Transporting My Kid - The Chainlink2024-03-28T16:00:13Zhttps://thechainlink.org/forum/topics/transporting-my-kid?feed=yes&xn_auth=noDoes anyone have experience w…tag:thechainlink.org,2014-08-12:2211490:Comment:8480332014-08-12T16:43:22.839ZKathttps://thechainlink.org/profile/Kat770
<p>Does anyone have experience with a) infant sling for Chariot or b) installing a car seat in a Chariot? I have a 3 mo old and I'd rather transport him and his 4 yo sis to daycare by bike. I've commuted with the older one from Ravenswood to Loop so I have experience in the commute, just not doing it with a weak-necked infant.</p>
<p>Does anyone have experience with a) infant sling for Chariot or b) installing a car seat in a Chariot? I have a 3 mo old and I'd rather transport him and his 4 yo sis to daycare by bike. I've commuted with the older one from Ravenswood to Loop so I have experience in the commute, just not doing it with a weak-necked infant.</p> So here's little Dot at 7 mon…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-06-02:2211490:Comment:3463872011-06-02T22:38:47.185ZRob Sullivanhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/robsullivan
<p>So here's little Dot at 7 months just arriving at school. I ended up with a lightly used instep quick'n lite trailer from a co-worker. Right now you're asking yourself, "how could you possibly put someone so tender in a device with such a horribly spelled name?" I justify it by saying by the time she's spelling we'll have moved on to something with a bit more respect for the language. Anyway, we went with the Burley trailer seat to provide additional padding and support. Sadly the…</p>
<p>So here's little Dot at 7 months just arriving at school. I ended up with a lightly used instep quick'n lite trailer from a co-worker. Right now you're asking yourself, "how could you possibly put someone so tender in a device with such a horribly spelled name?" I justify it by saying by the time she's spelling we'll have moved on to something with a bit more respect for the language. Anyway, we went with the Burley trailer seat to provide additional padding and support. Sadly the padding makes use of a helmet impossible as it would force her head too far forward, but the trailer's cage structure should provide protection if we roll and a helmet ain't going to do much to stop a car bumper anyway. Once she's big enough to ride w/o the extra padding the helmet will come into the mix. All in all it adds about 10 minutes to the front end of the trip but ends up saving me at least 10 minutes of commute time overall and we're both a lot happier than we were in the car. Thanks for the input everybody!</p>
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<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/35236376?profile=original"><img width="721" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/35236376?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721"/></a></p> Speaking of sharing advice on…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-01-31:2211490:Comment:2888932011-01-31T16:39:33.658ZGinhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/Gin
<p>Speaking of sharing advice on transporting kids. . . I am organizing a presentation during the 2/26 Cycle Swap on Living Car Free (and Car Light) with Children. See promo text below. . .</p>
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<p>I seek folks who can be part of the presentation--ideally we would hear from parents who are experienced with all ages of kids (I mostly run with the preK set for now). This will also be a great chance to just meet other biking families. We are looking at the 1:15-2pm timeslot--I will know…</p>
<p>Speaking of sharing advice on transporting kids. . . I am organizing a presentation during the 2/26 Cycle Swap on Living Car Free (and Car Light) with Children. See promo text below. . .</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I seek folks who can be part of the presentation--ideally we would hear from parents who are experienced with all ages of kids (I mostly run with the preK set for now). This will also be a great chance to just meet other biking families. We are looking at the 1:15-2pm timeslot--I will know for sure later this week.</p>
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<p>Please email me at gin_kilgore at yahoo dot com if you can commit to being there. With enough people I imagine we can help out with watching our little ones during the presentation. Also, please help get the word out. I will create a chainlink event as soon as I know the timeslot is firm. Thanks!</p>
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<p>*****</p>
<p>Having kids does not mean you have to trade your bike in for a car. Local families will be on hand at the <strong>2011 Chicago Cycle Swap</strong> <b>on Feb 26</b> to share tips on raising transvelopedes, ie children who know how to get around by transit, biking and walking. Tricky issues such as keeping your cool while having to layer both you and your child for winter excursions will be addressed. This is just one of the many presentations scheduled for the Bike Swap.</p> We started both of our kids o…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-01-26:2211490:Comment:2864692011-01-26T05:02:32.149ZElizabethhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/Elizabeth251
<p>We started both of our kids out in front carriers at about 9 months, then ended up getting a <a href="http://www.rei.com/product/784644" target="_blank">topeak babyseat</a> for the extra suspension and ability to easily swap between bikes. With two kids we use both a rear seat and a front seat, first <a href="http://flickr.com/gp/fletzet/2X8Y7d" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">like this</a> and now <a href="http://flickr.com/gp/fletzet/VbN1q7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">like this</a>. …</p>
