Bicycle safety?

Hi, everyone. I was wondering if anyone is especially knowledgable about bicycle safety. I just got my first bike since having children & I'm so excited to start riding again!

However, I have a 7mo old & am wondering about the safest way to bring him with me (if there is a way). I'm contemplating either a trailer or a child seat that goes on the rear of my bike. I could see how either could be very convenient in different circumstances, so am kinda considering getting both. But, I can also see their unique dangers. Also on one or two sites I've seen it recommended that children shouldn't be transported by bike until they are a year old (or?) they can sit up unassisted. Is this one of those things, like carseats, that have no wiggle room due to their spinal strength, or is it truely more of a muscular thing (to hold up the helmet, etc)? My son has been sitting up since he was 4mo old.

I'd appreciate any input on this as I'm quite torn as to what to do & what is safest. Thanks!

Raechel
CPST & mom to 3 boys

We have a Burley bike trailer. It's great, however, I could not imagine a child younger than 1 being safe in one. Actually ours says right on it to not use until children are at least 18 months old. The seat is completely upright, not recline at all, so one little bump and a not so stable infant would flop over. There are 5 pt harnesses, but they aren't like a carseat. Also, I can't imagine the straps fitting a child correctly until they are at least 1. Even at 18 months the straps were cutting in to my dd's neck since she wasn't tall enough. Also, I found that she didn't have enough head control to keep her head up with a helmet on until close to 1 yr. And dd was very strong, sitting by 4 months, crawling by 5 and walking by 8.

A bike trailer is MUCH safer than traditional bike seats. You tip, the baby tips. With bike trailers, they stay upright, even if the bike tips. I took a pretty good fall last summer and the bike trailer stayed upright. I would never use a bike seat. It makes the bike much more unstable. You can't even tell you're pulling the trailer. And it has room in the back for groceries. We also have a conversion package that turns the trailer into a stroller.

I'd really suggest waiting until your baby is closer to 1 yr. Also, another must for the trailer, is a flag. Since they do tag along behind the bike and are low, sometimes it's hard for a large truck to see the trailer, so a flag is a must for visibility of the trailer.

A little off topic, but one time I was at the park with dd and someone pulled up in a bike trailer and I watched horrified as a women pulled out a baby, no more than 3 months old. She had him wrapped in blankets and laid him on the floor part of the trailer where kids feet are supposed to go. No helmet of course, I don't know if they even make them that little.

I know this was mentioned in another thread awhile ago about where kids should ride bikes....
We went to an event (put on by our local hospital and police dept.) this past weekend where the kids completed a bicycle safety course and then they got a free helmet.
During the event the police officer asked the kids ,
"Where should you ride your bikes, on the sidewalk or in the street?"
(There were various answers) ...and then the officer said ,
"ALWAYS ride your bikes on the sidewalks!"
I was really surprised at this! (But I feel better knowing that I'm not breaking any laws [here] by letting my 'wobbly' son ride on the sidewalks!)

heres a link about bike safety that I saw on another board. That might be helpful.

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