Viewing 9 posts - 41 through 49 (of 49 total)
  • Child/baby carriers at 3 months?
  • Tiger6791
    Full Member

    We're from Yorkshire, she'll grow into it. 🙂

    brassneck
    Full Member

    Just please don't put a helmet on a tiny one – they simply are not strong enough for the extra weight. If you consider they must have a helmet on then you must wait until they are strong enough to wear one which they certainly are not at 3 months.

    That I can agree with. I can also say in my opinion helmets are potentially unsafe in a trailer – I've looked at how my boys look, and judged they are better without. They would wear one in a child seat or on their own bikes.

    all I am doing here is presenting another view other than the STW consensus.

    I don't think you have sufficient direct experience to comment. That of course doesn't stop you holding an opinion, but I think you should keep it to yourself in this case. Of course it's possible to cycle with a sling with no ill effects. It's equally possible to cycle with an aquarium on your rack without spilling too many fish. Doesn't make it a god idea.

    In this case, the reason there is a consensus is that it really is the sensible thing to do – just wait a while.

    iain1775
    Free Member

    It's equally possible to cycle with an aquarium on your rack without spilling too many fish

    Not recomended for tropical fish. They will get cold unless you can rig up some heat transfer device between brakes and tank

    Back to the OP, definately too young, enjoy your rides on your own for now, whilst you still can
    I bought a childs trailer from the classifieds on here yesterday, my daughter is 3 months old at present. Soon as I got home the trailer was put in the loft and will not come out for about another 6 months at least (and probably until next Spring when it is warmer again). But at least Im prepared and have a 'big occasion' to look forwared to

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    molgrips
    Free Member

    I've started towelling my son's hair after a bath while he's sitting up and have to be sure to support his head a little as he feels a bit wobbly. Once he can withstand a good towelling I'll try him with a helmet in a bike seat

    Very good call.

    Like I say, there's being able to hold your head up, and there's being robust and solid enough to take the vibrations of even a small bike ride.

    When drying a kid you can really feel how feeble they are when they are really young. Or rather, if it's your first kid you won't notice until they are say two and you can see the difference!

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    brassneck – but the concensus is different in different places – indeed not everyone on here subscribes to it anyway. I believe it is far too overprotective here and far more sensible in other countries.

    tiger – I took your line as meaning 9-12 months to go on a bike. I basically agree with you tht 3 months is too young in a rear seat hence my suggestions of other solutions. You really should get a helmet that fits or forget using one at all. An illfitting helmet is not much use in a crash and possibly actually dangerous.

    poly
    Free Member

    Jakester,

    Your question has already been answered (if you can find it amongst the squabbling). A good "test" for the rear mounted bike seat is when "junior" is ready to sit in a forwards facing car seat. Typically this will be somewhere around 9 months – but some babies develop faster or slower than others. The cross bar seats etc may be different.

    Here is what we did: Child 1 – rear seat at 9 months ish – no biking before; tag along from about 3.5 .
    Child 2 – car seat inside trailer from 4 months. If we had been rich or doing it a lot we might have gone the chariot route as I was impressed with their arrangement. From about a year she sat in the trailer with no car seat, but still no helmet (firstly because she has a small head and so it doesn't fit and secondly because it forces the head forwards in the seat which would be uncomfortable and possibly more dangerous). At 2 she moved into the rear seat as it is easier to negotiate gates, narrow paths etc.

    A number of friends will not ride on "the road" with their kids. In fact I've found most cars give you a much wider berth whether riding with tag along, rear seat or trailer.

    You simply will not be able to get a helmet to fit a 3 month old.

    We felt "guilty" for not having a helmet on child 2 even though we knew it was the right thing – social stigma told us it was wrong. [This is probably what TJ is getting at]. Social stigma also tells me it is wrong for child 1 (now aged 6.5) to ride his bike outside our house (v. quiet cul-de-sac) without a helmet. He does it for a variety of reasons. 1. Most of his friends do it; 2. We want him to be independent, so put the helmet on himself not come running to us – 6 yr olds don't fit helmets properly so there is no point; 3. If he is going to run into the neighbours' parked cars I would like it to cause him some (minor) pain!

    I know some of our friends don't approve / think we are careless (or even as someone here implied selfish). You could of course argue that cocooning children and not encouraging them to lead active lifestyles is selfish too.

