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Hi, I commute all around the city of Chicago by bike in most weather. My wife and I are expecting our first baby in the spring and we're wondering if there's a safe way to carry a kid with us by bike.
We have a Burley trailer that we use for groceries, but I'm nervous about visibility behind parked cars and so on. Still, if I crash, the Burley stays upright. A kid seat on the back seems like it would be less of a visibility issue for cars, but if I crash the kid could get really hurt.
Is there a viable way to bike-commute with a kid in a city environment, or are we doomed to lots of driving? Love to hear your thoughts.
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Hold off using either option -- the trailer or the baby seat -- until the kid's neck is strong enough to support her head easily. Before that point, the jarring from the road surface on an ordinary ride would put her at risk for brain damage from a form of "shaken baby syndrome".
I've been told that by an age of eight to twelve months, most kids can support the weight of their heads well enough to safely ride in a bike seat. (This isn't addressing the issue of accidents at all, of course; just of shaking they'll receive on an ordinary ride.) But don't take my word for that figure, of course. Find a pediatrician who's also knowledgable about cycling, and get their judgment on when the baby is ready for her first ride.
Congratulations to you and your wife, and may all three of you enjoy many years of great riding!
I would choose Baby seat or even back pack maybe. This allows the kid to look around Free Schooling.
As soon as the kid pedals then they can get the trail along.
I waited until my son was one. The 2.5 years since then have been interesting. I still can not bring myself to cycle on heavy traffic streets but am fine riding on residential streets.
Needless to say, I do ride along several high traffic streets where an alternative is not present. Just not on the street. Mums the word on the location of where I ride. :p
I am perfectly comfortable riding by my lonesome on these high traffic streets.
Currently looking into adding several blinkies to the rear of his trailer and maybe a reflective strip or two. Generally I do not ride at night while pulling the trailer but from time to time it just happens.
Talk to your pediatrician about when would be a good time for the child to start riding in the trailer. I carried my daughter in a trailer for six years, until she graduated to a Trail-A-Bike. You are very visible in traffic and people not only give you a wide berth, they smile and wave. A trailer also allows you to carry all the stuff that has to come with the child -- diaper bag, backpack, and so on. It is also stable and handles well. On the other hand, a squirming child in a child seat destabilizes the bike and makes for an unpleasant ride. A rear blinkie and a flag are good ideas. Kids love these things. Whenever I picked my daughter up in one of our cars, she was disappointed that it wasn't the bike and trailer. Of course, once they get on the Trail-A-Bike, there is no turning back, so enjoy your trailer years.
Paul
Check out a weeride. We got one for christmas. It is AWESOME. I love the fact that you have the benefits of a on bike seat, but you sort of are protecting the child since it is in front.
You still have to wait until they are old enough to be able to support their head
http://www.kentbicycles.com/bikeacc_wee_kangaroo.html
Okay, I'm a father, and a commuter, so I'll chime in.
I have tried the seat_attached_to_the_bike deal and HATED it. I was so worried that a simple mistake would lead to my son being hurt... or worse. So I opted for the trailer and have been happy ever since.
My wife can sew, bioy can she sew, so she modified our trailer (I wish I had pics) with an outer covering made of hi-vis codure (nylon) and it really gets attention! I also use a flag on the trailer that sticks up about 6 feet from the ground, maybe even 7, I'm not sure. I also have two blinkies on the back of the trailer that I use even in the day time. The only time I was ever worried with my son in the trailer was when I was on the seperated MUP and some idiot in a car thought it was a road and turned right towards us, though he was 50ft away and realized it the moment he did it.
Might I also suggest getting your child a helmet too. Once the baby is a year old or so you can get a child helmet and add extra padding to it to make it fit better.
But like others said, wait until the baby can hold his/her head up before even attempting it. My son was 11mo when I first took him out for a ride.
Okay, I'm a father, and a commuter, so I'll chime in.
I have tried the seat_attached_to_the_bike deal and HATED it. I was so worried that a simple mistake would lead to my son being hurt... or worse. So I opted for the trailer and have been happy ever since.
My wife can sew, bioy can she sew, so she modified our trailer (I wish I had pics) with an outer covering made of hi-vis codure (nylon) and it really gets attention! I also use a flag on the trailer that sticks up about 6 feet from the ground, maybe even 7, I'm not sure. I also have two blinkies on the back of the trailer that I use even in the day time. The only time I was ever worried with my son in the trailer was when I was on the seperated MUP and some idiot in a car thought it was a road and turned right towards us, though he was 50ft away and realized it the moment he did it.
Might I also suggest getting your child a helmet too. Once the baby is a year old or so you can get a child helmet and add extra padding to it to make it fit better.
But like others said, wait until the baby can hold his/her head up before even attempting it. My son was 11mo when I first took him out for a ride.
Actually, they even have infant helmets available
Actually, they even have infant helmets available
Thanks for making that clear.
That actually IS what I should have typed in my response and IS what type of helmet I first purchased but that small fact did not make it from my mind to the keyboard. :)
Thanks for making that clear.
That actually IS what I should have typed in my response and IS what type of helmet I first purchased but that small fact did not make it from my mind to the keyboard. :)
No problem!:D
I bike commute and feel comfortable riding in nearly any traffic by myself. With our kids we got rack-mounted child seats. I did not like the idea of the extra space of having a trailer behind me in traffic. This worked out OK, but I'm not sure there would really be any setup that made me completely comfortable.
I also don't like the ideas of trail-alongs. Kids should be learing to ride on their own. Our boys are now 6 and 4. We went on a 2 mile ride yesterday!!
It will come sooner than you can believe.
