Biking with babies?

[Starter]

I love this forum and all the wonderful knowledge floating about!

So help!!

I'm trying to be as bad ass as I can.  I have 3 kiddos (5, 3 and new born).  I have no problems walking with all 3 but what about the longer distances?  My newborn can't sit up in a bike trailer.  And bike helmets for new borns don't exist.  If they do I'm sure it'd be $$$. And do I really want to buy one that will only last 3 months?  Can I just strap the new born to me and bike?  That sounds really unsafe/inappropriate.

What do all you bad ass parents do/suggest?

[MsRichLife]

I love this forum and all the wonderful knowledge floating about!

So help!!

I'm trying to be as bad ass as I can.  I have 3 kiddos (5, 3 and new born).  I have no problems walking with all 3 but what about the longer distances?  My newborn can't sit up in a bike trailer.  And bike helmets for new borns don't exist.  If they do I'm sure it'd be $$$. And do I really want to buy one that will only last 3 months?  Can I just strap the new born to me and bike?  That sounds really unsafe/inappropriate.

What do all you bad ass parents do/suggest?

I personally wouldn't strap a newborn to me while biking. Two big crashes for me over the last two weekends have confirmed I'm not totally safe on a bike.

I have heard of people who have strapped their infant into a carseat which is strapped into a bike trailer. I don't know the details though.

[Mule Mama]

Holla for badassity in parenting! I've been working on this idea of family biking lately also, and I've come up with two solutions.
The first one is the dutch cargo bike. The upside is that this bike can transport four kids plus groceries! The downside is that it is ridiculously expensive. I assume a family sells a minivan and replaces it with this bike. People place their newborns in a MaxiCosi (most popular European baby seat) and put the seat in the cargo hold. The few companies that produce these bikes, called bakfiets, are mostly located in the Netherlands, where they are much more popular. There are bike shops in Brooklyn, Boston, Portland, & Chicago (and maybe others?) that import and assemble them, and I'm working now on figuring out shipping. You can also add an electric assist and make this an eBike, which I will strongly consider if we do buy or make one, since the load will be 200+ pounds. My biking muscles are not that badass yet.

Workcycles.com CargoBike (Great FAQ included in this link): http://www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl/workcycles-faqs-overviews/overview-bakfiets-cargobike/
Brooklyn Rolling Orange Co that imports: http://rollingorangebikes.com/cargobikes/bakfiets-nl/ $4200 with electric pedal assist

There is a great Instructables about how to make your own cargo bike. This involves welding. Welding your own frame would be much less expensive. I'm considering time involved versus cost. We are living in urban Japan right now, so I don't have access to tools and supplies, but when we move back home to the Midwest next spring, I'm thinking about it...

Instructables on how to build your own cargo bike (welding required): http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-build-a-cargo-bike/

Obviously, building your own is way more badass. At the moment I’m focusing on building my mothering muscles by expanding my capacity to parent more children for longer hours in a foreign country away from my support network & family. I did, however, finally figure out how to rent an eBike with childseat last week, so we’re leasing one for $30 US a month, and it’s working out pretty well. My 2 year old sits in the front child seat in front of the handlebars, and I wear my 9 month old in an Ergo carrier on my back. When he is big enough (they say 12 months here in Japan), I can upgrade my bike model to a two seat kind with an extra seat on the back. I’ll lose my grocery basket space, though.

Good luck with the biking! Let me know if you figure out any other good solutions!

[Anz]

We are in a similar situation. One solution we are considering is a Madsen bike, madsencycles.com. They can seat four children in the back. They are $1650. You probably could put an infant car seat in the back. Someone suggested putting those helmet for reshaping baby's head to avoid flack from other people for not having a helmet on the baby who is in a car seat.

[tofuchampion]

Babies are actually not supposed to be in a bike trailer or baby bike seat until they're 12 months, and it's illegal in many states before that age.  Before that, they don't have the muscle tone to keep their heads up with a helmet on, the jostling can cause brain injuries, etc.  The effects of all those little bumps add up.

see also:  http://www.bhsi.org/little1s.htm

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Babies are actually not supposed to be in a bike trailer or baby bike seat until they're 12 months, and it's illegal in many states before that age.  Before that, they don't have the muscle tone to keep their heads up with a helmet on, the jostling can cause brain injuries, etc.  The effects of all those little bumps add up.

see also:  http://www.bhsi.org/little1s.htm

I've heard that, and we largely followed it. But don't Dutch kids go on bikes almost from birth? I am not aware of  massive epidemic of brain injuries in Amsterdam. Some of the fancy trailer brands make "baby snuggler" devices for babies as young as 6 months--might be worth looking into in the spring. Then the three-year-old could ride in a bike seat. (We've never tried using both, but we have the rack for a rear-mounted seat and it does not interfere with installing the trailer.)

So... wait several months is my vote. That will give you time to look for a secondhand baby-size helmet. I know people say not to buy used helmets, but c'mon... previous baby would hardly even have used it!

[AllChoptUp]

We are in a similar situation. One solution we are considering is a Madsen bike, madsencycles.com. They can seat four children in the back. They are $1650. You probably could put an infant car seat in the back. Someone suggested putting those helmet for reshaping baby's head to avoid flack from other people for not having a helmet on the baby who is in a car seat.

