to use a front fitting child bike seat?

[Digggers]

Had a horrible experience today that has left me feeling quite sad, angry and worried.

i've bought one of these content.onestepahead.com/assets/images/product/detail/04600_1.jpg for taking my wee boy on bike rides on the cycle paths, parks, proms and canal paths around my city. i'm not planning on going on the roads. I'm going to try it out in the park tomorrow to see if he and i like it and if it works for us before deciding to send it back or not

I know rear fitting seats are more common, but I can't find a rear fitting seat to fit my bike, and all the research and reading I have done on child bike seats doesn't rate a rear fitting seat as any safer than a front fitting one. Both have their pros and cons and both are inherently as dangerous as riding a bike itself is if you are inclined to think that way about risk.

I fitted the seat myself and then took my bike and the seat into my local bike shop today to check that it was on tight enough, and was treated like the worst mother ever!

One of the staff refused to serve me , saying that I was using my baby as an airbag and as a parting shot saying "atleast tell me that youve got a helmet for him"
Another member of staff refused to even talk to me, just standing staring in mock horror at me and my bike.
The guy who did serve me said he had to tell me he didn't endorse what I was doing, but had decided to be professional and let me make my own mind up.

I feel horrible now. But everything I've read says that rear fitting seats, forward fitting seats and bike trailors are all as safe/dangerous as each other depending on your view point.

I have a couple of thin warm hats designed to be worn under helmets. V stretchy so the adult size is fine on my 3 year old.

We had a front fitting one and it was ace.

Bought from a specialist independent about 9 years ago.

Mind, same store seems totally up themselves these days. They used to be great, but are overrun with testosterone loaded extreme sports types these days who sneer at non-obsessives like me.

I haven't read the whole thread. Think the way you were treated in the shop was shocking and if you have done your research you must do as you see fit.
However, I had a front seat for my dd. One day we were on the bike and she somehow managed to put her foot into the spokes of the front wheel. The bike came to an immediate stop and flipped over. My dd (3) landed in the road with me on top of her. Her helmet didn't help because she hit the road chin first. She knocked out 4 and a half teeth and had deep grazing covering one side of her face. Her ankle was also very badly bruised. It was absolutely horrific and I never took her on a bike again.

YANBU, they sound very ignorant.

When I had a fall from my bike I did go over the handlebars though, not plonked to the side like I imagined.

However,I wasn't pootling though as you do with children on board, I was on my mountain bike and skidded on a patch of ice. I knocked myself out even with my helmet on so heaven knows what would have happened if I hadn't been wearing one

I think serious cyclists sometimes forget that cycling with children on board is completely different.

Enjoy your cycling

They seem to be being a bit strong with their opinions. You know where you will be cycling and in what conditions and are sure to be able to make your own decison.

Comparisons with the Dutch aren't entirely relevant though. Cyclists in Holland are prioritised, as is their safety. As a driving/safety instructor there told me, if a cyclist is going through a red light, in hte dark with no lights and his hands over his eyes and you hit him it is still going to be judged to be at least 50% your fault in the end.

Drivers are very aware of cyclists and careful of them. They do have accidents though - and as no one wears helmets because you are far less likely to be wiped out by a car than in the UK (that's how you spot a Brit - by the helmet) - they have serious consequences often and the neurosurgeons are kept quite busy enough there.

I think my fellow British expats agree with me though that in general, society's health and safety requirements are less strict in Holland.

mumofloads, that sounds horrible and i'm sorry that that happened to you.

yes you're all right, i do need to make my own decision and my attitude is that there is ofcourse an element of risk, but there is also an element of risk whenever i take ds on a bus, in a car, let him run about. I want to assess and evaluate risk and weigh it against the benefit of having an experience rather than rule all risk out. So i'm going to use it, but only on the cycle path, not on the road.

interesting about the dutch view of health and safety, thank you for that, and thank you for everyone who has given a perspective. You've all helped me to figure this one out. Need to do more research on helmets and defensive cycling, but i do feel i cycle safely, on a big huge heavy dutch grandma bike , i usually have the brake half on anyway and i rarely go on roads. i don't think i'll be taking him out till next year now though as the snow and ice have come! there's risk and there's stupidity

Do take him out though, won't you, Ds had an absolute blast riding on his.

mumofloads - that sounds scary: the seat I had (before it was nicked, did I mention that already ) had moulded leg sections, IYSWIM, so that DD's legs couldn't make contact with the front wheel. She did fiddle with the gears a bit, but was told off sharply and didn't do it again (gave her a reflector to poke at instead). The only thing she did do from time to time was to pat my knee as I pedalled. It was cute.

Old thread but v interesting for me as we're about to buy a co-pilot rear seat for our 6 mo DD. I think it depends on the type of bike you're fixing the seat to, the age and weight of the child and which roads and terrain you'll be cycling on. My partner and I both ride road bikes with drop handlebars, so I don't think a front seat would work - wouldn't be able to see over/reach around it. On a Dutch roadster or town bike the rider is much more upright and it's probably ideal for a front seat. The roads are fairly busy round here and we live on a hill in a hilly area, so a trailer is totally out and we've been recommended the co-pilot rear seats so we're going for one of them.

"I think my fellow British expats agree with me though that in general, society's health and safety requirements are less strict in Holland."

Not quite. The Dutch accept a certain level of personal responsibilty - you make it sound like they are happy to put their kids at risk in a way Brits don't. Although is is true that cycling here is in general safer, the paths and lights and rules are there and in the main respected.

The seats are on the front of the bikes here for smaller babies, as they grow they go on the back. My baby loves being out on our bike. (She'd make a great airbag btw all fat and squishy)