Medline Excel Kidz Pediatric Wheelchair Review 2024

Do you have a youngster in your family who suffers from some kind of mobility issue serious enough to warrant a wheelchair? Are you in the market for something that’s rugged enough for everyday use but light enough to toss in the trunk of your car or put on an airplane with ease while traveling?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, then you’re going to like what you read in this Medline Kidz Pediatric wheelchair review.

Not only is this chair one of the best products in the Medline lineup, but it’s also a great all-around pediatric chair that’s incredibly versatile and fairly sporty looking too!

Is it right for your child?

In the sections that follow, we’ll go over the chair in detail, highlighting its best features and not pulling punches when it comes to describing its limitations. That way, you’ll have everything you need to decide for yourself if this is the right model for you. Even if you opt to go in a different direction, we think you’ll agree; the Medline Excel Kidz Pediatric chair has a lot going for it. Let’s jump right in and take a closer look!

An Overview of the Medline Excel Kidz Pediatric Wheelchair

Surprisingly sporty. That’s the phrase most likely to spring to mind when you see this fun little wheelchair for the first time.

We admit that looks don’t matter nearly as much as function. However, if you have a youngster who’s less than enthusiastic about the idea of a wheelchair, having a sporty, good-looking chair can go a long way toward soothing any fears and misgivings they might have.

Its bright yellow frame is a great contrast to the black highlights and upholstery, making it look a bit like a bumblebee and giving it some “Transformer cred” if your child happens to be a fan. The addition of the playful smiley face on the center of the seatback helps too!

Far from being just a pretty good-looking wheelchair, though, this is a full-featured model and quite capable. Before we get into the particulars in this section of our Medline Kidz Pediatric wheelchair review, let’s take a quick look at the core stats that define it. Here are the basics:

Overall Product Dimensions: 22.5” (W) x 22” (D) x 36.5” (H)
Seat Dimensions: 14” (W) x 12” (D)
Chair Weight: 25 (with leg rests removed)
Maximum Supported Weight: 250 pounds

These are fantastic numbers.

The overall dimensions of the chair make it easy for it to be maneuvered inside your home, with plenty of space to pass through even relatively narrow doorways. While the seat dimensions would be inadequate for even smallish adults, it’s a great fit for most kids. The weight limit makes it also good for younger folk of almost any age and body shape.

Since the chair is physically smaller than a full-sized wheelchair, it’s lighter in weight too, which makes it easy to pack up and take with you wherever you might want to go. We love it, and we think you will too.

Adjustability and Comfort of Medline Kidz Wheelchair

The Medline Excel Kidz Pediatric wheelchair really shines in terms of adjustability. Taking it from the top, we find that the handles built into the back of the chair, allowing an adult to push the chair if the child doesn’t want to travel under his own power, are telescoping and can be height adjusted to taste. You won’t have to worry about breaking your back by bending over to propel the chair forward. This is a small detail, but a very nice touch on a pediatric model.

Also, the chair is Hemi-height and can be height adjusted between 15.5” and 17.5.” It’s a good range that allows most children the freedom and flexibility of propelling the chair with their feet on the lowest setting and raising it slightly for general use and optimizing comfort.

On top of that, the leg rests are length-adjustable, swing away, and elevate, giving you a wide range of possibilities. The leg rests also feature calf pads for added comfort, and the desk-length arms (which are removable) are also padded.

Unfortunately, the chair doesn’t offer padding anywhere else, but that’s easily remedied by purchasing an aftermarket seat or seatback pad. That’s probably something you’ll want to invest in because the upholstery is vinyl, which is not breathable and, as such, not well suited for long periods of use without a bit of help from a more breathable pad.

Extras and Options

In addition to being delightfully adjustable, the Medline Kidz wheelchair sports a number of high-value extras, including:

A few notes about these extras, though, that count as disadvantages or, at the very least, limitations. The tires don’t have any tread on them, making them great for rolling on flat surfaces, but they offer poor handling on open terrain or uneven ground.

If you plan to use the chair in that capacity, you’ll need to invest in rear wheels specialized for that purpose.

The seatbelt isn’t DOT-certified, meaning your child can’t sit in it (even when buckled in) while being transported in a van. You’ll need to transfer your child to the vehicle, then collapse and stow the chair until you get where you’re going.

Finally, be aware that Medline sells a few accessories designed to fit this chair, including an oxygen tank, IV holder, or a combination of an O2/IV holder if you need both.

Portability & Ease of Use

The Medline Pediatric wheelchair collapses easily. Given its relatively small footprint, storage in your trunk, an SUV, or on an airplane is a breeze. It’s also delightfully easy to use, given its relatively narrow width and lightweight, so the chair wins high marks in this regard.

Pros & Cons of Medline Kidz Pediatric Wheelchair

This is one of the best models that Medline makes. It is a bit more expensive than some of their other chairs, but it’s handsome, well-appointed, lightweight, and versatile.

While the use of vinyl upholstery makes keeping the chair clean easy, it’s not at all breathable, and we’d count it as a minor negative. It’s easy enough to get around with the addition of a seat and seatback pad. If your child is going to be spending serious amounts of time in the chair, though, those are items you’ll definitely want to invest in, which increases the total price of the chair.

Kidz Pediatric Wheelchair Review Conclusion

This is a very good chair that verges on greatness. We admit here in our Kidz Pediatric wheelchair review that while it’s certainly possible to find better, longer-lasting chairs with even more features, you’ll pay a hefty premium for them. This one hits an almost perfect sweet spot between form, function, and value.

On that basis, we highly recommend it.

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Official Manufacturer Support

References & Resources:

• Medline, Official Brand Website
• Medline Kidz Pediatric Wheelchair User Manual
• Pediatric Wheelchairs, Human Engineering Research Laboratories
• Pediatric Wheelchairs the Right Wheelchair For a Child, Disabled World
• Pediatric Powered Wheelchairs: Results of a National Survey of Providers, Taylor & Francis Online