I also don't like the ideas of trail-alongs. Kids should be learing to ride on their own. Our boys are now 6 and 4. We went on a 2 mile ride yesterday!!
There seems to me to be quite a large age range where kids are too heavy to be riding in a trailer yet not experienced enough to safely ride in traffic under their own control. I think a tandem or trail-along is perfect for these in-between years. In the neighborhood or other quiet streets, sure it's a good idea to let the kid ride their own bike but I wouldn't want to leave the neighborhood hoping my 6 year old remembers to hold a straight line in traffic.
Disclaimer: no kids of my own but many nieces and nephews who I've biked with/pulled in a trailer.
Agreed. We were (and I'm ducking as I write this) riding on the sidewalk. I don't think a 4 year old on training wheels has any business riding in traffic. To be able to ride safely, we ride on the sidewalk. We dismount for all road crossings and my kids know that adults are supposed to be riding in the street because it is much safer for adults to ride there.
The street in front of our house gets virtually no traffic and we encourage our kids to ride there with supervision. They already know about keeping right, sightlines, and how to watch for traffic. My desire is to have my kids be confident, able, and responsible riders on their own.
I guess it depends on the roads around you. If you were surrounded by relatively low traffic, low speed streets that gradually increased in traffic and speed the further you strayed from home, it seems possible to slowly encourage your children to ride further away from home and gain more and more experience with traffic. On the other hand, if you live off a main arterial, it's a tough transistion to go from neighborhood streets to 45mph heavy traffic. Here's where I think the trail-along could be useful, and even in the first situation depending on the confidence of the child. I don't think riding on a sidewalk alongside a major arterial is teaching the child anything about traffic cycling, although I don't see any harm in it either if you truly do go ped-style at every intersection. Again, no kids so take my comments for what they are worth. I am interested in these discussions though for future planning purposes :)
joejack951, I appreciate your pushing me on this. We've hijacked this thread, though. I'm going to start another thread with my post above. Let's let cratefortrunk get replies here.
we started towing our son at age 4 weeks. he couldn't even sit up (of course), we laid him on a thick blanket for padding & strapped him in well. ran failry low tire pressure to smooth the ride, and he was Cadillac-ing.
Is the above viable? yes. We towed him to the store, for fun, etc etc.
Is it safe? probably not as safe as strapping him into a 3-ton suv.
We did all we could to make it safe, added reflectors & blinkies to the trailer, use a flag, ride on sidewalks & non-busy roads....
Honestly I'm not sold on the necessity of a helmet in the trailer. I have a hard time imagining an incident in which the helmet would come into play. that said, as soon as he was big enough for the infant helmet, he's worn it.
Travelling as above is quite viable, how comfortable you are with it is up to you. I like the trailer a LOT better than a seat-on-a-bike. The little guy is in a 5-pnt harness in a steel cage, even if we went tumblimg down an embankment he'd be fine, just shaken up.
For towing infants in a trailer, couldn't you strap a child seat into the trailer assuming it would fit? I seem to recall someone mentioning they did this. The relative safety of an infant in an SUV, or any car for that matter, is very debateable. And so is towing them in a bike trailer for that matter.
For towing infants in a trailer, couldn't you strap a child seat into the trailer assuming it would fit? I seem to recall someone mentioning they did this. The relative safety of an infant in an SUV, or any car for that matter, is very debateable. And so is towing them in a bike trailer for that matter.
We tried the seat-in-a-trailer setup and found it raised the center of gravity and seemed much less stable.
the relative safety of bike vs. SUV is I'm sure debatable - but my bike & trailer would lose any argument with an suv..... or even a Kia.
We tried the seat-in-a-trailer setup and found it raised the center of gravity and seemed much less stable.
Why type of child trailer are you using? I would think that if you could remove the normal seat in the trailer, than the end result of having the child seat in there would be the same center of gravity, give or take an inch. But I'm doing more thinking than experimenting right now :)
I have two points. The first is about level of risk. My experience is that drivers are dramatically more considerate when I am pulling a trailer. Based on my experience, I believe that cycling with a trailer is safer than cycling without.
The second is about risk tolerance. As a parent, it's natural to be more cautious when your kids are with you, and be less risk tolerant. However, you should keep in mind that you have an obligation to your children to keep yourself healthy. If you believe that cycling in a given place at a given time is unsafe, you shouldn't do it, with or without your child.
I pretty much would take my kids anywhere that I would ride alone. The exception is city streets where traffic is heavy and about the same speed as a bicycle. In that environment, I feel that being able to go faster improves safety, and the drag imposed by a trailer reduces safety.
I've also received a lot of leeway from motorists when I pull the kids' trailer. There are somedays when I wished I'd hooked up the trailer even with them not in it.
I also don't like the ideas of trail-alongs. Kids should be learing to ride on their own. Our boys are now 6 and 4. We went on a 2 mile ride yesterday!!
Trailers and trailer-bikes are very handy for the longer rides, however.
The really tiny infants will need head support, as others have noted. Also, the baby will be much cooler than you, generally -- you're huffin' and puffin', but baby is relatively immobile, so in cool weather keep him bundled up.
I've pulled the trailer and trailer-bike on almost any road and conditions that I'll cycle on solo, which means just about anywhere that's legal for a bike. There are exceptions for especially nasty traffic conditions, where I'll find an alternate route or even *gasp* ride slowly on the sidewalk if there's room.
You'll want to look into if your public transit providers allow trailers or trailer-bikes. If you ride the bus and use bus-mounted bike-racks, that's an advantage of kid seats. I think I prefer front-mounted kid seats over the ones that hang over the back of the bike.
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