I talked to CHOP and they strongly discouraged getting a wheelchair that this point. They told me that the window for kids with SB to learn walking is really 2-5 years old, so he is on the early end of the curve. If we were to get him a wheelchair now, he would probably choose to be in the wheelchair over the work of learning to walk, and we would probably be more tempted to put him in the wheelchair, too (it does take him quite a while to walk from point A to point B, but that is more because of distraction than ability). Additionally, they said that if we send a wheelchair and walker to school, the teachers would always put him in the chair over the walker. So after talking to CHOP, and then to his PT at Children's Specialized (outpatient PT, aka "Baby Gym"), we are going to hold off on the wheelchair for now. I am comfortable with this decision.
Now that we've recommitted to walking, I have had Oli walking everywhere. To and from the car, from the karate school to the pizza place, and even around Party City (which was maybe more than I was ready to tackle). He is doing great, and seems to love it! We get really positive reactions from people. He did fall once yesterday, which is a big fear of mine since his knees are locked so he can't really break his fall. But he was able to put his arms out in time, and it wasn't so bad. I guess he has to fall a few times before we are both comfortable.
