by Christina Mills, Deputy Director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers
As I’ve said in earlier
blogs, my husband and I did a lot of research during our pregnancy. Part of our
research included trying out a variety of car seats to see
which ones we could both maneuver independently. It was never about the latest and greatest on
the market for us. In fact, the popular 3-in-1 car seat and stroller system was
out of the question because they are bulky, weigh too much for me and sit
too high when on a stroller. Not only was I unable to see over the stroller
with the car seat on it, but also the weight of it made it very challenging for me to
push it. We needed something portable, compact and, of course, safe. It took us a
few back and forth trips to the store to try out everything they had available,
but when it was all said and done we went with the Chicco KeyFit model because
it was one of the lightest available. The Keyfit system makes it super easy for
my husband and I to get the car seat both in and out of the base that it sits
in, in the car as well as the one on the Caddy Stroller. KeyFit refers to the easy audible click
and lock feature. The button you push to unlock the car seat is large, easy to
identify by its bright orange coloring, and doesn’t take a lot of hand dexterity
to release. It’s these types of details that would have been helpful to hear
about from other parents with disabilities.
The Caddy Stroller works
great for my husband and I. It’s made out of aluminum and can be folded with
one hand. It’s also very compact, but my favorite feature is the
height-adjustable handle bar. I can push it at one position; my husband can
push it at another and if needed it goes to an even higher position for someone
average height. You’re probably wondering how I push a stroller while pushing my
own wheelchair and why I don’t just carry my daughter on my lap. I’ve heard of and
seen lots of parents who use wheelchairs not use strollers to carry their
children. There are harnesses and straps that wheeler parents like me can use
to keep their child secured on their lap, but a stroller works best for my
daughter and I.
I found a picture on
Facebook of a parent who uses a wheelchair pushing a stroller. She used a
bracket attachment that went from the bottom front portion of her wheelchair
frame to the bottom bar that held the two rear wheels of the stroller. Fortunately I have many relatives that are handy and
I was able to get one made for me.
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| Bracket connecting stroller to wheelchair. |
However, it didn’t work as well as I thought
it would. It’s much easier for me to push the stroller with one hand while
pushing my wheelchair with the other hand. I also have to point out that it’s
made shopping much easier because I can use the bottom basket of the stroller
to hold everything as where a grocery store shopping cart has always been much
less convenient and my little lap has never been able to hold a basket
sufficiently. Plus, if I run out of room
in the basket I have two “mommy hooks” on the stroller handlebar that allows me
to attach an open bag and fill it up with items too.
Throughout our pregnancy and
still today I think about all the other moms with disabilities in the world and how
useful it would be if we had an updated online AT resource guide and peer
support network made up of parents with disabilities. Don’t get me wrong - there
are a few websites floating around and they’re good, but often times I find
that they provide very limited information. That’s part of the reason why I
agreed to contribute to the AT Network Blog. AT for parents with disabilities
is critical and I hope that my family’s experiences motivate other parents with
disabilities to share their parenting journey as well.
Here’s a funny video that
my husband took of me loading my daughter from her car seat/stroller into my
car:
