After a bit of initial research on biking with babies, I was somewhat resigned to spending the first nine to twelve months postpartum traveling either by foot, p-trans, or car, except for the rare occasions I ventured out without baby. The idea that a young infant could not be safely transported by bicycle, when we give no thought to putting them in cars, seemed quite ludicrous to me, but I couldn’t find much information on safe options.
Then I saw the “Cycling with Children” post on Simply Bike, which inspired me to dig a little deeper. The author and I are both pregnant with our firsts, and we’re at about the same stage in our pregnancies. S linked to an article in Momentum magazine, which featured this great quote:
Todd Litman, founder and executive director of the Victoria Transportation Policy Institute. who started cycling with his oldest son when he was just days old, addressed the risk. He said: “There is no reason why, if a child is able to be carried in a car, they shouldn’t be able to be carried in a bicycle trailer. A lot of people overlook the risks and stresses associated with driving, but make a big deal about bicycling.”
Finally, a voice of reason! Now the question is not if, but how. So far, these resources seem helpful:
- “Baby on a Bicycle?” from TotCycle
- “Family Biking Ages and Stages,” also from TotCycle
- “About Cargobikes,” from Chicargobike
- A few posts on biking with babies from Girls and Bicycles: here, here, and here.
And there is a decent chance a new bike purchase may be in our future, as most sources recommend some form of cargo bike rather than just adding a trailer to a regular bicycle.
Three cargo bikes I’m drooling over:
- Xtracycle Radish — most affordable of the three, but lacks the “cargo bin,” so I’m not quite sure how a car seat would work here.
- The Madsen
- Bakfiets CargoBike
I’m not 100% sold on a cargo bike over a trailer, and I still have lots of questions, but at least I’m more hopeful that baby and I can get around by bike this fall, which makes this mama-to-be quite happy 🙂
Update (March 2, 2013)
Check out these posts to see our current set-up for biking now that our little dude is part of the picture:
- When baby’s away, Mama plays
- The rubber hits the road
- Pastries in the park
- Maiden voyage (our new IBert front seat)
- Shoulda biked . . . and then we did
- Cool weather biking with baby
Her Green Life 