Safely biking with a young infant?

Gypsy · Mar 1, 2008

Are there any bike trailers that you can use to put an infant carseat in? Is there any way to safely transport a newborn or very young infant while a parent bikes in a bike friendly community?

Patriot201 · Mar 1, 2008

Excellent question!

I know a mother who does not have a car but must transport her child to and from daycare, the grocery store, etc. There are not any buses or other public transportation options, so she uses a bike. She states that it is too far to walk with a stroller (daycare is about 2-3 miles from her house and the grocery store is about 3-4 miles away).

She began using a bike trailer, with an infant carrier rigged in it, when her son was about three months old. It scared the hell out of me to see her do this, but she stated she didn't have any other choice.

I would love to know if there were other options for her.

skaterbabs · Mar 1, 2008

Biking is NOT recommended for children under about 6-9 months. They really do need to be able to securely sit unassisted for the length of the trip, and of course a helmet is a must.

southpawboston · Mar 1, 2008

skaterbabscpst said:
Biking is NOT recommended for children under about 6-9 months. They really do need to be able to securely sit unassisted for the length of the trip, and of course a helmet is a must.

no, it's not recommended for anything under ONE YEAR, and preferably two years. we just had a discussion on this

.

it's not an issue of fitting a helmet, it's an issue of neck control and vibrations that can resemble shaken baby syndrome.

please see the following links:

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=363734#post363734

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=29839

and lastly, the most comprehensive site for biking safety, and their explanation on why NOT to ride a child under age 2 on a bike:

http://www.helmets.org/little1s.htm

flipper68 · Mar 1, 2008

I've always thought 12 months was the minimum (that's the minimum for helmets).

I've seen IO's in a bike trailer but that doesn't mean it should be done - or is even "allowed" by the bike trailer manufacturers.

Biking is pretty jarring - I'd be worried about a young child's head bobbing all over the place.

No helmets for a child that young (unless they have a big head

) and using a helmet AND a car seat can't be a good idea.

skaterbabs · Mar 1, 2008

southpawboston said:
no, it's not recommended for anything under ONE YEAR, and preferably two years. we just had a discussion on this .

I missed that one, thanks for clueing me in.

In any case, it seems there is no safe way to bike with an infant.

Gypsy · Mar 1, 2008

Mom doesn't have a car & biking is how she goes places, she will have a carseat because she does occasionally get rides from people. I can't expect her to never leave her home.

What do they do in countries where people bike everywhere?

Patriot201 · Mar 1, 2008

Gypsy said:
Mom doesn't have a car & biking is how she goes places, she will have a carseat because she does occasionally get rides from people. I can't expect her to never leave her home.

What do they do in countries where people bike everywhere?

Good question!

The mom I know is similar to the mom you know.

jdubsm · Mar 1, 2008

All the bike trailers that I researched said 6 months was the minimum age. Good question Gypsy.

southpawboston · Mar 1, 2008

Gypsy said:
What do they do in countries where people bike everywhere?

in those countries, they employ practices that are not considered safe here. for example, in holland, it is very common to have front-mounted infant seats that attach between the handlebars and the cyclist, and they put very small infants/toddlers in them. if the cyclist falls, it's almost a guarantee that the child will be seriously injured. it's also common for them to cycle with two or three kids on the bike (one in front, one in back and one in a trailer + groceries) all the time. that doesn't mean that it's safe.

lovinwaves · Mar 1, 2008

Gypsy said:
What do they do in countries where people bike everywhere?

Babywear them :shrug-shoulders: Which I know wasn't what you wanted to hear lol.

Patriot201 · Mar 1, 2008

Check out the "bike pod" in this post:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=19315&highlight=bike

It says it is for children "0 to 9 years old." Perhaps that is how families in other countries (in which biking is so very common) transport their children?

southpawboston · Mar 1, 2008

Patriot201 said:
Check out the "bike pod" in this post:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=19315&highlight=bike

It says it is for children "0 to 9 years old." Perhaps that is how families in other countries (in which biking is so very common) transport their children?

interesting! i assumed it was from holland (the bike innovation capital of the world), but it's from denmark... another country with a high bike density.

houseofboys · Mar 1, 2008

You think that's scary? This is VERY typical in Vietnam. We saw it all the time.

92_Family_on_Motorbike,_Nha_Trang,_Vietnam,_Feb_05.jpg

Jordynsmama · Mar 2, 2008

Along with their head bopping and neck as well, my concern is just crashing and the baby being injured that way.
If there is no other option for a mom, than the baby is just not going to be very safe unfortunately :shrug-shoulders:

singingpond · Mar 2, 2008

In theory, I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to design a bike trailer with adquate suspension/shock absorbers to accomodate an infant safely. However, I don't think such a product exists at the moment. Maybe if one had a thick layer of foam under the baby bucket (not sure how the infant seat would be attached securely to the trailer, but that's a separate problem), that might provide adequate shock absorption, in theory? Sort of like those competitions you see where people experiment with packaging raw eggs in various ways, and then dropping them off the roof -- some of the packaging approaches clearly work quite well.

I'm just saying, the 'jiggle' problem (transmitted road irregularities) should be solvable for bike transport of young children. The fact that bikes and bicyclists are at a huge disadvantage in collisions/crashes with cars is a separate issue.

Katrin

AdventureMom · Mar 2, 2008

houseofboys said:
You think that's scary? This is VERY typical in Vietnam. We saw it all the time.

We saw it alot when we lived in Egypt, too. Here's a quick Google search, just to put in perspective how much relatively safer a baby in an infant carrier inside a bicycle trailer with a frame and low to the ground might be than the following situations. Maybe it shouldn't be condoned and I'm not saying it should or shouldn't be, but there are far worse evils:

Baby%20on%20a%20scooter%20in%20Delhi.JPG

TechnoGranola · Mar 2, 2008

Patriot201 said:
Check out the "bike pod" in this post:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=19315&highlight=bike

It says it is for children "0 to 9 years old." Perhaps that is how families in other countries (in which biking is so very common) transport their children?

I read that the "pushchair" (stroller) part can be used from 0 to 9.

* pushchair with room for 2 kids between 0 and 9 years old

I'm not sure if they intend it to be used on the bike with kids that young.

Wineaux · Mar 2, 2008

Gypsy said:
Mom doesn't have a car & biking is how she goes places, she will have a carseat because she does occasionally get rides from people. I can't expect her to never leave her home.

What do they do in countries where people bike everywhere?

They bike like they have always done, and the vast vast majority of infants never have any issue whatsoever. It's a practice that's been going on for probably close to half a century. You might want to check some Euro or Asian sites for biking with small children info/gear.

Patriot201 · Mar 2, 2008

technogranola said:
I read that the "pushchair" (stroller) part can be used from 0 to 9.

I'm not sure if they intend it to be used on the bike with kids that young.

Ah! That makes sense!

Safely biking with a young infant?

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