Bike Trailer and Baby

[Rev]

My son is a strong 4.5 month old (he can sit up if I hold his legs). We just got a bike trailer for him and he loves it. He is strapped in and has no issues holding his head up and the trailer has large rubber tires that seem to make for a smooth ride. We don't go for hours at a time, and we stick mostly to Toronto bike paths, some paved, some smooth packed dirt with small gravel. We do have to take a short stint on a road that has a bike lane, and then about 100 meters without a bike lane to get to the path, and cross streets at crosswalks from time to time.

With this background info my question is at what age do you feel it is safe to take your child in a bike trailer? I have read some alarmist stuff that says it shakes your baby's brain etc etc. but my son looks happy as can be back there and is not bouncing around any more than in the truck. Obviously I want him to be safe, but we also want to get out there and explore as a family if it seems reasonable.

I looked up local law and it said that we need to put him in the car seat and then put that in the carrier. That is fair enough. But I'd like other people's experiences.

 

[Nay]

He looks good in there - the fact that you are concerned means you are probably being safe, and so I wouldn't worry much about it as any risk would really come from something like rolling the trailer.

A little bumping doesn't create a "shaken baby", but it does put them to sleep for a couple of hours :rockon:

If you really are that concerned, and you want to spend a lot of money again, you could get a Chariot. They are on tiny little leaf springs and it really softens the ride, plus you can get the front stroller wheel conversion and the XC ski kit.

I am selling that entire setup now as mine have outgrown it. It really is awesome.

 

[WoldD90]

If you open this up to a lot of opinions, you are going to get a lot of opinions.

Talk to your pediatrician to make sure that they say it is ok for his age, weight, size and development. A car seat, as weird as it would seem, make work well. To protect him in case of an accident. On our local paths, people are always cutting in and around people, not looking and stopping in the middle of the path. So, there is always a small chance of an accident.

 

[Rev]

Opinions wanted.

But even better would be real world experience.

 

[Nay]

I had my kids everywhere I could take them in any manner I could take them as soon as they could hold up their heads when needed and before when in a rear facing carseat.

This included a lot of pretty technical fourwheeling.

I have four kids and we are extremely safety conscious. The fact that they have traveled extensively in many different ways since tiny also means I can drive 30 hours straight across country each year to visit relatives without any complaining, and take the entire family wheeling on long, hard days.

Biking at speed is a risk - we mostly had our in jogging strollers and out wheeling or in a pack snowshoeing.

Your doc would likely advise you to wait, and that is the safe move. Still, babies are a lot harder to snuff out than we fear...

 

[EuroJoe]

tough to give advice as dont know you or the kid or the trailer or the paths, what i did was rent a bakfiets - a dutch bike for hauling kids, the wee guy loved it, hated the helmet but mad him wear it anyway and he was 16 months but regardless, have a blast and get a good bell, or whistle and watch out for roller bladers

 

[4x4mike]

We have a one year old and we bought a Chariot CX2 ( not full price ). She likes it but we don't put her in the car seat. The CX2 has really nice seats and harnesses and she is in their really good. Max distance has been 20 miles and any longer she gets bored. Ours is a 2 kid model but it's just her so I fill it with her toys so she has something to do.

 

[SilverBullet]

We used our bike trailer with my 2 year old and his 4 month old sister. For her, we used the head pads made for car seats, and the 2 year old was helping "hold" her. It was fun, no off road, but the trailer rode nice, now Dad just needs to get stronger, those are a heavy combniation up hill...

 

[Rev]

Hmmmm. seems like a number of reasonable folks have taken their kids in these things without any damage.

 

[dport]

I have a 7 month old, and did not like the way he sat in the second hand trailer we picked up. My solution was to mount a piece of plywood to the trailer, and strap his carseat to that. It made me feel a lot better about having him in there, esp since the common recommended age is 1 year old from what I've found. I mounted a small strip of plywood vertically on the base piece, so the carseat can but up against it like it does the back of the seat. We rode a 4 mile gravel trail with no issues, except for a little trail grime getting on him. I may change out the plywood for plexiglass to save a little weight, but It seems OK for now.

 

[stonehenge]

looks a damn sight safer and more comfortable than bouncing in a wooden buckboard wagon many children came across country in oh say about 150 years ago

 

[R_Lefebvre]

We bought one of these years go, and used it with our son starting at about 4 months old. It was all on-road, in quiet neighborhoods, so little safety concerns. Nobody could tell me his brain has suffered. He's 4.5 now, is bilingual, can count to 100 and is learning addition already (all that, and he's never been to a Montessouri school!)

We're now using one with our 6 month old daughter.

I'd never heard the shaken brain thing before, caused by trailers. Sounds rediculous. I don't know that I'd take it off pavement at less than 1 year.

 

[elmo_4_vt]

Like the rest.. We took our son out all summer in the 5-8 month range. He loved it. We did make him wear a helmet just in case something happened, but we did mostly on road, or slow off road stuff, and he was always smiling...

-

 

[greenmeanie]

We've got a double wide Chariot as well. Its good as if our 3 yr old son gets tired he can hop in too which is a nice thing to bear in mind if you plan on adding another little snot blower later. As stated earlier it makes an ideal toy hauler when going to the park. While it is heavier than a single place unit the double wide has the advantage of being more stable due to its greater width.

As for the age thing we have had our daughter in ours as a jogger since she was about 3 months. She is now 9 months and we use it behind a bike on pavement to go to the park. Slow gentle and on residential streets. I wouldn't take it off road behind the bike until she can wear a helmet which I will buy her at 1 yr old.

I think we are probably considered the local crazies as it is not unknown for us to have a 'road train'. Our malamute out front on a bungie leash, mum or dad on the bike in the middle as the power house, bike trailer loaded with daughter and toys and then our son out back on his bike which gets a tug up the steeper hills using a leash onto the back of the bike trailer. Note this is on the pavement and not playing in traffic. Its a work out.

 

[digitaldelay]

We waited for both our daughters to be >1 year old after talking to our pediatrician. Also, I couldn't find helmets that fit small enough, so I had to wait for them to grow a little anyways. One bike shop told me the reason they don't make newborn-sized helmets is they want the kid to be a little older before they ride in a trailer (neck-strength / bobble-head concerns).

To the OP - your kid looks a lot stouter than I remember mine being at that age!

Jason

P.S. - I have the same trailer (in yellow/black).