Cycling with a 3.5 year old

[Coffeesnob11]

I really miss cycling. I am a single mother to a 3.5 year old. He is tall for his age and so I think he would be too tall for those seats that go on the front of the bike but probably too young to go on an attached smaller bike on the back. How do you cycle with your kids of the same age?

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

Cargo bike or bike trailer.

But depending on how well he takes to it, you could be able to do short rides together on cycle lanes next summer.

[Frazzle76]

Cargo bike. Recommend Tern. Also look at the Thule seat - v good.

[Knitter99]

Is he cycling independently? If he is I would just do small cycle rides within his capabilities and build up from there. You can put your hand on his back and push him up hills. I used to do a lot of that, still do sometimes and my youngest is 9!
We had a tow bar thing to attach the kids bikes to ours, they could use it safely at 3 but we found we spent more time stopping to attach them, then stopping to take it off again because they wanted to pedal down a hill, then they wanted towed again because there was an uphill. It was a massive nuisance.
I would just start small and go from there. You'll be surprised how far they can go.

[Rollercoaster1920]

We had a front seat and it was great. But by 3.5 your child is probably too big. Should be OK in a rear rack seat though, which is what we also used.

We have a tag along but you do need to trust them to hold on. My youngest scared herself somehow (probably not hiding on) so didn't like it.

A cargo bike would have been great. But they aren't cheap and steps at home, storage space and anti motorbike gates on cycle routes can cause problems.

[ChocolateLover2000]

My husband has our 4.5 year old on a rear seat so I think that should be a possibility for you.

[Mumoftwoinprimary]

A rear seat will work for age 3 - 6 roughly.

However, I would really focus on getting him riding himself. You will be surprised how far he can go once he builds up to it - my ds cycled 16 miles in a day just before he turned 4. (We did stop for lunch in the middle. And the last 3 miles we kept chucking raisins into his mouth to try and keep him going!)