<p>We started both of our kids out in front carriers at about 9 months, then ended up getting a <a href="http://www.rei.com/product/784644" target="_blank">topeak babyseat</a> for the extra suspension and ability to easily swap between bikes. With two kids we use both a rear seat and a front seat, first <a rel="nofollow" href="http://flickr.com/gp/fletzet/2X8Y7d" target="_blank">like this</a> and now <a rel="nofollow" href="http://flickr.com/gp/fletzet/VbN1q7" target="_blank">like this</a>. The second setup is an <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.xtracycle.com/" target="_blank">xtracycle</a>d bike. We really like this set up, as it allows us to carry both kids and their bikes, as well as supplies, on a single bike. They can get on and off depending on how safe our route is and their energy levels, and one parent can take both kids. It's also just amazing how much stuff you can fit on that bike, say on a trip to Costco...</p>
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<p>I really like a front carrier for young kids. It's nice to be able to talk to them and reassure them when they're not yet verbal. They have a really good view of what's going on. Both kids loved to point out Bus! Bike! etc when they weren't loud enough to communicate anything from the rear but a screaming protest, and we really enjoyed sharing the ride with them that way.</p>
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<p>Biking on streets with my kids out of sight and down low to the ground (i.e. in a trailer) makes me uneasy. This is probably purely in my own head, but it's why we never went the trailer route.</p>
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<p>Oh, there's a relatively new website called Outdoor Baby Network: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://outdoorbabynetwork.com/" target="_blank">http://outdoorbabynetwork.com/</a> </p>
For parents discuss issues related to doing outdoor activities with babies, toddlers, kids. Another place to brainstorm, if you're interested. Hi:
We started riding with…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-01-26:2211490:Comment:2865172011-01-26T01:51:44.338ZSuzihttps://thechainlink.org/profile/Suzi
<p>Hi:</p>
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<p>We started riding with our daughter at 3 months old as our dear friend, Christophe Wallace, outfitted our Burley Solo Trailer to fit her infant car seat. She was snug and secure. Chris works at REI and co-owns creative changes in Oak Park. I am sure he'd be willing to tell you how he did this. Tell him Suzi, Bill and Lily sent you.</p>
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<p>The infant seat was great in the trailer--completely Secure and steady. We used that in the trailer until she was 1,…</p>
<p>Hi:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We started riding with our daughter at 3 months old as our dear friend, Christophe Wallace, outfitted our Burley Solo Trailer to fit her infant car seat. She was snug and secure. Chris works at REI and co-owns creative changes in Oak Park. I am sure he'd be willing to tell you how he did this. Tell him Suzi, Bill and Lily sent you.</p>
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<p>The infant seat was great in the trailer--completely Secure and steady. We used that in the trailer until she was 1, then the trailer alone, now she is in a bike seat with helmet. I found helmets did not fit until she was 2, but we were comfy with her in the steel cage of the trailer until then. </p>
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<p>The child bike seat is a co-pilot limo that we love. I will admit we stick to trail or rural road riding only with our daughter, but we do this quite a lot--most weekends from April--November, 20-40 miles at a time. We are not really comfy riding her in the city yet, but may attempt the short trek on sidestreets to school next fall. Contact me for more advice. </p>
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<p>BTW, we are also cross country skiers and used the Burley Solo for this, too. It has skis! We used it both with and without the infant seat. We will proudly show you our trailer, too. Cheers, Suzi</p> Thanks everybody for all of t…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-01-25:2211490:Comment:2867182011-01-25T23:06:31.990ZRob Sullivanhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/robsullivan
<p>Thanks everybody for all of the great suggestions and links. Seems like the obvious solution is for me to move the family to New Portland (hey come on, I grew up in Maine) since it's a blogging biker's paradise! Regardless of what the Mrs and I come up with it probably won't happen until April due to temp and surface quality concerns, but I'll update here eventually.</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Rob</p>
<p><br></br><cite>jennifer james said:…</cite></p>
<p>Thanks everybody for all of the great suggestions and links. Seems like the obvious solution is for me to move the family to New Portland (hey come on, I grew up in Maine) since it's a blogging biker's paradise! Regardless of what the Mrs and I come up with it probably won't happen until April due to temp and surface quality concerns, but I'll update here eventually.</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Rob</p>
