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Hi all.
Have a 7 month old and want to get set for taking her out on the bike. Was thinking of a trailer (seem to be OK from about 1yr. old), but wondering if a seat on rear of bike might be better? Will not really be doing any more than riding in woods / fireroad.
Any opinions on which is better, and product recommendations would be welcome.
Cheers.
get a weeride, our 7 month old giggles and laughs like a maniac when we are out, and family rides out are brilliant.
IMHO 7 months is too young, the seats are not supportive enough for their little bodies. Even riding on a paved roads is bumpy enough to tire out their little necks and at that age they'll tend to fall asleep in the saddle flop forward and turn blue.
I would wait untill they're a year old and then get them in something like a Hamax siesta so at least they can lie back when they get tired and have their little head supported.
I have got a Chariot buggy, it is great used it from about 18 months and my daughter loves it, they do an insert for babies which provides neck support as well so you could use it immediately. The drawback is they are very expensive especially in the current exchange rate climate. My daughter is now 2 and my wife uses the trailer on her bike and I use a Rhode Island Taxi on my commuter, i had the right rack and I picked up the seat only on ebay for a tenner. This was a lot cheaper than buying a set clamp for the chariot - as I said they are expensive.
At that age we only used a trailer for the reasons others mention. Chariot is the best option with the baby insert/hammock thing - but we couldn't justify the cost - so used a car seat securely strapped into the trailer - for the type of traffic free, nice smooth paths we were going on with it, this was a measured but acceptable risk.
My lad is just one and he goes out in a Hamax Sleepy thing or somesuch... Loves it, 25 quid off ebay, does for the woods etc. 7 months maybe pushing it.... but who am I to tell you what to do!
I've got a seat on the back for my 10 month old but he's big (more like an 18 month old) and strong (Supporting head at 1 month and walking at 7 months...) making it hard work. I use the seat at the moment because I do some riding on the road and I don't fancy a trailer on the road.
I'll be getting a trailer as he gets bigger and I want to take him off road a bit more since the child seat has a big effect on the bike's handling and makes the bike feel very heavy. You can usually fit your car childset in a trailer so in theory you can use it from quite an early age - depending on what you ride obviously).