recommendations

dublinlady

Hi I have a 10 month old and a 2 year old. we want to bring them cycling with us. im looking for information on child seats and helmets.
I think i am going for the hamax smiley childseat from chain reaction cycles?
helmets im confused about as lots of the websites just say for kids but ive no idea will they fit my two girls? i assume there is plenty helmets for this young age group?
anything else that we might need or should we be good with that? i was just planning on having a back pack of the rest of the essentials.
also our bikes dont have carriers - not sure if that matters - those seats say not.
All advice welcome. id imagine our cycles would be 30 mins tops, maybe to somewhere and 30 back so they wouldnt be in them too long either?
actually id say a helmet with a peak would help keep the sun out of their eyes ... if such a thing exists for a toddler and baby!

reallyunique

Helmets: for a 10 mth old in a child seat a Hemel may not be required. The child is strapped in with the seat back most likely protecting their head. If you do decide to go the helmet route I'd recommend going to a shop (Eurocycles?) and try them on. They are worse than useless if improperly sized or used.

I'd recommend getting a rack and pannier for bringing the kids stuff. There can be a lot of gear and having it on your back can be uncomfortable. Don't forget that you've got a child in the seat behind you so straps etc are just begging to be tugged by a bored two year old
Panniers fit more than a backpack and can be a lot more flexible. You can get cheap ones that you can leave on the bike, ones that turn into rucksacks or shoulder bags. The possibilities are endless SJS Panniers
Just make sure the rack will allow you to mount the pannier low enough to clear the lower part of the child seat.

Hope this helps.

dublinlady

reallyunique wrote: »

Helmets: for a 10 mth old in a child seat a Hemel may not be required. The child is strapped in with the seat back most likely protecting their head. If you do decide to go the helmet route I'd recommend going to a shop (Eurocycles?) and try them on. They are worse than useless if improperly sized or used.

I'd recommend getting a rack and pannier for bringing the kids stuff. There can be a lot of gear and having it on your back can be uncomfortable. Don't forget that you've got a child in the seat behind you so straps etc are just begging to be tugged by a bored two year old
Panniers fit more than a backpack and can be a lot more flexible. You can get cheap ones that you can leave on the bike, ones that turn into rucksacks or shoulder bags. The possibilities are endless SJS Panniers
Just make sure the rack will allow you to mount the pannier low enough to clear the lower part of the child seat.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that, great help. I don't think I'd be able relax without helmet on her - even tho not sure it would totall protect her during a topple anyway!
Wouldn't have thought about the bag being pulled at - when u say it it's so obvious. Will have a look at those panniers and find something suitable. Thanks a mill!

moonshadow

So obvious and good advice , well done.

bambergbike

I would think about a trailer. For two main reasons:

(1) With a trailer, one adult can transport two children. It's nice to still have the option of cycling even when only one of you is free and you have two children in need of a lift.

(2) With a trailer, you can transport two little bikes as well as two kids. That makes for a lot of flexibility - you can have four people cycling, or two people cycling and two people having a snooze in their trailers or looking at their books or chatting to each other or looking out at the scenery or just generally taking a bit of a break from cycling. You can also continue to use a trailer for hauling shopping in a few years time when the kids are accompanying you to the shops on their own bikes.

My sister has a child seat. In theory it can recline to provide more support to a sleeping child; in practice you don't want to stop and adjust it once the child is already asleep in case you wake them up. Her bike also has quite a high crossbar. I find that it takes a certain amount of athleticism to swing my leg over the bar without kicking the passenger in the teeth.

I have a child trailer myself. It's quite an old one and no longer in service for transporting people, but I have been very impressed with how easy and convenient it is for hauling loads.

JC 3.14159

I'd second the trailer suggestion. It's far easier to cycle with a trailer (even loaded up) than with a child seat. Also much easier to load the kids.

Something like this will not cost much more than 2 Hamax seats + rack + panniers, and it will be far more useful. As said above, you can bring bikes/scooters/picnics etc in the back if you cycle to the park. With bike seats you can't do much once you get there. Most trailers can convert to buggies fairly easily (not sure if the one in the link includes a buggy wheel though).

Trailers can be got a lot cheaper, but the better ones tend to have better seats and straps which stop small kids flopping around when they sleep.

I have one of the Hamax sleepy seats. It's ok, but even tilted back a child's head tends to flop forward when they nod off.

If you go the child seat route, the backpack may not even fit (it'll be in the child's face). The only way to avoid this is to shove the seat back all the way on its rails, but this makes bike handling even more unstable.

slideshow bob

You have the right idea - 30 mins to some place they'll enjoy and 30mins back is a good trip.

A trailer is a good, flexible option for the ages your youngsters are. I wouldn't put a helmet on either if they're in the trailer and you're sensible about how and where you cycle. Make sure the towing bike has enough gears for the trips you're going to make. It can be tough pulling a trailer up any kind of incline, especially if you've packed it with children, food, raincoats, blankets, flasks, suncream, wellies, swimming togs, and enough spare clothes to keep an Alaskan village warm. But then again, you might not be as enthusiastic as my wife was to cover every eventuality.

When they're a bit bigger the child seats and then the trailer bikes are great stepping stones as they head towards independent cycling.