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3 sons with DMD and strollers

In the last 13 months 3 of our sons have been diagnosed with DMD. They are ages 5, 2, and 6 months. My oldest son is getting too big for a regular stroller. We are needing to purchase a medical stroller, I think. But considering my boys are young, close in age, and we often travel as a family unit, I wonder if there is such a thing as a double medical stroller? Or, with my 5 year,old, is it best to transition to a scooter for longer walks and continue to use the regular double stroller for my youngest two sons. I guess I'm just looking for advice from someone who may have already faced these challenges.

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Permalink Reply by Kimberly Coburn on August 10, 2011 at 9:23pm

You might try a sit and stand stroller.

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Permalink Reply by JUAN PEDRO ARBULU on August 10, 2011 at 11:42pm

Hi Betty,

My son is 6 and he has been using his scooter (regular one shaped like L with wheels), he is happy and he knows kids his age uses them too for fun so keep him on it as long as you can, easy to travel with even at airports.

best luck

JP.

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Permalink Reply by Cheri Gunvalson on August 11, 2011 at 11:37am

Our son refused to be in the medical stroller as he thought it made him look like a "baby" and he loved go go scooter. He is on his 3rd go go scooter and also now at age 19 has a power chair. The scooter works well for him when we travel on a plane and when his power chair is in for repairs. Good luck! Cheri

ps We also wore out 2 double strollers when the kids were younger. Jacob was our middle child of 3, he has an older non DMD brother and younger sister. We had a fround to back double stroller and a side by side one for when they got older.

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Permalink Reply by Kristin Linke on August 11, 2011 at 2:34pm

Unless your son can't walk at all or is too big for a "regular" stroller, I would hold off on any medical strollers. I have a 4 3/4 year old and 10 month old. I purchased a sit/stand stroller which allows the older to sit and or stand in the back and the baby to be in the front. I also purchased a double jogger that holds up to 100 pounds. They do have triple joggers and strollers as well as attachments to make 2 single strollers into a double. I think it is good for them psychologically to find a "regular" looking stroller than a medical stroller. Medical strollers my draw attention to them that they might not want. I hope I was helpful. The number one thing that my doctor told me that I agreed with him about is to give the boys as close to a normal life as you would with out this condition. In all areas- discipline, expectations, etc. You don't want to have a angry, lazy child. They have a tough road ahead of them.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Groeger on August 15, 2011 at 10:21pm

Hi,

I have to with DMD..they are now 16 and 13. When they were little up until my oldest was about 7 or 8 I pushed them around in a double jogging stroller. My 16 yr old started using an electric scooter in 6th grade..Also get a handicap placard for your car so you can park as close as possible to everything. As they got older, i would sometimes rent or borrow a manual wheelchair and push them.

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Permalink Reply by Mindy on August 18, 2011 at 6:01pm

I'm so sorry. I can only imagine how hard the last year has been for you.

I only have one boy with DMD, but we used a sit and stand stroller, and it worked great. The older kid (our DMD boy) can hop on and off the back, and he never felt like a baby because he was in control. Now that he's older (8), he uses a scooter that he can drive himself, but then your younger two could use the sit and stand?

It's like this one:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&sugexp=eppshb&...#

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Permalink Reply by Betty Vertin on August 21, 2011 at 3:58pm

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I think I'm going to go with a sit and stand, so simple and yet I hadn't thought of it. I appreciate you input. I think we will get a scooter too, but might wait a year, hopefully longer, before we purchase one.