    Once you do get a back seat couple of things to be aware of (1) when child gets older – child can upset the balance of your bike easily – e.g. trying to turn round to see the dog (2) they do bounce about a lot back there – would be worth either videoing it or getting your wife to ride past you at same speed as you ride to see just how much jarring a little neck is getting. (3) not all seats are mounted the same – some are much more rigid to the bike – this may or may not be a benefit.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    . In fact I've found most cars give you a much wider berth whether riding with tag along, rear seat or trailer.

    Provided they are watching where they are going. If a car isn't, and nudges me, I go over the bonnet. If she nudges my babe in the trailer, she'd go under the wheel.. The thought of that is enough to put me off roads for now. As and when we come to need roads, I will reconsider. Until then it's sustrans all the way.

    Btw putting a kid in a trailer isn't an active lifestyle for them – they just sit there. An active lifestyle for a young toddler is letting them run about and investigate everything they see. As a parent, you have to follow them around possibly for hours letting them do it but making sure they don't kill themselves (or get lost, like baby grips did this morning 🙁 )

    poly
    Free Member

    Provided they are watching where they are going. If a car isn't, and nudges me, I go over the bonnet. If she nudges my babe in the trailer, she'd go under the wheel.. The thought of that is enough to put me off roads for now.

    Prior to cycling with children I also thought a lot of drivers were going around not paying attention / with their eyes closed. I've changed my mind they do see cyclists – they just don't think they need to give them much space. Put a child on the back (in either a trailer or a seat) and my annecdotal experience is car drivers give you more space – I've never had a bad experience with the kids on the back. Other people I've discussed it with seem to have similar experiences – although I accept its not scientific. Obviously if someone totally isn't paying attention then it could be horrific; but so could the potential results of an impact between me and a bus/truck/car and if I went out with that expectation I'd drive a 4×4 and never cycle. I am generally a "defensive" cyclist anyway – but even more so with the kids, I'll occupy as much space as I need to and my experience is drivers are more tolerant of this when you have kids with you.

    I'm not criticising your right to make the assessment for your own kids – nor am I suggesting that given the choice to get from A-B (with or without the kids) that I'd ever select a route with traffic over a pleasant sustrans one without. Equally though I think that "we" are too quick to condemn parents who aren't seen to be mollycodling their kids. Most of us grew up pre helmets; I remember riding in a shopping basket on my grandfather's bike.

    Btw putting a kid in a trailer isn't an active lifestyle for them – they just sit there. An active lifestyle for a young toddler is letting them run about and investigate everything they see. As a parent, you have to follow them around possibly for hours letting them do it but making sure they don't kill themselves (or get lost, like baby grips did this morning )

    Thanks for patronising parenting lecture! Now babies sleep a lot and sit around alot (the OP's baby is only 3 months old so isn't going to be "physically active" at all – for my 2.5 year old she sleeps for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and spends much of the rest of the day in a mixture of running around and imaginative play. Now I can do what a lot of parents in this country seem to do – and plonk baby in front of telly or even take baby for a drive to make them non-off – or I can take them on a "journey" on a bike where they get to see, hear, smell different things (before often nodding off). This gets them out in the fresh air, used to the idea that "leisure time" is used to do "stuff" not to sit in front of the telly. (Actually a sensible balance is the approach we use). Used to the idea that I can get to granny and grandad's house (3 miles away) without getting in a car. Now the OP's baby is "too young" to remember any of this – but routines and "conditioning" are all part of that age of baby development so a 3, 4, 5 month old getting exposure to this becomes a more relaxed 6,9,12 month getting more exposure and a 12-18-24 month who has enjoyed sitting on the back of daddy's bike seems more inclined to peddle her own bike.

    I'm not criticising you if you take a different approach, all I ask is that "society" doesn't look down its nose at me for having weighed up the risks and made an informed and intelligent decision about how best to raise my children.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    This gets them out in the fresh air, used to the idea that "leisure time" is used to do "stuff" not to sit in front of the telly

    That's a reasonable point, except that everyone seems of the opinion that every parent in the country sits their kid in front of the TV all day. This is predominantly middle-class outdoor sport forum, remember, so most of you are preaching to the choir.

    all I ask is that "society" doesn't look down its nose at me for having weighed up the risks and made an informed and intelligent decision about how best to raise my children

    I certainly wasn't trying to… You want Mumsnet for that 🙂

Viewing 9 posts - 41 through 49 (of 49 total)

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