<p><br/><cite>jennifer james said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/transporting-my-kid?id=2211490%3ATopic%3A285303&page=2#2211490Comment286380"><div><p>oops-Sorry for the hastily written bad there and and punctuation! That's also we not WE.</p>
<p>I think that the views of the smaller kids in car seats in the cargo bikes on bakfiets en meer are interesting. We did get a maxi-cosi( a kind of seat but when they say maxi-cosi there they pretty much mean any baby car seat) and used it with our third in the cargo bike a bit but very strapped in on the floor backwards as you see in Bakfiets en meer. We did not really have enough room for it and two other kids and mostly used the bobike mini once the smallest was about 8-9 mos. A nice thing about a baby in front is you get to visit with them a little while you ride but I think the back seats work just fine. The i-bert reclines a bit more than the bobike mini. You child's daycare might let you stash your trailer there when the time comes which would save you the extra trip!</p>
<p>Good Luck! As Gin mentions there are lots of parents out - the Kiddical Mass in Palmer Square (which Ash organizes) is a fun place to meet riding families in one place in winter. You could just come and meet some folks and check out some of their rigs. Kevin at Boulevard Bikes and Justyna at Rapid Transit are parents that ride and they would also probably have some great suggestions. Hope to see you out on the road- J.<br/><cite>jennifer james said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/transporting-my-kid?id=2211490%3ATopic%3A285303&page=2#2211490Comment286018"><div><p>Hi Rob- </p>
<p>Congratulations. We've ridden with a couple of different kinds of seats on the front and back with the guys when they were really small. WE started around 9 ms. Our youngest is a two year old now. We had good luck with a bobike mini seat, iberts look good too. Gin has a cool seat she got at Boulevard Bikes with a hood- we used a trailer but I think she has good advice on those especially in winter. We ride out from the Nr. West Side most of the itme and their are lots of quiet ways to gt in and out to up by Union Station.</p>
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</blockquote> oops-Sorry for the hastily wr…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-01-24:2211490:Comment:2863802011-01-24T06:20:05.414Zjennifer jameshttps://thechainlink.org/profile/jenniferjames
<p>oops-Sorry for the hastily written bad there and and punctuation! That's also we not WE.</p>
<p>I think that the views of the smaller kids in car seats in the cargo bikes on bakfiets en meer are interesting. We did get a maxi-cosi( a kind of seat but when they say maxi-cosi there they pretty much mean any baby car seat) and used it with our third in the cargo bike a bit but very strapped in on the floor backwards as you see in Bakfiets en meer. We did not really have enough room for it and…</p>
<p>oops-Sorry for the hastily written bad there and and punctuation! That's also we not WE.</p>
<p>I think that the views of the smaller kids in car seats in the cargo bikes on bakfiets en meer are interesting. We did get a maxi-cosi( a kind of seat but when they say maxi-cosi there they pretty much mean any baby car seat) and used it with our third in the cargo bike a bit but very strapped in on the floor backwards as you see in Bakfiets en meer. We did not really have enough room for it and two other kids and mostly used the bobike mini once the smallest was about 8-9 mos. A nice thing about a baby in front is you get to visit with them a little while you ride but I think the back seats work just fine. The i-bert reclines a bit more than the bobike mini. You child's daycare might let you stash your trailer there when the time comes which would save you the extra trip!</p>
<p>Good Luck! As Gin mentions there are lots of parents out - the Kiddical Mass in Palmer Square (which Ash organizes) is a fun place to meet riding families in one place in winter. You could just come and meet some folks and check out some of their rigs. Kevin at Boulevard Bikes and Justyna at Rapid Transit are parents that ride and they would also probably have some great suggestions. Hope to see you out on the road- J.<br/><cite>jennifer james said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/transporting-my-kid?id=2211490%3ATopic%3A285303&page=2#2211490Comment286018"><div><p>Hi Rob- </p>
<p>Congratulations. We've ridden with a couple of different kinds of seats on the front and back with the guys when they were really small. WE started around 9 ms. Our youngest is a two year old now. We had good luck with a bobike mini seat, iberts look good too. Gin has a cool seat she got at Boulevard Bikes with a hood- we used a trailer but I think she has good advice on those especially in winter. We ride out from the Nr. West Side most of the itme and their are lots of quiet ways to gt in and out to up by Union Station.</p>
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</blockquote> Hi Rob-
Congratulations. We'…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-01-23:2211490:Comment:2860182011-01-23T20:32:19.453Zjennifer jameshttps://thechainlink.org/profile/jenniferjames
<p>Hi Rob- </p>
<p>Congratulations. We've ridden with a couple of different kinds of seats on the front and back with the guys when they were really small. WE started around 9 ms. Our youngest is a two year old now. We had good luck with a bobike mini seat, iberts look good too. Gin has a cool seat she got at Boulevard Bikes with a hood- we used a trailer but I think she has good advice on those especially in winter. We ride out from the Nr. West Side most of the itme and their are lots of…</p>
