Babies on bikes.

I’m currently gathering the parts to build up a frame to attach a child’s seat (Hamax siesta) onto. Baby Mucker is 10 months old now and can sit unaided on the floor and play with toys.
I’m wondering at what stage/age other parents felt it appropriate to begin the indoctrination.
Also looking for advice on a helmet for him, choice seems to be quite limited.
I would welcome any other practical tips to make it an enjoyable experience for both of us.

we got our first on the bike as soon as he could happily support his own head. can remember exactly when that was but i think it was about 6 month. could have been a bit later.

I think its dependant on your kid, not others, but our lad didnt like it until he was about 18 months.

He went from hating it to asking to go out every day over night.

Without sounding harsh, I would ditch the rear child seat and get one of these

http://www.weerideuk.co.uk/Weeride_Kangaroo.asp

helmet with flattened back bit so it is more comfy in the seat, I think the one I got was a giro. My daughter went in a Hamax siesta from 12 months happily.
the Hamax design gives some good suspension and she often fell asleep.

I’d hold on off on the wee ride type seats until about 2 years old when there is less chance of spontaneous sleeping

yeah if i was doing it again i would get a front seat not a rear one. yepp seats are really smart. they do a front and a rear one that attache around the stem.

http://www.yepp.nl/uk/collection/yepp-mini

Took our daughter out first when she was about 12 months, I don’t think she stopped grinning and giggling for the entire ride. Not been out that many times but she loves it every time

Big +1 for a Weeride

my boy is 11 months old and I’m keen to get him on the bike ASAP. reckon he’ll love it – he certainly likes being blatted around in his pushchair, in his fire engine, and sitting on a trolley case (!).

I’d hold on off on the wee ride type seats until about 2 years old when there is less chance of spontaneous sleeping

I’m getting a wee-ride as friends who have them say their kid is perfectly happy sleeping with their head on the headrest and I’d much prefer him to be able to see where he is going than staring to the side or at my back.

Rose has been in the bike trailer from 6 months, and still uses it every week at just coming up to 3. No helmet needed for a trailer either.

Most bike seats say from a year, our bike trailer has a baby sling bit which is for much younger than that, it was absolutely fine at 6 months, and we did our first 40 miler at about 10 or 11 months (with a couple of picnic stops, a stop at some swings, nappy change stops etc.) We went on our first self-supported camping trip at 16 months, with all the gear in the trailer.

She went in a bike seat once when she was just over one, on a hire bike. Rear mount one. It was absolutely fine, but nothing like as good as the bike trailer. She was perfectly happy pottering round Berlin for a few hours and okay to sleep in it, I think because she was already used to long bike rides in the trailer.

For lightweight tiny helmets, decathlon was the best place I found (I only bought one at 18 months for her to ride her own bike though). A lot of helmets specify that they work for a much wider age range than the decathlon ones, but that means other makes are often bulkier, which given their teeny weeny heads is a pain. We also have a fancy ‘kids stuff’ tiger helmet, which looks awesome, but is too bulky and heavy, I wouldn’t bother with those. Lightest thing you can get. Especially bearing in mind that they’ll be taking some of the weight of it when they go to sleep in some crazy position, even strapped firmly in the bike seat.

Both mine started on a WeeRide at about 12 months, perhaps a bit older. If they can support their head comfortably for a period of time then they should be fine, but sitting unsupported on the floor is a bit different to getting bounced around on a bike. I waited til mine could withstand a rigorous hair toweling after a bath.

They can fall asleep no problem on a WeeRide, that’s what the big thing in front of them is for – they can rest their heads. Course you might need to catch them every now and then as they roll off. Mine were quite often asleep on my arm/hand as I was riding.

Edit: MET Elfo is a good helmet, Planet X have them on sale at the moment

No helmet needed for a trailer either.

I think wearing a helmet is as much about getting them used to wearing one on a bike than offering protection.

I’d hold on off on the wee ride type seats until about 2 years old when there is less chance of spontaneous sleeping

That is a big bonus of the trailer too – you can stick them in it, and when they fall asleep (for Rose it is a real sleep inducing machine when she’s been running about), you can stop and just leave them asleep in it, and have a cup of tea or a sandwich or whatever, whereas with a bike seat on a bike I wasn’t all that comfortable leaving a sleeping but potentially wriggly baby on top of it any time that I wasn’t on the bike.

Oh and it can carry her bike, so we can ride somewhere with the trailer, then she can go bike zooming, and when she gets tired, she can just pop it on the trailer again and have a rest – if you find somewhere with a long and not too steep descent, you can even do balance bike uplifts.

I think wearing a helmet is as much about getting them used to wearing one on a bike than offering protection.

Most obvious injury from a bike seat is if you drop the bike somehow (I have a vague memory that I was dropped as a kid once, not sure). That’d be why I’d stick one on a kid on a bike seat.

Once they get on the balance bike and get a bit more daring, they certainly use it as protection – we had one trip down the local jump track and woods with a couple of 2 year olds, and managed one of them falling off the side of a jump, and one of them crash head-first into a tree, getting out of control on a rooty downhill, both of those were proper helmet moments.

Thank you all for taking the time to post, good to hear other peoples views and experiences.

