What do you use to get around?

[Jacob's Mom]

this is what i struggled with for 16 months, up until yesterday. we received a kid kart tlc for jacob. until now, it has been incredibily difficult to transport him. he was okay in a regular stroller with carrier attached for awhile, but there was the equipment issue, although we didn't have the vent. i have gotten used to carrying a lot of things at once. there are so many things we have to have at all times. about two months ago we purchased a jogging stroller because he was getting so big and could no longer sit comfortable in a regular stroller. with some rolled up towels and head support , it worked okay, but didn't solve our equipment issue. with the kid kart, i think life will be much easier. although we don't have to have the vent at all times, we got a vent tray. this will hold our suction machine. we also got an iv pole for feeding pump and o2 tank holder. he seems to be very comfortable in it and can actually sit up a lot easier than before. (he is very hypotonic so he needs a lot of support for sitting). i will put some pics on his website later today if you would like to see it. www.caringbridge.org/fl/jacobdylan

[Shari]

We used two things: a regular Graco Stroller and a Graco Duoglide Double stroller. I'll bet the double would work well for you. We put Jacob in the back seat, hung the vent over the back rail (LTV), oxygen and suction underneath, pulse-ox underneath, diaperbag/trach bag on the front seat. You could put the feeding pump on the front seat, easy. As for carrying extra supplies, lunch, etc, I have fallen in love with my little crate on wheels. It has a handle that pops up like a luggage carrier, and it pulls easy. Folds down to the size of a briefcase. When we traveled, we took the middle seat out of our little mini-van, put Jacob's car seat in the back, and put the entire stroller, not folded up, in the center of the van, all loaded and everything. When we stopped, we just unplugged, put Jacob in the stroller, and backed him out. (I also bungied the stroller down for safety when moving).

Glad your home!
-Shari

[Karen S.]

When my daughter Hannah came home from the hospital at 3 months old, her doctor recommended the Kid Kart since she was on the TBird Legacy vent at the time and it was the only piece of equipment that could handle the weight capacity. The Kid Kart was great for the equipment, but not for her. It offered too much support and she was not able to move around freely like with a regular stroller. When Hannah was a little over a year, we switched her to a LTV950 and stopped using the Kid Kart. We instead purchased the Sit and Stand stroller by Baby Trend. It sells for around $130 at Babys R Us. We sit Hannah in the front seat and the back of the stroller has a step for a toddler to stand or sit on. It holds up to 45 lbs, which allows up to put the vent on it. The tray underneath the front seat also holds up to 40 lbs and we put her backup battery in there. It works great!

If you are interested in purchasing a Kid Kart, I have one for sale. It was probably only used about 10 times and is in great condition. I also have a ramp that works great if you have a van. We were able to leave Hannah in the Kid Kart and push her right up the ramp to the van. We also got a tie down unit installed in our van that allowed us to hook the Kid Kart safely and legally with leaving Hannah in it.

Good Luck!

[Jacob's Mom]

Karen - I am interested in knowing how much you are asking for the ramp and for what kind of van you used it in. You can e-mail me this info if you would like. Thanks..

[Jimmysmom]

Hi

When Jimmy came home we had a double stroller, sat him in the front with his vent in the back seat and suction and battery underneath. That worked o.k for appointments but was difficult to manuver around in the mall and other places. We then got him a Panda stroller made by Ottobauch (sp?). This worked well for him as he needed a lot of upperbody support due to his hypotonia. It had two trays one for the battery and vent. This worked well as long as you stayed on the sidewalk, but was impossible to push through the grass. He got to long for the panda so this past Christmas he got his first wheelchair. This too has a lot of upper body support, but the best part is we finally can put all of his equipment on the chair. His vent (the LTV900) fits underneath along with his battery, and then we hang the suction machine on the handles. He's in pre-school now and this set up works well for him in the classroom.

Hopefully has you child gets older and you can space aprart his feedings more you won't have to take along the feeding pump too. One less piece of equipment can make a big difference.

Take care

Anne, mom to Jimmy (3 1/2), infantile axonal neuropathy, trach, vent dependent, g-tube