Can someone explain how to afford a special needs carseat?

U

Unregistered

Guest
I have a 9 year old son with low muscle tone. He is getting too big for his Britax Huskey seat and I am looking for something bigger that has the 5 point harness. We are trying a booster with the regular seat belt right now but its not working great. My son keeps leaning over to the side and its hard to get him to stay sitting up straight. I have tried before to get our health insuance to pay for a seat for him but they have denied it. I am wondering if there is any other way to get a special needs seat for an older child without paying $1000 for it. Are there any non profits that might help us out? Or is there a place I can find a used one or a sample one or something? I realy don't want to buy used since you don't know how old it is or what it has been through but I would be willing to consider it at this point.

Thanks for all the advice,

Jessica.
 
ADS

ShumNum

Senior Community Member
Hi Jessica, How much does your son weigh? Has he outgrown the Husky by weight, height or both? That might help us give more specific recommendations.
Also, is he able to sit upright on say, a regular chair, unassisted?
 

Shaunam

New member
I think the manufacturers of the merritt roosevelt sell it for like $500-600 for people paying out of pocket. Still pretty steep though.

What about the 86Y harness in addition to his booster?

ETA: There may be programs that would help. Here, in ohio, we have BCMH and the board of MR/DD that helps with some stuff. Depending on his diagnosis, there may be some more specific organizations, like easter seals.
 

jess

New member
Hi Jessica, How much does your son weigh? Has he outgrown the Husky by weight, height or both? That might help us give more specific recommendations.
Also, is he able to sit upright on say, a regular chair, unassisted?

thanks for the replys. He weighs about 75 pounds and is 55 inches tall. The problem with the Huskey was that the straps were pushing down on his shoulders and it woried me becaue we just found out he has scoliosis. So I am looking for something with a 5 point harness for the next bigger size of kid. And he realy needs a seat we can fit over his backbrace too because he does wear it in the car sometimes. (Its a nighttime only brace). I am going to try again to go through insurance but I was told before that he did not qualify for a carseat because he is ambulatory (able to walk on his own).

The E-Z-On harness looks interesting but I am not sure we would be able to install it properly unless its easy to install and we would still need a booster seat to go with it. If anyone has a real life picture of a child using it that would be great to see.

Thanks,

Jesscia.
 

flipper68

Senior Community Member
In my experience, a sn car seat is considered 'durable medical equipment' and needs to go through the same lenthy process as a wheelchair, stander or walker.

Doctors and physical therapists write a letter of justification. Submit to insurance. Insurance denies. Dr. and/or PT rewrite letter and resubmit. Dr. and/or PT call Insurance. . .

If your child qualifies for Medicaid, they will sometimes assist with the purchase.

Contact local non profits and parent organizations related to your child's disability: United Way (often the starting point or umbrella for many organizations), ARC, Easter Seals, Autism Network, United Cerebral Palsy, etc. They can be great resources on accessing programs or $$ for equipment and services in your area.
 

Mommy2Marcus

New member
thanks for the replys. He weighs about 75 pounds and is 55 inches tall. The problem with the Huskey was that the straps were pushing down on his shoulders and it woried me becaue we just found out he has scoliosis. So I am looking for something with a 5 point harness for the next bigger size of kid. And he realy needs a seat we can fit over his backbrace too because he does wear it in the car sometimes. (Its a nighttime only brace). I am going to try again to go through insurance but I was told before that he did not qualify for a carseat because he is ambulatory (able to walk on his own).

The E-Z-On harness looks interesting but I am not sure we would be able to install it properly unless its easy to install and we would still need a booster seat to go with it. If anyone has a real life picture of a child using it that would be great to see.

Thanks,

Jesscia.

When you say that the harness is pushing down on his shoulders, do you mean that the top harness position is below his shoulders? If so then he has outgrown this seat & can not use it anymore. I know you have dis-continued it, but wanted to make sure. For FF seats, the harness must be ABOVE the shoulders.
 
V

vabsFisee

Guest
Can someone explain how to afford a special needs carseat

I have no idea what to get for him but he is already 20 lbs and he is ready for a new carseat. He needs support though and incline along with lots of padding for comfort... whats out there?
 

Evolily

New member
Re: Can someone explain how to afford a special needs carseat

I have no idea what to get for him but he is already 20 lbs and he is ready for a new carseat. He needs support though and incline along with lots of padding for comfort... whats out there?

If your child is 20 lbs you would need to get a rear facing convertible :thumbsup: . Most would provide a good deal of incline (up to 45 degrees) and many models have a great deal of support and padding (examples include the Graco My Ride, Evenflo Triumph Advance, Recaro Signo/Como, and First Years True Fit).

If the weight is a typo, you can post his weight and specific needs and we'll try to help.
 

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