Child bike seats - from what age?!? Help!

[asur]

Hiya,

Hope someone can help me. At what age can a child go in a child bike seat on the back of an adult bike? Hope that makes sense. DH cycles and we'd like DS to go with him but all the child seats just give a maximum weight but don't say when he can first go in it... He's 5months - is he old enough?!

The seats we were looking at have pretty secure harnesses so I'm thinking it would be fine but figured this would be the best place to get advice from the 'experts'

TIA

Hi Asur,

not sure when the recommende age is but we used one frm 10 months. Personally I would think 5 months is a bit too little cos it can get really really bumpy, and it might hurt little ones' neck. But thats just my opinion, it may well be fine.
hth

He'd need to be in a forward facing car seat before he could support his neck I would say. 9 months at the earliest.

Ok, thanks for replies... I was wondering if it would be the same age/weight as for carseats but worth checking... We'll just have to wait a bit

Hi we used our forward facing bike seat from 6 months with our DS. He had good head control and was sitting well. He has been fine with no probs. Perhaps take a short ride and see what you think. Happy cycling!

you have to be guided by teh child. I use a bike trailer rather than seat so slightly differnt. We waited till boy was sitting well, diddn;t slump over in it and was big enough for the straps on lowest settling to be at his shoulders rather than above them. He 1st went in trailer with padding at 4m for a short slow trip , then we waited another month before trying again and this time his sitting was MUCH more solid so we did a longer still fairly slow trip and he was fine and fell asleep. at 6m I started useing it more regularly and now hes 7m we use the trailer 2 or 3 times a week to get places we would otherwise have taken a bus or walked too. I'm not a keen car driver.

Ds couldn't have sat up well in a bike seat until he was 9/10 months old at least. When we hired bikes recently they wouldn't give a child seat unless the child was over 12 months old. I think the trailer type seats are better for younger children but they are expensive.

On the other hand a couple I know who cycle everywhere used the back child seat from about 6 months on if the child was sitting well. I would think 5 months is a bit young for the seat at the back though I think they would be fine in a trailer type seat.

Evans cycles sold us one that says 12 months on it but said they recommended the child was at least 15 months old. This was because there is a lot of lateral sway as you're riding along. One of my neighbours has a trailer and says they need to be at least 18 months for those really. She has twins in the trailer and one on the back as has a 4 year old and two three year olds! She tried the twins in the trailer when they were 8 months and said it was scary as they were not safe.

Trailer- very much depends on the trailer. Ours is CTS single child trailer, its a deep seat with a mesh area where the childs head is so it gives a bit rather than pushes their head forward and even now at 7 m/o is snug on the sides, going to be a tight fit when hes 5 ! Lots of people tho have 2 child trailers and i would agree LO may need to be a bit bigger to cope in those.
CTS being a canadian Company have to give the buyer the canadian legal bit- use as bike trailer from 12 months. BUT as a ski trailer or jogger the law has no minimum age... but thats canadian law, there isn't an equivilant UK law. Be guided by your child and your cycling.
Single child trailers have other advantages- you can get them through single door ways. Ours makes very nice off road push chair, with its 20 inch wheels it rolls over pretty much any terrain. DH had it up on the moors yesterday and boy was more comfy than our friend child in an "all terrain" buggy with 12 inch wheels.