How far can you ride with a baby?

[Kiwi Stoker]

I am pregnant with my first child and I want some realistic advice here.

DH and I love cycling and we really love riding our tandem. However we now live in a different country to both of our parents (been here for a little over a year) so we don't have instant babysitters.

I was wondering how far can you realistically cycle with a 9 month+ baby in a baby seat on the rear.

Here's the conditions we would cycle-

Baby would have to be well and not sick
Weather would have to be suitable
We mainly ride off-road concrete bike paths at the moment anyway so we don't go very fast anymore, plus also don't do steep decscents
We currently are coffee shop breakers. We normally ride 20-30km and stop for coffee and snacks.
We normally do a total distance of 60-80km in one ride (so possibly stop twice or more).
I currently wear a Camelbak so am OK to wear a larger Camelbak to stash baby stuff.

So am I mad to think about riding with a baby so young? I realise we might have to slowly build up distance and time so the baby can get used to it. Or are we simply best to find a babysitter and leave baby off the bike until much older?

We have vetoed a trailer for the tandem as it makes it just too long and some of the bike paths have nasty chichane things to get through.

[lph]

Sorry, we only used a trailer (with great success, I should add, he slept like... well, a baby). But as I recollect the general advice was: don't put your baby in a seat until she can sit by herself, and don't have her there longer than she could sit by herself otherwise. Suspension is also an issue. Babies have big huge heavy heads and weak necks to hold it all up with. So I think realistically you're looking at less than an hour at a time, at gentle speed on non-bumpy roads. Trailers are better for babies, at least the ones that are large enough to put a reclining seat in.

They do get bigger and stronger very fast, though, so I wouldn't despair if this sounds like very little. A small child, 1-3 years old, can handle bike rides a lot better.

How about hiking instead? You can get baby carriers than can be used for very small babies that support their heads well. Worth considering for those first months?

[shootingstar]

Nothing to add here, except congrats.! May it all go well.

[velo]

First of all, congratulations!!

I couldn't ride at all for years. I had to take a break from cycling. It's less up to us as parents and more up to the child's temperament. They don't often conform to what we want, especially as babes in arms. The funny thing was that I had planned all this stuff and it just went out the window the moment I became a mother. She had other plans. All for the better... being a mom is eleventy times better than any bicycle. :) I wouldn't ride with a small child, anyway, as mentioned above. Their necks are so, so weak for the first few years. Even a mild jolt could cause problems.

I will say that we ascribe to the rearing philosophy of Attachment Parenting, which has proven to be very successful for our now 11 year old. Without a doubt, that had an influence on my activities, including riding.

Best of luck!

[Irulan]

Trailers are much safer and more comfortable for the baby. They can nap with more support to their neck and whole body. You can also bring more toys snacks diapers whatever along.

[Melalvai]

Unfortunately I didn't start biking a lot until my daughter was a preteen. And I don't know a lot of parents who bike with babies. I wish I could offer more advice. My understanding is it can be done safely and conveniently, and that you have to be flexible, as with everything with babies. Whether you wait a year until the baby is old enough for the bike seat, or get a trailer, I think it would be a lot of fun. The other advantage of a trailer is you can put the baby bag in there. I have heard that in the US trailers aren't rated for babies less than a year old but in other countries the same trailer is rated for <1 yr old.

[Catrin]

No advice but many, many CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

[Crankin]

Congrats!
But please re-think the trailer. It is just safer.
And don't let anyone tell you life stops when you have a baby. It only does if you let it. I sincerely wish I had done all of the outdoor stuff I do now, with my kids, from an early age.

[pll]

Trailers are much safer and more comfortable for the baby. They can nap with more support to their neck and whole body. You can also bring more toys snacks diapers whatever along.

Let me just add something from watching some friends of mine: kids fall asleep easily, making neck support a bigger issue. My friends took their oldest kid in a bike seat as toddlers. Within less than 2 hours, the kid was asleep.

[Irulan]

more on the backseat safety issue... I missed at first that you want to put a baby seat on the back of the tandem... Let me ask you this, have you ever ridden the tandem with 15-30 pounds of dead weight on the way back? It's hard enough for single person to hold the bike up when putting a foot down with that on the back, let alone the captain of the tandem dealing with it. Yikes!
If the tandem is non negotiable, what about a wee ride Kangaroo? http://www.weeride.com/
These things are awesome. We used similar with our kids before trailers were out. The kid is out front, not looking at your butt all day. The center of gravity is much more stable, and they are closer to a parents voice and face.

[tealtreak]

Congrats!
But please re-think the trailer. It is just safer.
And don't let anyone tell you life stops when you have a baby. It only does if you let it. I sincerely wish I had done all of the outdoor stuff I do now, with my kids, from an early age.


