Bike seat and helmet for newborn...do they exist?

[ODog]

Just that really. I have only ever seen seats for 6m+ or sitting babies but we would really like to be able to take our new baby out on bike rides when she arrives in May. Maybe not straight away but at some point before the weather gets bad again as DS loves going out on the bikes in the baby seat.

Would one of the little trailers be suitable for a newborn? Not sure I would feel comfortable with a tiny baby alone in a trailer though.... Just wondered if anyone had any experience? TIA

You can get trailers you can get a hammock/sling they can go in. I am looking at getting a croozer one.

It's not from newborn and recommends it depends on the surface and speeds etc. I will be using it for a slow two mile school run in the flat, mainly cycle path. But I will look at it in the flesh before I decide how old to put baby in.

Also my babies have all been big with good head control. And I want to see how flat, supportive the sling is but the croozer one looks very good and converts from a trailer to jogging stroller, so perfect for me.

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=croozer.info/&ved=0ahUKEwjO-PST_8LKAhWEuhoKHQe7BeIQFggbMAA&usg=AFQjCNEqTy7S9EO--8-Vx_ABqSvDkr7TyA&sig2=hPZWu5fv5Fv_fiHaCwMrgA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=croozer.info/&ved=0ahUKEwjO-PST_8LKAhWEuhoKHQe7BeIQFggbMAA&usg=AFQjCNEqTy7S9EO--8-Vx_ABqSvDkr7TyA&sig2=hPZWu5fv5Fv_fiHaCwMrgA

Ok, from someone who knows a little bit about cargo/child carrying cycles.

Can you get, or borrow, a Bakfiets for the first six months? Most Dutch bike manufacturers don't recommend putting a newborn in an upright seat for obvious reasons.

You have a few options - bakfiets, with a baby seat (babyschale - fleece covered reclined seat shell, which attaches with straps) or a trailer (Burley make a good one that takes the babyschale and others have similar things you can put in them) but obvs in the UK it's far more dangerous using a low down trailer than it is somewhere with a functional cycle network.

You could also get a Steco baby-mee which is a metal attachment for a bicycle rack and can also be fitted in a Bakfiets, and holds a car seat using rubber snelbinders /luggage straps.

They look effing lethal on a rear rack tbh! But in a bakfiets they are fine. We used one with ds3 in our bakfiets. It felt very safe but we did leisure cycling and not on the road.

That's about it - if you wait till 6 months or so then your options grow exponentially.

travellingtwo.com/resources/baby-bike-tour-age

You mite find this helpful, you'll find they do it all the time in the Netherlands and no babies come to any harm. Charm down everyone I'm sure op wont be riding on any roads. Nothing wrong with some good off road family cycling. We have some of the best off road cycle ways in the UK thanks to a lot of closed railway lines.

I was 3 months pp before sitting on a bike was possible. And newborns are very fragile. Give it a short while then they'll be shouting "faster" on hills.

btw I did not put a helmet on ds3 when he was under 6 months. It just didn't seem intuitive and he was safely strapped into his car seat anyway, in a arge wooden box, with a low centre of gravity, going very slowly. One a cycle track surrounded by grass.

That's about as good as it gets with a newborn and a bike, really.

I have cycled with all the madthings Btw,but not til about 7-8mths with the others, using trailers or bike seat and as they got bigger tag along etc. The croozer trailer looks really good. Cheapest I have found it is about £350 then you buy the sling as an extra for £50-70 so not a cheap option but it will last and I know I could sell it on after as in my area a lot of people cycle and use bike trailers and running buggies etc.

5, is it the Weber baby sling thing or a different one? I've got a Weber in the attic that we never used as we couldn't figure out a good way to attach it!

Btw glad to hear the cycling topic is getting used - that was my idea (under a namechange) and I was afraid it hadn't taken off too well, so have been scared to look!

The baby sling for the croozer is their own make thst goes specifically with their own trailers. There are other ones available but I was looking at their own one.

Thanks for that link mig, it reassured me that I'm not a complete nutcase to contemplate it! We take DS out about once a week at the moment for leisure so it's not like it will be a main mode of transport or anything and I don't think a once a week trip (probably less with newborn chaos added to it) is worth the expense of a trailer that would be suitable (as much as we both love a bit of kit!). We will probably just wait until she is big enough to go in a regular seat you can get out of halfords and have lots of lovely sling walks in the country this summer instead. Thanks everyone for the links/recommendations/responses.

Ah Ok, yes I seem to remember they make their own sling. It's a good make AFAIK and have seen a few reviews of it compared to the Burleys and so on. Will try and find a link but I imagine you have already seen a fair bit of gumph on the web about them

OP - best of luck!

ODog, i cycled with the baby in a sling (wrap thingy). When she was about one, I got her a seat and attached it to the bike. It's fine.