10 months too you to be on the back og a bike?

[LizzieHart]

My DD is currently 9 months old and I am dying to get my bike out and go for a cycle. I was going to wait a month, but I wondered if 10 months was still too young.

Are there any official expert guidelines published anywhere that state they should only go on a bike seat at a certain age?

If she can go on a bike, where is the best place to buy a hat? What are the best buys?

All the advice is greatly appreciated! Many thanks!

Hi Lizzie Hart
I'm also interested in the answer to that question! I got a new bike in September and put it away in November (Scotland, too cold to ride) then got preggers in January and that was the end! I'm dying to get my bike out and would love Bubs to come with me.
I asked at the bike shop but they didn't know because they were all about 16 and didn't have kids...

We were advised not before 12 months, but I can't remember precisely why - probably to do with strength and ability to sit up etc. You do get bounced around quite a lot on the back of a bike. But obviously some babies are bigger and stronger (ours was a bit weedy then!)

Advice is a year, this is mainly to do with their neck muscles being strong enough to a) cope with bouncing around and b) support weight of helmet.

I put DS on the back at 11 months as he had been holding his head up from birth (astonishing wonder child! So far only milestone he has hit early though) and he was very big for his age.

Halfords do a small blue helmet that is one of the littlest around, it has a chin pad as well to avoid clipping neck skin (ouch!) and he is now in one similar to these www.hardnutz.com/index.php/cycle-helmets/junior-cycle-helmets-road.html . The halfords one was okay but I preferred the high vis as an extra safety feature. I think there is a brand that does a helmet with a more rounded back (like a magic 8 ball?) which might be worth tracking down.

If you don't already have a bike seat, Decathlon have a good range. I have the reclining Hamax one. Their website is dreadful and prices can vary depending on which store you have it shipped from but they are cheap and the customer service is usually excellent.

I used the Co-Pilot Taxi with DS1 from about 8 months and he loved it. Also make sure you've got a good snowsuit or similar, because they can get awfully cold sitting still with the air rushing past them.

Lots on the MN ethical living section.

We also have the co-pilot seat and tried with our kid at 6 months, but she's not quite tall enough yet for the seat back not to interfere with the helmet and push it over her face (!!!) so we'll have to wait till she's tall enough that the helmet is at the larger, more reclined part of the seat and not resting against it. No problem with her sitting up though - she's been doing that unaided since she was 21 weeks old.

Forgot to say we have a MET helmet that just about fits our LO at 26 weeks old on the smallest setting. MET is a well known cycle helmet brand and it's a lovely bright red with flames and dragons on it - the same one also come in blue with pirates if you prefer!