<p>Hi Rob- </p>
<p>Congratulations. We've ridden with a couple of different kinds of seats on the front and back with the guys when they were really small. WE started around 9 ms. Our youngest is a two year old now. We had good luck with a bobike mini seat, iberts look good too. Gin has a cool seat she got at Boulevard Bikes with a hood- we used a trailer but I think she has good advice on those especially in winter. We ride out from the Nr. West Side most of the itme and their are lots of quiet ways to gt in and out to up by Union Station.</p> Hi. I'm a pediatrician and bi…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-01-23:2211490:Comment:2860132011-01-23T19:19:07.477ZAllen Wrenchhttps://thechainlink.org/profile/AWrench
<p>Hi. I'm a pediatrician and bicyclist so I'm drawn in two directions here. From the pediatrician point of view, a kid who is too young to hold their head up well, generally at 6 months of age, is too small to take on a bike. That is pretty standard advice and it has good evidence to support it. Officially, that is the only answer. When you do take them, use a helmet approved for kids that size. Bell and Giro make some, and at last check Nutcase helmets fit babies but were not approved down to…</p>
<p>Hi. I'm a pediatrician and bicyclist so I'm drawn in two directions here. From the pediatrician point of view, a kid who is too young to hold their head up well, generally at 6 months of age, is too small to take on a bike. That is pretty standard advice and it has good evidence to support it. Officially, that is the only answer. When you do take them, use a helmet approved for kids that size. Bell and Giro make some, and at last check Nutcase helmets fit babies but were not approved down to such a young age, though I think they were working on that.</p>
<p>On the other hand, we take babies in cars all the time and there are wheeled and pedaled things that can be made as safe as that, I think. Once you're up to 6 months of age there are a lot of options which include baby seats, trailers, cargo bikes and more. There are a lot of people here with lots of experience and good advice that's already been written.</p>
<p>Before 6 months if you are willing to ignore the official pediatric advice and try anyway, you'll need something that will hold a standard baby car seat securely (the almost lying down kind) and not fall down ever, like a trike or trailer. I don't like trailers but many people do. You can fit a baby seat into many two wheeled cargo bikes, too, if you are willing to take the risk of the bike falling over. We were, and we used a Bakfiets Long with good results. The local dealer is Dutch Bike on Armitage. I think JC Lind on Wells has at least one thing that you can mount a seat in, a trike with a box, and there's a Winther trike he carries too that might adapt to hold a baby seat. I'm not sure what Copenhagen has now but they theoretically are a Christiania dealer. Another site with good kid carrying and links is run by the major dutch bike wholesaler but good anyway, bakfiets-en-meer.nl, and Dr Mekon at bakfiets.uk has a few posts too. Look at Clever Cycles in Portland, OR's site too for info - most of their stuff is carried here in Chicago by local dealers too.</p>
<p>Don't be tempted to cut corners and try putting a little baby on a bike that's not safe enough - there's plenty of time to ride your kid on the bike in the months and years to come. </p> I am new to biking with kids…tag:thechainlink.org,2011-01-23:2211490:Comment:2861742011-01-23T06:04:14.744ZSarah Ghttps://thechainlink.org/profile/SarahGraff
<p>I am new to biking with kids and biking in winter so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. My daughter loved riding in her bike seat on the back of my bike (except when it was raining). I agonized over what to do for winter and for her imminent growth. I looked at a lot of stuff online and talked to a lot of people. In the end, like Clare, I decided to buy a new Burley, but I bought a Bee. It is really easy to use, lightweight, in the cheaper range, and it also fits two kids. My…</p>
<p>I am new to biking with kids and biking in winter so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. My daughter loved riding in her bike seat on the back of my bike (except when it was raining). I agonized over what to do for winter and for her imminent growth. I looked at a lot of stuff online and talked to a lot of people. In the end, like Clare, I decided to buy a new Burley, but I bought a Bee. It is really easy to use, lightweight, in the cheaper range, and it also fits two kids. My daughter loves it. I do not have a place to store it while she is in daycare but I did buy these motorcycle handcuff locks that are (I hope) more secure than the cable locks.</p>
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<p>If you can, I would get a seat for your bike and also a trailer. Its great to have those options for yourself but also for your child. I think they like to be up high and part of the action but also sheltered when its cold or rainy.</p>
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<p>Many people told me, and I now understand what they meant, that you need to just try things and see what works best for you and your child. Definitely talk to a lot of people about their experiences and read the blogs but also see if you can experiment. If you know someone who has a trailer see if you can try it out, for example. Sometimes stores will let you try out the equipment too. I was really worried about using a trailer until I finally gave it a try!</p>
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<p>Good luck!</p>