Riding with Babies



bioguy

New Member
Sep 21, 2003
40
0
0
54
I'm not asking about those guys who whine when the road gets a little steep. I want to know about riding with children. I have a 7 week old girl. I'm NOT going to take her until the doctor says it is OK, but I'd like any advice you can give me on how to take her with me on rides.

If it helps, I am a roadie, but recently got an old mountain bike.

Thanks.
-David
 
bioguy said:
I'm not asking about those guys who whine when the road gets a little steep. I want to know about riding with children. I have a 7 week old girl. I'm NOT going to take her until the doctor says it is OK, but I'd like any advice you can give me on how to take her with me on rides.

If it helps, I am a roadie, but recently got an old mountain bike.

Thanks.
-David
From my experience you might want to wait until the child can hold their head up on their own ;) But maybe at about 18 months you might want to try a trailer. And buy her a helmet! I know it's common sense but I see people riding with their children (babies) in carriers all the time without helmets. Congratulations! :)
 
I'm no expert, but I'd suggest waiting a few years belond just holding its head up, even for a trailer. The bumping around and opportunity for mishape is pretty high and I doubt you'd want to dent you new little bundle of joy.
Helmet or no helmet a baby's skull is pretty fragile for a few years.
 
Our pediatrician says we can look at her development at 6 months and maybe do short rides. I will certainly follow her advice and err on the side of caution. If that means she doesn't come with me until she is two--OK. I definitely like the idea of a helmet--I wear one, so should she. What about the gear though?

Is a trailer safer than a seat or vice versa?
Are there trailers with suspension to smooth out the ride?

Some of my friends have suggested towpaths rather than road - less traffic, slower speed--but aren't there more bumps, and wouldn't this be bad?
 
Do a quick search, this has been discussed before.

A trailer is far safer than a kiddie seat. Get a decent one from a good brand (I love our Burley Solo, expensive but worth it, IMHO). You will have no problem hitching a good trailer to your road bike (I ride my de Rosa with the trailer attached) and it will not affect your handling (obviously we are not talking about 55kp/h breakaways here!). Riding on lower traffic roads/paths is always better, of course, if only for your peace of mind!

Start with short rides when the child can hold its head up and wear a helmet. Make sure to make rides short and fun, lots of toys and snacks to keep them occupied, although they tend to fall asleep pretty quickly. Make rides interesting - ride to the local park so that they can swing for awhile, or ride to their favorite ice cream shop.

And have fun!
 
bioguy said:
Our pediatrician says we can look at her development at 6 months and maybe do short rides. I will certainly follow her advice and err on the side of caution. If that means she doesn't come with me until she is two--OK. I definitely like the idea of a helmet--I wear one, so should she. What about the gear though?

Is a trailer safer than a seat or vice versa?
Are there trailers with suspension to smooth out the ride?

Some of my friends have suggested towpaths rather than road - less traffic, slower speed--but aren't there more bumps, and wouldn't this be bad?

The usual advice is that she be able to wear a helmet and hold her head up. For my daughter that was about one year.

Debatable but trailers are safer in most ways than rack seats. I've seen people put infant car seats in their trailers and haul babies that way, that's pretty safe.
 
DiabloScott said:
The usual advice is that she be able to wear a helmet and hold her head up. For my daughter that was about one year.

Debatable but trailers are safer in most ways than rack seats. I've seen people put infant car seats in their trailers and haul babies that way, that's pretty safe.
No debate in my mind. The rack seats are bad news for little ones. If you fall down, and is there anyone who hasnt, picture what the tykes body, arms, head are gonna do when the bike goes over. Not that a trailer is perfect but much better IMO.
 
I have a trailer that I drilled some Aluminium bars into so that it could securely hold a baby capsule. My young bloke was then out cycling with me from about 3 months. Lucky enough in my area to have some good paths to ride on that are smooth and quiet. He is 4 now and has graduated to a tow behind "tandem" style bike which he loves.
 
Kids love trailers, the bumps are part of the fun, but I would not use one until year two. Helmets are a good idea, but I have yet to see a kid properly wearing a helmet.

Rear kid seats seem insane, the kid cannot get out in case of a fall, and you can't see the child if there is a problem. Dumb idea all around.
 
I've been riding with our son since he was about 6 months.
Have a trailer with excellent suspension:
http://www.tout-terrain.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=57
and a special 'bed' for babies strapped inside. Am busy now, but may try to figure out how to upload photos of the setup later.

Having only one wheel, the trailer handles extremely well and rolls remarkably smooth - can easily cruise at 20mph.
atb
henrik
 
I always recommended a trailer to customers when they wanted to bring the little ones along. I used a trailer for my children for the same reasons as stated above; if you go down, the child doesn't go down with you if they are in a trailer. I even tried to illustrate that fact by taking the display bike with the child seat and knocking it over (most parents say they NEVER fall over and got the rack mounted seat anyway). Funny how some parents will spend four figures on their dream bike only to skimp out and put their children in a $30 dollar rack mounted seat...:rolleyes:
 
As someone who used a rack-mount child seat years ago (said child is now in grad school), I agree wholeheartedly that they are not a good idea, and it is a lot better to go with a trailer. For one thing, I think that the minimum age for a rack-mount seat needs to be higher/older, than the minimum age for a trailer, since the child needs to be old enough to not fidget or move around too much, or else they can disrupt the stability of the bike.

I never felt insecure while actually riding, since my weight on the bike was providing stability. But when you are stopped for some reason, and either off the seat, or just putting partial weight on it, then a sudden motion by the child can cause the rear wheel to slip or skip sideways. Plus, what if you hit something, and go down?

I now feel fortunate that I never had any bad incidents.

Actually, this discussion reminds me that both of my kids had fairly bad bike accidents as they grew up. My daughter ran her bike into the back of a parked car (she was distracted by some boys playing basketball), and put both hands through the rear hatch glass, severing tendons in her knuckles in the process. My son had a fairly high-speed crash, causing a bad case of road rash (including on his face). Luckily both were wearing helmets (although my son actually cracked his helmet in two), and they were fine in the end. But there were some anxious moments along the way. (In my son's case, watching the MRI being done on his head. In my daughter's case, holding her hands flat while the doctor sutured her tendons, since there was a shortage of available nurses in the ER.)
 

Similar threads