Berkeley Parents Network: Biking with baby

Berkeley Parents Network

Biking with baby

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Going Places > Biking with baby

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June 1999
We've tried three different ways: (1) trailer; (2) rear bike seat; (3) front
bike seat.
(1) The trailer is very stable, and is safe if you fall (the baby won't) and
doesn't add too much difficulty to steering.  The significant drawbacks are
that cars may not always see the trailer; the child sits closer to the
exhaust pipes of the of cars; extra weight to tow.
(2) Rear bike seats are lighter, but the baby falls with you if you fall,
and the extra weight in back may make your bike a little harder to maneuver.
Other drawbacks: If you wear a backpack, the backpack will be in the baby's
face.  When the baby wears a helmet (get one at Target, Toys 'R' Us, etc.
Fisher Price makes some), she may be uncomfortable with the high back seat
pushing against the helmet, pushing her head forward.
(3) Front bike seats are harder to find, weigh about the same as the rear
seat, may make the bike a little easier to maneuver than the rear bike seat
since the baby's weight sits on the handle bars (essentially).  We actually
like this one the best.  I can keep an eye on her since she's in front of
me, and it's easier for me to interact with her and talk to her, and make
sure she doesn't take off her helmet.  The biggest drawback is that,
depending on the design of the seat, you may have to alter your peddling to
avoid hitting the seat with your knees.  This is the most enjoyable for our
daughter, but I wouldn't recommend this for very long bike rides, or rides
up steep hills because of the knee thing.  We bought ours from this company:
http://www.leisuresports.com/.  You can call for a local distributor.

A note about helmets - make sure you get your baby used to the helmet before
you go out.  It'll save a lot of stopping when you're on the road.

I started bicycling with my baby when he was one month old. We bought a Burley D'Lite trailer. It is expensive but worth every penny. The design has been perfected over the years and I feel that my son is very safe in it. You cannot notice much difference in how your bike handles however it is heavy and requires a pretty experienced cyclist if you're going up any hills. I'm a bit of a nut case in this department so I enjoy the added workout. Missing Link in Berkeley is a great place to get one. Until my child was six months, we put a car seat in the trailer and now (he's 9 months) he just sits up in it surrounded by pillows and uses a bike helmet. He loves it. He sleeps soundly in it which I love, and I get my exercise. Its great. Handles up to 100 lbs.

I would like to comment on the safety aspect. I have been struck by three cars in a two year period biking to Cal Berkeley. Once on Solano, once on Milvia, and once on Hopkins. Normally I would say this must be the bikers fault as you only have to sit at an intersection for 5 minutes to observe a bicycle rider running stop signs, or other common infractions, but in all three cases I had the right of way and the car drivers just plain did not see me. Two were stopped at stop signs, then pulled out and hit me. One pulled up along side of me, then turned right and hit me. Now I bus, and would never dream of biking with my child in this area.

I ferried my daughter around on the back of a bike for over a year, from when she was old enough to hold up her head well until she was just too heavy! To be honest, it's probably one of the least safe ways to cart a kid around, compared to walking, riding BART, and driving. But we never had any injuries. Safety depends on a lot of things, like your skill and judgment as a rider, where you ride, protective gear, etc. It should go without saying that both you and baby wear properly-adjusted well-fitting Snell-certified helmets (and you actually read the owner's manual on the helmets so you know better than to put them on the back of the kid's head as if they were some kind of Lexan sunbonnet), and that you obsessively strap baby in just snugly enough, and don't get on the road until every last thing is just right no matter how long it takes. The first thing we did with our baby was put the helmet on her, strap her in, and then drop the bike trying to get on (you can't swing your leg over the back when there's a baby sitting there!). She and the bike fell on their sides, and she was definitely displeased, but she wasn't hurt. We picked them up, cleaned her off, and got going after a little while. She always enjoyed it.

We also carted our son around in a Burley trailer for a while. I think trailers are safer overall, and maybe a better deal in the long run, than baby-on-back-of-bike seats. They'll hold twice as much weight, the bike is much more stable, and the kid is a little better protected; they're also good for other cargo, like groceries, long after the kid's too big to ride in them. Of course, they can tip, too: on our daughter's first trailer trip, I took a corner too tight, clipped a curb, and tipped the damn thing over; again, she was displeased, but she wasn't hurt.

In Berkeley, my favorite shop is Velo Sport, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way; Missing Link is also good, and REI, though I think REI usually has the worst prices of the three.

July 1999

Thoughts on: Biking with baby: My husband and older son rode all over North Berkeley together for several years, starting at about 18 months, with my son riding in a Burley trailer. The trailer is very easy to use, very stable, and probably safer than a seat on the back: (1) it will stay upright even if the bike falls, which a frame-mounted seat will not; (2) people can see a trailer from far off and so tend to be more careful when driving by. The trailer also allows a child to look at books, play with small toys, have a drink, or figit a little while riding, which makes it easier to go longer distances. The real obstacle was the helmet at first; once my son got used to that, he did fine. The trailer is not cheap, but sometimes you can find them used. We will grow out of ours in a year or so; my second son is now four, and loves the rides (now in Orinda) but is getting a bit big for it.

From: a bike-riding mom (11/98)

Dear Parents,
The other day I saw an interesting sight. A woman was riding a bicycle with a child seat on the back. The child riding in back was pre-talking age but was fussing rather noisily which caused me to take notice. It seems the woman (mom?) riding the bike had a backpack on her back and the bulge of the backpack was rubbing back and forth across the baby's face, which was obviously irritating to the child. I don't think the woman was aware that the pack was even touching the baby and she rode by so fast I din't get a chance to say anything. So, bike riders with babies on back...be aware that your backpack may right in the baby's face.

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