
Wheelchair baby seat
To fit a standard Mothercare baby seat/carrier to an Invacare TDX SP2 powered wheelchair without making any permanent alterations to the chair (not owned by client)
Note: Department of Transport guidance is that another person should not be carried on a mobility vehicle on a public highway or footpath . Any modification undertaken by Remap is done for the purpose of using the item on private property.
The solution
The client needed to mount a Mothercare baby seat/carrier to her wheelchair. No permanent alterations to the chair were permitted. The design comprised a plywood table with locking sockets (60 x 30 x 3 mm RHS) to match the Mothercare seat locations and a pillar welded to a top plate which was bolted to the underside of the table. A new under-seat cross member (50 x 30 x 3 mm RHS) was bolted to the wheelchair side rails via welded plates. A 3 mm steel face plate was welded to the new cross-member which in turn located the pillar socket. Additional brackets were fitted to clamp the new cross-member to the existing cross member to provide additional stiffness and redundancy. All joints were welded. A clamp arrangement was provided so the seat table could be adjusted vertically and in the horizontal plane.
Note: the Remap generic baby seat modification was considered but not thought suitable for this wheelchair and seat combination. When the chid is older, there may be a need for a different seat arrangement.
The benefit
Gave the mother a measure of independence from her carer when outdoors.
Please note the following:
The current Department for Transport guidelines for mobility scooters, “Mobility Scooters and Powered Wheelchairs on the Road – Guidance for users” (see Website www.gov.uk/dft) advises – “Two person mobility vehicles are not permitted to be used on the public highway (i.e. on a pavement or road). They can be used on private land with the permission of the land owner.
It is not permitted to carry anyone else on a mobility vehicle e.g. a baby or a small child. However, the law does not explicitly state that a parent or guardian carrying a child in a pouch or a sling on their person, as an adult who was not disabled would do, is unlawful.”
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