Do it Anz!  I just talked about my Madsen in MuleMama's recent thread.  They put them on sale periodically...ours was $1400 last year. 

If we had another child my husband would take kid #1 in the Madsen and I would strap the infant in his/her car seat to the cargo basket on an adult trike.

[Kmp2]

I'll share this again, because I love it!
http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/2011/02/oh-baby.html

They don't put helmets on their kids in Europe, so they don't have to have strong enough neck support to hold up a head and a helmet, they also go slower, and have cycle tracks that don't have curbs to go up/down on etc.. It is also a smoother ride on the bicycle then in the trailer. So if you do want to cycle with an infant (personally I love the picture of the guy cycling with the baby in the ergo).. beware of bumps. I wanted to strap my daughter into the trailer in her baby carseat, but we didn't get around to a buying a trailer until winter last year. Perhaps I will be doing this with my second.

I have also seen these long tail cargo bikes, and am considering one of these instead of a bakfiet. If I can proove to myself this winter that I can at least commute by myself through the -30 days... I missed last week because of 35cm of snow, and the risk of falling tree branches so not off to a good start. Although a bakfiet does seem to have more options for weather protection for the kiddos..

http://yubabikes.com/cargo-bikes/mundo/what-do-you-want-to-do/

[CheapskateWife]

(Sheepishly raises hand at thought that she might have potentially broken the law)

OK, so think about that MMM post about the illusion of safety being very expensive.  Fellow was on to something....

We bungee'd our youngest in his infant carseat, and placed additional rolled towels around the little bugger's head in order to reduce any potential jostling.  It worked beautifully, and we didn't have anything fancy, just the Walmart trailer we bought 8 years ago.  Of course I wasn't going very fast, and we used all the blinky lights we could find on the back of the trailer.  You could even get one of those yellow triangle "baby on board" signs to make sure folks give you lots of leeway.

Now, for including the 3&5 year olds, perhaps the 5 yr old could ride behind you pedaling a tag-a-long and the  two little ones in a trailer hooked up to that.  Don't laugh...I've totally done it :)

[CheapskateWife]

Oh, and kudos to you OP for even considering it!

[AllChoptUp]

I'll share this again, because I love it!
http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/2011/02/oh-baby.html

They don't put helmets on their kids in Europe, so they don't have to have strong enough neck support to hold up a head and a helmet, they also go slower, and have cycle tracks that don't have curbs to go up/down on etc.. It is also a smoother ride on the bicycle then in the trailer. So if you do want to cycle with an infant (personally I love the picture of the guy cycling with the baby in the ergo).. beware of bumps. I wanted to strap my daughter into the trailer in her baby carseat, but we didn't get around to a buying a trailer until winter last year. Perhaps I will be doing this with my second.

I have also seen these long tail cargo bikes, and am considering one of these instead of a bakfiet. If I can proove to myself this winter that I can at least commute by myself through the -30 days... I missed last week because of 35cm of snow, and the risk of falling tree branches so not off to a good start. Although a bakfiet does seem to have more options for weather protection for the kiddos..

http://yubabikes.com/cargo-bikes/mundo/what-do-you-want-to-do/

Ooo, love that Nihola! 

[markstache]

For our son, we waited about 6 months and then put in him in a car seat (no helmet) strapped into a pull behind trailer. For our daughter, we waited until 9 months, when her neck seemed strong enough to support a helmet so that she could sit in the trailer with her brother. The kids are now almost 4 and 2, respectively, and ride on the back of a Bike Friday Haul-A-Day. We picked this particular cargo bike as it has some adjustability, allowing my wife and me to share the bike.

[step-through]

We waited a whole year with baby #1 and it was very frustrating. When #2 was due, I found a second-hand bakfiets on Craigslist. About 4 hours away, we ended up paying $1200 for it plus the cost of driving to get it. But it is soooo worth it!!! We postponed replacing our nearly dead car for an extra year as a result and offset enough trips that I think we are breaking even. Plus the value to my health and such. The previous owner had installed two clamps in it that are compatible with the LATCH system for carseats. Our infant seat fits in it perfectly. We took slow short trips for the first 4 months until her neck got stronger. Now we commute and everything...

A baby in a carseat should not wear a helmet; the carseat serves the protective function much more effectively. You could put one in a trailer although they bounce much more due to their small wheels and single axle. Our state law says that children under 1 year have to be in a trailer or infant carrier. I have seen someone with a baby in a back carrier but I'm not comfortable doing that.

Once they reach about 9 months you can start putting them in a handlebar mounted seat (Ibert, Bobike mini, Yepp mini) with a helmet. I found a helmet on the Specialized website that went down to a smaller head diameter. When ours is big enough to ride without the carseat I will have them both on the bench seat in the bakfiets. It has 2 seatbelts.

[Starter]

Thank you all for the awesome feedback!

Now, for including the 3&5 year olds, perhaps the 5 yr old could ride behind you pedaling a tag-a-long and the  two little ones in a trailer hooked up to that.  Don't laugh...I've totally done it :)

I just may do this too.  My 5 year old is a fantastic biker (keeps up with me and husband on his own bike, and even rides without training wheels) but for hilly or really long distances this is an option I never thought of.  Thank you!