Ditto on this thought- though I (luckily or crazily) did lots of hiking, camping and paddling with my kids as they were growing up- as well as being gym rats in bad weather. It was often kid oriented -toned down versions (especially backpacking and biking) but SO worth it! My kids and I now do fun outdoor stuff together for our entertainment/holidays/vacations! They are all old enough that they now push me (never let them know it haha)

[Crankin]

Well, I was a gym rat when my kids were really little, so at least they saw me exercising :). However, we did do a lot of nature walks, etc, and I taught them to x country ski when they were 6 and 8. However, when I look at the family activities AMC has, I think, wow, my kids would have loved that hiking, riding, etc.
Fortunately, they went to a Mass. Audubon overnight camp for years,from ages 10-14 and there they learned all of the outdoor skills I didn't teach them! They slept in a tent for 4-6 weeks, one became great kayaker and the other learned how to sail. It was such a down to earth camp. They are both super active adults, so I guess I did my job.

[Kiwi Stoker]

Thanks for all the support and advice. We do have single road bikes so I get DH back to looking at a trailer then. Our tandem will just have to take a bit of a holiday for a while. Cycling is such a big part of our lives- the places we ahve been and friends we have made, I really don't want to put it to one side if possible. On of the reasons we have delayed having children is because we were so heavily involved in cycling but over the last year we have gradually become less race orientated and just about enjoying ourselves so I knew it was possible. Plus living in a city with heaps of cycle paths and seeing other families out and about on them has made us more happy.

All the info on trailers and bike seats say that the child has to be 9 months or older, so I am not looking to start riding with bubs any earlier than that.

I guess I am looking for reassurance that I can still enjoy a cycle ride regularly and have a child at the same time. Because other ladies I have meet either stop riding entirely when the baby comes or have taken up riding after their children are older/left home.

[Irulan]

All the info on trailers and bike seats say that the child has to be 9 months or older, so I am not looking to start riding with bubs any earlier than that.

I guess I am looking for reassurance that I can still enjoy a cycle ride regularly and have a child at the same time. Because other ladies I have meet either stop riding entirely when the baby comes or have taken up riding after their children are older/left home.

Pfft on them. Sure taking kids out is more work, logarithmically so at times, but it's so worth it. We did the following with our kids: bike, hike, ski, backpack (yes I backpacked with babies, you want to talk a ton of work) camping, and multi day river trips.

A few years ago a family of five rode across the US. I think their "parade" lol included a tandem with a trailabike but I'm not sure. I bet one of our google wizards can find the link.

[lph]

Pfft on them. Sure taking kids out is more work, logarithmically so at times, but it's so worth it.

Oh, absolutely.

You will probably need to be flexible about what you do and how far you go, and all kids are different, of course, but there is no end to the outdoor activities you can do with kids. Some things we found were just not worth the hassle taking kids to, like rock climbing. Parents we knew did take their kids, and enjoyed it, but we were fairly focussed on climbing for exercise and training, and found it hard to enjoy an outing when we always had to be ready to go feed someone, or throw pine cones into a stream instead ;-) Hiking with kids was great fun, though.

[NbyNW]

Congratulations Kiwi Stoker!

I don't know the answer to your question because I'm just trying to figure it out myself. DS is 9 months old and weighs 15 pounds. Right now he is starting to get really mobile -- quite a bit of pre-crawling, so one consideration is that I do want to make sure he gets a significant amount of his own "playtime" so that he can move around and develop his motor skills. Spending hours confined in a baby carrier or a stroller or carseat or bike trailer might not be conducive to that.

Right now he will nap for 40+ minutes in the afternoon, in a stroller or strapped to me in a carrier, when I take the dog for his walk. If I didn't have to walk the dog I would probably be exploring some kind of bike trailer option right now. Also, he still needs to eat quite frequently. The logistics go something like this: feed (20-40 minutes), change diaper, feed myself and use restroom, change diaper again, get dressed for going outside if I'm not already, clean up mess that baby made while I was taking care of myself (latest trick is to overturn a pitcher of water that we keep on the coffee table - which means yet another new diaper and a new outfit), make sure diaper bag is stocked, bundle up baby and strap him to me, or carry stroller down steps and strap baby in. So by the time we are ready to start our walk we may have at most 1.5 hours before he needs to eat again. So when we are out I either need to find some place warm and dog-friendly where I can nurse the baby or I have to get home. Yesterday we had him out with us in central London for about 5 hours. He did okay, but didn't nap like he usually does, so that had repercussions for our evening routine.

So basically at this stage I could see doing short, < 2-hour rides with the baby. Of course this means I would need to go bike shopping, since I left all my bikes in the US.

One question I have about bike trailers is whether or not they allow a baby to sit rear-facing. For car seats it is recommended (required in some places) that kids sit rear-facing until at least 2 years of age, because of the neck stability issues that others have mentioned. Given that you could get up to a decent clip even trailing a fair amount of weight, I'm wondering if rear-facing might also be a good idea for bike trailers. I'm pretty sure I've only seen forward-facing on the street, but I haven't done a whole lot of research.

