We’re off to dalbeattie in a few weeks and were hoping to hire a buggy so we could get out on a green somewhere, but they don’t hire for babies under 1. Does anyone have a crossbar seat I could borrow and try with him? He can hold his head up well now so we’re just going to start experimenting with how best to get him on a bike – plus my Mrs would like to come up to see the 7stanes too instead of just waving me off for the day.

Ooh – and a helmet

too young, whats the rush?

He can hold his head up well now so we’re just going to start experimenting

but they don’t hire for babies under 1

might be a bit of a reason for that

I hate to say this but you do appear to be rushing things, I ve got two kids fwiw and I do sympathise slightly however if its advice you really want and not the go ahead from sme cyber mates the please use a bit of common and wait a couple of years, you will greatly reduce the risks and therefore you and the little un will enjoy it more, chances are you will scare the kid bmping along on a bike. If you do go ahead then expect a bit of strange looks on the trail.

meh… Mine was in his weeride from about that age, but I wasn’t going off road (smooth paths through local park), would have wobbled his little head off.

Wee ride Kangaroo is very good – a little cold though as get the full force of the wind so wrap them up double warm.

Sorry but +1 for 7 months being too early!!

I’ll be slated for this, but for a little un like that put them in a chest mounted carrier, like you might for walking. You’re less likely to fall off as it won’t affect the balance of the bike. There are some lovely trails at the end of the woods nearer to Dalbeattie. Also walk/bike the trails between Rockcliffe and Kippford – lovely views.
http://www.mothercare.com/BabyBjorn-Baby-Carrier-Active—Black/Silver/933568,default,pd.html

Ours was in a copilot seat from 1 year old but she’s diddy (25th percentile). Smallest hat we could find was the Weeride Spike but even that was too big.

You’re less likely to fall off as it won’t affect the balance of the bike.

ummmmmmmm……
sounds a wee bit like a crapshoot, no?
fully enclosed trailer (with blankets and such) on a fireroad is the furthest i’d go with a wean that young.

I agree…too young for that kind of thing. holding their own head js fine when not moving around but it is totally different on a bike with direction and speed changes frequently.
I took my 2 month old for a spin round our village in a papous…she was strapped to my chest and slept all the way through the half hour pedal, but she was comfy and in a familiar position that didn’t move much…familiar is a loose term given she was lnlg 2 months old but I’d be tramping the streets with her like that for weeks before. no hills, no main roads and only roundabouts on a housing sstate so I deemed it perfectly safe…saying that, I wouldn’t have taken her offroad and the speed aas very low so ghere was no sudden change of speed.
I’d wait before taking an adventure offrod, but that is my personal view.
have a good holiday, whatever you decide!

I wouldnt use anything but a trailer and worth the expense now as you will get years of use out of it.

Crack on

too young in general IMHO
I did this with mine, at that age, but put the car seat in the trailer.
Chest thingy might work as well but the risk of crashing is you may land on them so I dont think i would risk it personally

Patience my young padawan , patience.

I took mine in a trailer when they were about that old – but like JY says they were strapped into a car seat attached to the trailer. Far too young for anything else. Are you getting the message yet?

Everybody’s perception of risk is different, but riding with a baby in a chest carrier is madness IMHO – the chances of something happening might be low, but they’re far from non-existent, and the potential consequences are very high. I’ll point out that in general I’m far from being the sort of parent to wrap my kids in cotton wool (I built my son a jump ramp for his bike for his 5th birthday!)

Too young. My 2 y/o generally falls asleep and gets floppy headed. I wouldn’t dream of putting a 7 month old on the back/front/crossbar. I doubt you’d get a helmet to fit either.

Must be trolling.

My son went into a baby seat on our touring tandem (Topeak Babysitter) at three months. At five months he sat through a cylosportive and at seven months he sat there for the 700+km of the semaine fédérale. He slept most of the time.

The consequences of a crash when strapped into a baby seat are low, we tested this by dropping the tandem with him in the seat, he was completely unscathed, not even upset (though mum had a minor flap).

At two and a half they can pedal:

He can hold his head up well now so we’re just going to start experimenting

and if you put a helmet on him, you’ll double the weight of his head, thus the above statement will be worthless.
Plenty time. Assume risk for yourself, but it is selfish to be doing this with a wee bairn.

As for Edukator’s advice – not something any responsible cyclist / parent I know would do.