Mucker, I have had both a Hammax & a weeride, there is no comparison the Weeride is better, nicer to ride with, better interaction with the child, a better idea if they are hot or cold, the list of benefits to them is quite endless. I had been given the Hammax but I wish I hadn’t.

Only you will know if its the right time to try, but you will be constantly worrying with the Hammax for the first few rides, with the Weeride your child is between your arms & you can support their head if you have tried it too soon.

It’s horses for courses, neither me nor my wife could get on with a seat on the front (weeride kangaroo) our knees kept hitting the seat. We found the Hamax seats to be great and if I’m taking both kids at once I use the trailer.

My eldest two were carried on rear seats but for my younger two I got a trailer as there is less that 2 years between them so I needed to carry both. I got one with a solid aluminium base as I used it all year round for my commute.

Much preferred the trailer to the seats, far more practical and they were happier in it so I could even take them with me when I was doing longer rides – great training around sheffield with the extra weight.

I had to do some research for work in to the relative safety of both, found lota of useful stuff from germany showing the trailers to be much safer too. People consider them to be less safe as a rule so I was happy to see they did so well in tests

Youngest was 12 weeks old, in a car seat, strapped into a trailer but this was born of necessity (long story).

Roughly 10 months taking an average of the 3 was when we felt comfortable with them in seat or trailer.

found lota of useful stuff from germany showing the trailers to be much safer too

care to share it?

I would love to – the case i was working on has been archived and i have had a very quick look to find the original article – but my quick look hasn’t found it

It was a paper by AZT – referred to in this article.

Will try and look again later when i have a bit more time 🙂

your link is to this thread 😀

I’ll look it up, be interested to see what it said as I am against the use of trailers on the road due to safety concerns but that’s only based on an opinion.

Ooh err how have I managed that

Typr the actually url in and it should work – sorry

My wee nephew loves his wee ride. He sleeps in it too. No problems. 9 months onwards.

Couple of trailer related questions: Has anyone got any brand links to bike trailers they have tried and liked, out of interest?

Second, what kind of terrain can they handle? And aren’t you constantly worried that they are going to get hit first in an accident?

We’ve had ours in a Chariot trailer since they were about 3 months (in the hammock/slings). Brilliant trailers, very sturdy and good resale too. They’ve got adjustable leaf-spring suspension, so that and 20″ wheels gets them gently through stuff.

We’ve found that cars give you a massive amount of room, much more so than normally, when towing the trailer.

Carry them in front, you can talk to them, see what they are looking at a much closer connection. Miles better.

Those front seats look cool, but have you used one on rocky bridleways/tracks? We went for the trailer, primarily as it allowed us to take both boys out ourselves (on one bike), and we guessed it would be better for rough tracks.

I think wearing a helmet is as much about getting them used to wearing one on a bike than offering protection.

So no need when they’re in a trailer and not on a bike. Haven’t had any issues with mine getting confused between not wearing one in the trailer and having to put one on when on a bike (or a bike seat). Happily they don’t even complain or seem to notice that I don’t wear one when riding a unicycle with them (I always wear one when riding a bike with them – don’t think I ever have when riding a uni with them, though I do if riding fast or off-road on a uni).

We started with a single Chariot trailer. Got a bike seat when the second one came along – oldest got the bike seat, the little one the trailer. Still very happy we did that, even rather than having a double trailer, as whilst that would have been more sociable it would have been far harder to fit down a lot of the routes I use. Also prefer the trailer to the seat for all sorts of reasons (the only downside is that it’s a bit slower). We also own a tandem which the oldest was riding the back of before he was 4, hence he stopped using the seat shortly after. Little one moved one seat forwards on the tandem this week, so now I have a fight on my hands – it was quite a revelation how much more I could communicate with him though compared to being in the trailer or on a seat.

Just looked at the prices of the Chariots – whoa! That’s not happening as a new father on limited means, unless they’re under £100 second-hand, which I very much doubt.

Junior MtbRoutes started on a http://www.safe-t-seat.co.uk/ from about 9 months. She absolutely loves it and is far too excited to contemplate sleeping.
I found a Giro Me2 gave sufficient adjustment for a good fit at that age, and she’s still wearing it now at 17 months. In fact she’ll often ask to wear it about the house!

Definately get a front seat. We use a Bobike Mini and have successfully riden no-end of stuff, but uphill can be hard work as standing is difficult. A dropper post helps with starting and stopping.

Our just-turned 2 year old has tackled Make or Brake and Caddon Bank. The biggest issue was the giggling. We’re off to Middleden this weekend for a wee look-see.

Warm clothes, a helmet, plenty of chat, and riding well within your limits are all necessary. Our wee lad gets very excited by biking/skiing/canoeing and wants to turn the cranks of every bike he sees. Cue tantrums in Alpine Bikes when we try to leave…

Croozer trailer from 3 months. You do have to be very careful at that age though – their necks aren’t strong so will get jolted from potholes etc.

We got ours for £200 second hand.

Had a read of the report – it may of may not be correct. I didn’t find it especially convincing and referring to insurers as experts in risk assessment is interesting given most of my job is about risk assessment I wouldn’t have rated them highly – more premiums management than risk assessment.

However right or wrong it didn’t seem to be about the sort of cycling I do with my children, which is mainly of road and singletrack whenever possible. Bike seat for me then.