molgrips – Member

TJ, a kid is way way safer in a car than in a trailer – is this not obvious?

Absolutly not obvious. The force of impact is a product of speed. got any data to back up your common-sense ideas? More people get killed in cars than on bicycles and the risk is greater per mile in a car.

No one is talking about rush hour commuting round hyde park corner FFS – just a gentle local sustrans route bimble.

I suggest you never take your precious child out of the cot without a full pressure suit, you make them wear a helmet to walk downstairs, go everywhere in a Chelsea tractor incase some on crashes into you, never let them out of your sight incase peados get them. Infact never let them out of the house again. Never ever.

Or you could just take a rational and reasonable approach to safety

TJ, I am taking a rational approach. Wtf?

My reasoning is thus: if a car hits me on my bike, I'll go onto the bonnet and over the car. If a car hits the trailer with Meg in it, she'd probably end up underneath the car; if a van hits her she could end up under the wheels. So I'm not risking roads – sustrans routes it is.

Is this being overly protective?

You are not being at all rational. What are the odds? Thats the cruicial point. She could get hit by a metorite. Keep her indoors at all times just incase – preferably in a concrete bunker.

I feel sorry for your child being the child of irrational overprotective parents. It must be awful for her. never being allowed to take the tiniest risk.

The original point was about helmets on tiny babies anyway. I have said nothing about taking a trailer on the roads.

Edit – my main complaint was against those who think it irresponsible to take any child in a trailer or who insist on a helmet on a baby in a trailer even tho the helmets on babies have their own serious risks.

Have used a trailer to lug our two to nursery / school since eldest was just over 12 months. Felt they were too young before that. Helmets made them tilt heads forwards too much. Change of nuseries meant a road section was unavoidable, but roads pretty quiet so we thought it ok. Cars that we did meet would always give plenty of room. Both are probably too big for it now, & will soon be at same school so will ride to school with them, then on too work myself. Very much enjoyed using the trailer, glad we got so much use out of it.

I'm obviously a bad parent as i've taken both my girls in a trailer before they were 6 months old, and on roads as well as sustrans paths. It's probably the only time cycling that cars have actually made sure that they pass at a reasonable distance.

Back to the original question, neither of them wore helmets as when we tried a helmet it pushed their head forwards into an uncomfortable position.

I'd be vary wary about putting a child that young in a trailer at all, let alone worrying about the helmet.

At the shop we can't hire out trailers (or seats for that matter) to be used by children under 12 months due to their skulls not being fully developed and the shaky nature of being on the back of a bike.

I echo the comments about "too young". I've got a Chariot and even with the tyre pressures very low I can see my daughter (nearly 2) getting jiggled around quite a bit even on "smooth" tracks and pavements around the local parks.

I was surprised how much jiggling she gets and run the suspension soft and the tyres as low as I can.

Chariot dont recommend their trailers are used for cycling with babies under 12 months (I haven't double checked but it's about that time frame).

Great bit of kit though.

smurf

controversial but I think this needs to said

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/medical_notes/258072.stm

Don't get me wrong, I'll expose my son to calculated risk; climbing on things, falling off things, cutting himself, falling off his bike but this will be at an age where he can start to learn from actions and reactions. I.e. there is a benefit to be had/learned compared to the exposure to risk.

I wont expose him when he is essentially in such a fragile state. I question are you doing this to show off and for your own self-gain? To err on the side of caution isn't to the detriment of a babies development is it?

Sorry. Its verging on child abuse if you take a child under the age of 1 out on a bike IMO.

What are the odds? Thats the cruicial point. She could get hit by a metorite

You tell me! Although I'd hazard a guess that being run over in a trailer being towed behind a bike is significantly more likely than being hit by a meteorite. Motorists aren't known for being courteous, observant and respectful, are they? They also don't expect a trailer, and the consequences of being nudged are pretty dire.

But anyway – we are very permissive parents and our kid gets far more freedoms to explore and learn/get into mischief than a lot of kids. We don't have cupboard or drawer locks, and we did have stair gates but took them down to clean the carpet and never bothered putting them back up, since she's so good with stairs and also heeds our warnings.

We have a chariot with the suspension and Meg loves it at 16 months old, going to sleep fairly readily in it. I tried riding around on rough grass quite quickly just to see how she'd react – I checked back to find her frowning at me and clinging onto the trailer frame quite tightly 🙂 So I know the limits now.

Chariot dont recommend their trailers are used for cycling with babies under 12 months

That's correct, but bear in mind that's there for the American market and its associated legal requirements. In some states it's explicitly illegal to take kids less than 1 in a trailer.

That's correct, but bear in mind that's there for the American market and its associated legal requirements. In some states it's explicitly illegal to take kids less than 1 in a trailer.

Why do the Yokels over the pond in the UK always assume that the richer, more successful and more powerful country in the world actually has more common sense?

They didn't stumble onto money did they? 🙄

What do you mean? I meant that you have to cover your arse (ass?) absolutely comprehensively in the USA, so the fact that they put that recommendation in the instructions doesn't necessarily mean that they think it's actually unsafe.