Take Grandma/pa along with you, and let them have a pleasant time in the café and a short stroll while you are the Missus got for a ride.

None of my 3 would have been strong enough at that age, nor tbh at twice that age.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I’ve just been out to buy him a 29er. He’ll grow into it so we’ll try him on that first on the slab before we do anything risky.

I can’t believe how irresponsible you are not to buy him a 650b

I nearly went for a bmx but thought that was just silly. He’s too big.

We took youngest Poly in a car seat strapped into a trailer. No helmet as we couldn’t find one that would fit, and even if we had within a trailer the bulk forces head forward. Only used on gentle routes with very little bouncing.

I can’t believe how irresponsible you are not to buy him a 650b

lmfao… 😀

As for Edukator’s advice – not something any responsible cyclist / parent I know would do.

Do elaborate, Too Tall. I think you are perhaps a bit young to have kids of your own so as you are unlikely to have tried it I’m intrigued as to why you think transporting children on bicycles is irresponsible. Visit Holland and you’ll find lots of babies moving around on bikes and yet they grow up into fine, healthy adults.

Crazhy Dutch adults though. Must be their heads bobbing about all the time. 🙂

Edukator – where is your childs head in the first picture? doesn’t look very comfy for 700k

From about 1 month our wee lad was out in the trailer. We used a standard cheapo trailer from eBay with a cradle for his Maxicosi Cabriofix infant car seat. The seat locked into place and the cradle was isolated via vibration isolating mounts. He notched many miles, mainly asleep. We rolled it once clipping a tree-stump. He woke up.

At about one year he moved onto a Bobike Mini, which he absolutely loves. It is important for your little one to be able to hold their head up and for more off-road stuff, to be able to anticipate bumps. I always say “Bumps” and our wee lad is ready. We’ve ridden widely, including Caddon Bank.

Number 2 arrived on Tuesday, and will be out in the trailer soon. A secure seat in a trailer with the vibration isolating maounts and soft tyres must be more comfy than his pram.

Cheers TroutWrestler, but too late. I’ve already reported myself to the NSPCC and I’ve been arrested. I’m going down.

Another child orphaned.

Break an egg into a jar with out breaking the yolk put the lid on the jar . The yolk is your babies brain if you can ride with the jar on the bike without the yolk breaking then your under child under one maybe ok. I counted down to 12 months before crankbrat got to be in the child seat on the bike.

Ive had mine in babyseats and trailers before they were one, and they were all fine.

But maybe im reckless – I did actually go over the handlebars when I was 8 months pregnant with my second. Thankfully he was fine and walking around 10 months so i really had no problem with him being in a seat on my bike.

He is now 20 and seems fine, and he actually thinks its cool that he had his first bike accident before he was born – definitely an experience I wouldnt recomend though!

All babies are different and develop at different speeds. I’ve just bought a seat for our 6 month old but as she very strong and can already pull herself up and stand holding the furniture. Our first child I wouldn’t have put in a seat until about 10-12 months.

My nephew has been cycling in kangaroo seat since he was about 6 months old. But he is very physically adept compared to other kids the same age. He loves the “Bo Bo!”

I took my son to daycare in a front-mounted seat from 7 1/2 months. 7km on quiet roads and off-road cycle lanes (concrete/asphalt). Back then I’d slow right down to walking pace for things like dropped kerbs, even a 1″ kerb face causes a reasonable bump. But then my son is a bit of a monster physically (99th percentile height & weight) and very, err, robust, for want of a better word.

There can be a world of difference physically between kids at that age. Some will be pulling themselves up on furniture, some will not even have rolled over yet. Most will be somewhere in-between. So while it may be generally unsuitable to put a kid in a bike seat that early, for some kids it is fine. Having said that, off-road is a whole different beast, even the small but constant wobbling from fire roads could be very tiring for a big head on a small neck.

Too Tall. I think you are perhaps a bit young to have kids of your own so as you are unlikely to have tried it I’m intrigued as to why you think transporting children on bicycles is irresponsible.

Shows what you think then. Wrong on a couple of counts. I don’t think transporting children on bikes is irresponsible – I think putting children in safety equipment that is not designed for them to be pretty irresponsible. I also think that intentionlly dropping a child whilst attached to that safety equipment to prove your point to be something worthy of Mrs E kicking you hard in the plums.

I think its madness to put a child in a seat at that age.

Luckily most parents are good at assessing their own childrens abilities and take the appropriate precautions  to keep them safe.