized strollers offer better posture support, positioning and seating and have features that makes it easier travelling in buses (and other means of transportation).
Tilt-in-space strollers are often used for individuals with special needs or medical conditions, such as limited mobility, poor posture, decreased muscle tone.
In a tilt-in-space stroller, the seat can be tilted back in a synchronized motion which helps redistribute the body weight to reduce pressure on certain points on the body, which helps improve comfort, stability, and mobility during transportation. Depending on the stroller model, the tilt feature can be manually operated or powered.
These strollers and trikes are equipped with adequate safety features, and emphasize on comfort (for the seated passenger) and ease of transport.
Some stroller models may come with tie-downs, which are straps or hooks that are used to attach the stroller frame to secure points in the vehicle, when stored in the boot to prevent sliding around during transport.
These mobility strollers are also available in different variants such as tilt-in-space stroller, wheelchair stroller, bariatric stroller, pediatric stroller, rollator stroller, gait trainer stroller. You may further have variants such as -terrain, bus transit, car seat, hi-low, and umbrella models. Brands include Alvema, Adaptive Star, Baby Jogger, Convaid, Ormesa & Special Tomato.
These strollers offer lot of customization, are durable, come with five point restraint, has support for headrests, has footrests, and more.
Best Special Needs Stroller
Let’s take a look at these strollers in detail.
Maclaren Major Elite Stroller (transport chair)
Maclaren Major Elite Transport Chair (special needs stroller) can take children weighing up to 110lb. The transport chair comes equipped with a 5-point harness, padded seat, and detachable foot rest. The transport chair itself is very light (weighs just 6.7kg), is easy to steer, carry, and fold.
The stroller does not come with a a sun canopy and the seat does not recline, but you can buy several coordinating accessories separately.
Folds to 46″ x 9 3/4″ x 8 1/4″ (117 x 25 x 21 cm) for compact storage.
Please note that the Maclaren Seat Back Height is only 20.5″. If you need a taller Seat Back Height, you may check out the Special Tomato EIO Stroller.
.Coche XL Stroller
XL Special Needs Stroller is a lightweight adaptive pushchair and transport chair designed for older children and individuals with special needs, who are likely to find conventional strollers very inconvenient and limiting.
It features a spacious seat (approximately 15″ wide × 10″ deep), 360° front swivel wheels with puncture-free solid tires, 5-point adjustable harness for secure positioning, a 3-position adjustable footrest, and dual rear parking brakes. Provides basic postural support and higher capacity than standard models. It features an easy umbrella-style fold for compact storage and transport.
Special Needs Stroller – Buying Guide
Parents with children with special needs often struggle to find the right gear for transportation. A regular stroller will not provide the necessary comport to a passenger with mobility impairment.
That is why you need a special needs stroller with features such as leg and pelvic positioning, trunk support, reclining tilting seats, head support etc. and a load of other features.
If you and your family like to explore the outdoors a lot, you might want to consider buying an all-terrain/jogging special needs stroller.
Is it possible to rent a special needs stroller?
While you can definitely rent strollers from a lot of places, finding a larger special needs stroller can be a challenge as not everybody is going to offer these strollers.
Useful Links
Features to consider in an adaptive/special needs stroller
Special needs children and adults need strollers with better features to suit special needs. If you have an active lifestyle and have a special needs child to care for, buying a special needs jogging stroller is a wise choice. Both Baby Jogger Freedom Stroller and Kool-Stop Kool have almost similar features and are equally good. However, you should always buy the stroller that best suits the needs of your child and you.
StrollerBoards is a family managed website with me (Ben) and my wife doing most of the work. We are proud parents of two wonderful kids and love reviewing baby travel gear. We have a firm but friendly “democratic parenting” style and offer several practical solutions backed by extensive research. Our own experience with raising two children prompted us to share our knowledge. Read more.
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