Recreational & Family - Baby bucket in trailer. Safe?

I want to get the whole family involved in biking, but in order to get mommy on board we need to figure out a way to bring the 3-month old. We have a trailer now for the 4 year old, and it looks to be wide enough to sit him next to the babys carseat (aka the baby bucket). I just dont know if this is really all that safe.

Anyone have any experience on bringing their babies with them? Ideas?

Thanks.

Haff, Three months is possibly too young. I'm having a refresher course, of sorts, as I'm now dealing with grandbabies born in March. When their mothers were infants I didn't bring them along until I was assured that they could control their heads during any bumps and jolts. Wait until the baby is crawling and pulling up to stand at the very earliest.

Brad

I called a couple of the manufactures of those trailers to see what they thought. They were unambiguous. No kid under 1 year should be in their trailers. They dont have the muscle and ligament firmness needed to withstand the jostling. After 1 year a lot of considerations should be examined, childs strength, head neck shoulders control. Type of road, etc. etc.

But bottom line, no baby buckets.

I have put my kids in a carseat, in the trailer from early on. I feel it is safe, but everyone has there own comfort level. I don't do much riding on busy city seats. I mainly ride on closed, paved bike trails, not sure how I would feel in traffic.

I think that 3 months old is TOO young.

I think that 3 months old is TOO young.

so don't put your kid in one then. plenty of people around the world do it, because they don't own a smog maker. we already know what the alarmists in the US have to say about it.

You know in most countries in the world bike transportation is considered acceptable basically from birth. I feel that the alarmist atmosphere here is a big part of why more parents don't depend on bikes and instead are chained to the oil industry. Now I have a mini-van and use it, but I also use a bike and encourage my kids to be physically active. Here are some links that show pics of cycling with babies/small children and support my feeling that the "culture of fear" that we have built in the US, is hurting cycling in general

http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/search/label/cargo%20bike%20culture

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2007/10/bike-transport-kids-in-copenhagen.html

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/641641

http://rowdykittens.com/2010/09/bikesandbbabies/

Here are so more
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.treehugger.com/mamachari-baby-japan.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/introducing-mamachari-bicycle-japan.php&h=346&w=461&sz=47&tbnid=WOTpe2f5RbGS1M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmamachari&zoom=1&q=mamachari&hl=en&usg=__r-seP6SFWjYrZn1B4yWUehXIACc=&sa=X&ei=XTj7TMiBM4yosAPf2qj2DQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQ9QEwBA

http://www.japancycling.org/v2/info/bikesj/mamachari.shtml

Haff,

The baby will be fine in his or her bucket in the trailer. If it is to ride with another, non-bucketed child, the bucket has to be secured in some fashion so as to not crush the un-bucketed child.

I got a baby. I got a baby trailer. I got very wary of riding on public roads with my little guy trailing behind, out in the breeze, below the line-of-sight of a bunch of people in cages that are not paying any attention to what they are doing to begin with. Side streets and quiet back roads never bothered me though and, of course, bike paths were fine. I think that you have a couple of pretty nice ones close by to you.

Now that he is older, I got him a back-of-the-bike seat. I like it better because I know where he is and what he's doing. He is up high and the whole world can see that there is a baby on board. Now, the bicycle itself is top-heavy and harder to control well. You get used to it but I noted that you just bought a Trike so that might be a greater consideration for you.

At this time of year I would prefer the trailer for the baby. You can bundle them up, swaddle them with blankets and they are in an enclosed space that actually gets warm and is out of the wind and drizzle. If they trow/drop any thing like hats or mittens, they wind up on the floor of the trailer and not in the middle of the road.

Give the boy his choice though and ten out of ten times he'll pick the trailer.

Haff, what did you end up doing? I know you said you called the manufacturers of the trailers, and they said NO CHILDREN UNDER 1 YEAR OLD. My opinion is, of course they're going to say that, because they don't want to get sued if a kid gets hurt.

Anyway, if there is anyone out there who did put a baby bucket in a trailer, how do you secure it? My concern is not that it won't be safe in there for the baby- if she's in a bucket, and the bucket is secured well, she's not going to get jostled around. My concern is securing the seat in the trailer so it doesn't go flying out of the trailer or so the bucket isn't jouncing around in there. If the bucket can be secured nice and tight, I don't really see a problem with putting the bucket in the trailer.

Anyway, if anyone has any further thoughts on the matter, please let me know. I haven't had a chance to ride since the winter, and I am DYING to get out on the bike....

I'm there with Deman... I'm DYING to get back out on my bike, but my twins are 3 1/2 weeks old. (Yes, I'll wait for doctor's approval to go back out at my 6 week check-up.) I have a double trailer, but how do you secure the car seats/buckets securely to go out for a ride?

... my twins are 3 1/2 weeks old. ......I have a double trailer, but how do you secure the car seats/buckets securely to go out for a ride?

I found one car seat to be a difficult fit, I don't see how I could have fit two car seats. I secured with straps. It was a little kludgy finding places to secure the two together, but it worked. If you can't find a way to secure two, you could consider securing just one seat and have the kids take turns going out with you.

I don't think you can get two bucket car seats in a trailer. But one of the companies has a special seat that would allow that...I just can't remember who

I don't think you can get two bucket car seats in a trailer. But one of the companies has a special seat that would allow that...I just can't remember who

I was looking for a trail-a-bike style thing on ebay the other day, and saw that Burley has the infant "bike trailer seat". The Burley webpage advertising is contradictory though. In one place it says 3-12 months, and in another it says "don't use before 6 months of age". Basically, it's a "car seat" built for a bike trailer, and they say your child has to be strong enough to sit up on his/her own and hold up his/her head with a helmet on. Now the trick is to FIND a helmet that small!

We put a car seat in our trailer for our baby when she was 4 months old. She loved it and has been riding like that ever since. Now that she is 1yr old, we put a booster seat in the trailer for her. I think she enjoys riding as much as we do!

I figured out a way to get the bucket in the trailer. I put some foam sheets on the bottom to make it all level, and used a cargo strap like a seat belt to hold the seat down. It required some messing around with the fabric on the trailer, but it worked out great. The bucket is good and secure, definitely not going ANYWHERE. As far as the jolting of the head, I just use the head stabilizer that came with the car seat and a couple of hand towels to make sure she's nice and steady in there and not flopping around. She loves it- she sticks her tongue out in the wind and looks around like a little puppy dog, and then falls alseep while I haul all 40 pounds of trailer, seat, and baby.

We are in this exact same situation. We want to ride, but the baby's too young to sit alone in trailer. (Of course all manufacturers use the CYA policy.)

Being the paranoid Americans that we are, my wife and I bit the bullet and bought the expensive Chariot because it has suspension, and an optional baby sling. I think between the two, it should smooth out those bumps we're all worried about. I'd personally stay away from helmets at that age though, as they don't have the neck strength to handle them. Keep the ride easy and smooth and stick to neighborhoods and MUPs.