[Itsjustb]

And she loved it (although the helmet, not so much).

I AM ONE HAPPY DAD TODAY. :D <eom>

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[girljen]

Great minds think alike!! I just took my daughter for her first ride yesterday. She spent the whole time trying to remove the helmet.

[Fibber]

Great! Glad to hear you and your kids enjoyed the outing.

Take a good look at how your kids sit in the sling seat and how the helmet impacts the angle of their head/neck/back. Unless there is a deep 'helmet pocket' built in, the helmet can push their heads forward several inches, creating great discomfort. To solve this, take a crib quilt and fold it to fit behind their back, ending at their neck. Now the helmet width will put their spine in proper alignment. This simple fix cured my daughters complaints about wearing head protection.

[gcorluka]

how old is your daughter?

i want to start riding with my baby girl (10 mos old, but she is bigger than most 18 month olds we see at the park) and I can use some tips on getting her to like her helmet and trailer....

[jollyGreenGiant]

Many of the dual position trailers like the instep, schwinn, etc. have a strap going up the center with two distinct helmet reliefs on each side. When solo, I used to strap a daughter in the center but now on the right side now due to this and the fact that the seat is pocketed better. In addition, the child has better access to the side pockets ( I've got 1 round elastic one and a rectangular one also ). I've logged a lot of miles with one or both of my daughters in tow, they love it and so do I. Only problem is my wife sorta dislikes me interrupting their sleep cycles because they do have a tendency to sleep for some of the ride. Roll down plastic windshield or vented screen option is awesome, books, blankets, toys etc... I've actually carried a potty, wipes, bags, towels, etc. the past few rides as the youngest just got it all figured out last month.

It also helps that I have a good 5 horses to view rather closely from the common route I take, girls love to wave and talk about them.

I would say that between trailers, hydration packs and of course high quality bikes I feel so sorry for all the folks out there missing out on such a wonderful experience.

Enjoy your ride.

[iberagu]

Very cool! What kind of trailer do you have? Looking into getting one for my 16 mo. old son!

[jollyGreenGiant]

I have a 4-5 year old Schwinn which was amnufactured by Instep as well as a Bell one made by Instep as well. The Bell one has the rubberized "pinch" attachment, I don't really like that design so much. My primary one has the receiver mounted between the skewer and it slides in with a pin to lock it in place, much better. The only issue with this style and most is that the flexible connection between bike and trailer is a strong spring, there can be times when a lot of surge gets induced with pedaling, forces you to clean up your power delivery though I suppose.

Bottom line is I've put probably over a thousand miles on the Instep I have and I'm usually an equipment snob but this has done a great job, are there better ones out there, yes. Would I do the same thing again knowing what I do now? probably. The better ones like Burley and Chariot are exponentially more expensive with not too much higher levels of quality or features IMO.

Besides, they'll make a great cargo carrier once the girls are too big... I bought both of them for less than $100 off Craigslist from folks that clearly never used them and kept them in a basement somewhere.

I know folks differ on this but I though I would state my opinion on the subject... Helmets aren't required in a trailer with rollover protection in my State ( MA ), I don't require my girls to wear helmets in the trailer but they do even when they sit on the seat of their Kettler tricycles.

[cjn]

+1 for the Instep trailers. We have had ours for about 2yrs. My daughter has out grown it, she got to tall. We now have a t-a-b with the trailer attached to it that my son rides in. Also I second the padding to make their helmets fit better while in the trailer. I'm using an old foam pillow that I trimmed to fit.

[phinney]

Why put a helmet on a child in a bicycle trailer? They're only inches off the road, strapped in, and have a metal frame around them. I'd really think twice about fastening a strap around a childs neck.

[Praxis]

Some states require the kids to be wearing a helmet.