[lph]

We used a Burley Solo trailer and a small reclining car seat that we strapped securely to the base frame of the trailer. It could equally well have faced backwards, but since the seat reclines so much that he was practically lying down I doubt it would have made much difference. The car seat took so much space that a regular size seat wouldn't fit, though, so when he outgrew the small one we put him straight into the built-in trailer seat. Which was pretty hammocky and gave poor support, to tell you the truth, especially with a bike helmet stuck on top... I think I would just count on keeping to a safe speed.

One thing that we never bought but I really wish we had was the add-on single wheel thingy for older kids, where they can pedal for themselves or just sit and enjoy the ride. I think it would have been a blast to have!

[NbyNW]

One thing that we never bought but I really wish we had was the add-on single wheel thingy for older kids, where they can pedal for themselves or just sit and enjoy the ride. I think it would have been a blast to have!

Our neighbors back in Seattle had a custom-built triple tandem built for this purpose. Not sure how old the girl was when they got it -- maybe 6 to 8 -- and she is now a young teenager. She has grown quite a bit, but they have been able to adjust the bike to keep up with her!

[velo]

I guess I am looking for reassurance that I can still enjoy a cycle ride regularly and have a child at the same time. Because other ladies I have meet either stop riding entirely when the baby comes or have taken up riding after their children are older/left home.

I am sorry if I came across as negative in my last post. When I talk about babe's temperament, I was just saying that whatever we might plan, there is another brand new human with their own personality that may affect our "best laid plans". Nobody can give any reassurances because every baby is different. Any reassurance would be false. Unfortunately, you just have to wait and see.

I did have to stop riding entirely. I have a child that did and still kind of does, get sick from motion. It was extreme when she was younger. I won't bore you with details, but my riding plans went out the window for a few years when I became a mother because I couldn't take her with me (she'd scream and throw up) and I couldn't leave her (she was a marathon nurser).

I hear the same thing you are hearing - for a multitude of reasons (children who don't nap, are very active and won't sit still in a trailer or seat, nurse 'round the clock, etc.) riding has to be abandoned for a period of time. But boy are they worth it. I hope your child is one that naps well, doesn't nurse all the time, is not motion sick, and entertains him/herself well. Nobody told me this stuff and I was in for the surprise of my life. I wish someone had warned me that my ideal was likely not going to happen. :)

Now, I'm working on getting her brave enough to dive with me. Thought I'd get myself a dive buddy after 16 years or so, and now that we're a few years away from that, I find that she has NO interest in the water. Bummer. They do have their own ideas!!

Best of luck, but keep an open mind. And again, congratulations!!

ETA: She also didn't want to learn to ride a bike until she was 10 because of the motion sickness... so I REALLY had to change my plans! LOL!

[Crankin]

I really don't want to sound negative, etc., but ah, while it's understandable one couldn't ride with a child in a trailer because of all of the above things mentioned, what about just continuing riding alone, even if it's for short jaunts? While long rides and regular group stuff might be out for awhile, regular exercise is one thing that keeps away post partum depression and helps a mom keep her sanity and self-identity. Although I didn't ride when my kids were babies and young children, I did go to the gym 6 days a week. I was back there 3 weeks postpartum with both of them; it was my escape, if only for a little over an hour.
I know everyone's different, but I made a vow not to let having kids turn me into someone I wasn't. I know it sounds selfish to some, but I had a lot of experience taking care of babies and kids, as well as a few years of teaching experience when i had my first child, so I had a pretty clear idea of baby "stuff." DH and I made the decision that our relationship always came first in the family, and together, we would deal with the kid stuff. This worked for us, as we each maintained our lives apart from the family, but we had lots of fun while they grew up. I do sincerely regret that we didn't do the outdoor stuff with them, although all 4 of us developed these types of interests later. Both of my kids are awesome endurance type athletes as adults and enjoy hiking, camping, and swimming.
I just wish that I had strapped them into a backpack and gone hiking in AZ, instead of getting a sitter and going to the gym! Doing this kind of stuff just wasn't in my head, and I really wish it had been.
I just don't like it when prospective parents think that their life has to be over...

[velo]

I just don't like it when prospective parents think that their life has to be over...

Who said life has to be over? It's riding a bike. Life doesn't have to be over, but quite reasonably, expectations and activities may have to change. That's not "life over" and it sure isn't negative. It's just change. I don't like it when people tell prospective parents that life won't change when kids come along. It invariably will, but nobody can predict how it will or to what degree. Thinking of various scenarios is not negative, it's pragmatic.

[Kiwi Stoker]

[QUOTE=Crankin;668306]I really don't want to sound negative, etc., but ah, while it's understandable one couldn't ride with a child in a trailer because of all of the above things mentioned, what about just continuing riding alone, even if it's for short jaunts?

Unfortunately as I mentioned before, we don't have family or friends here able to care for our baby, we would have to find/pay for a babysitter which for early weekend mornings could be an issue. Also causual day care facilities are only avaibale during the week, so not much hope there. Just trying to find out all the options. Cycling is something I enjoy with my husband and going out by myself isn't fun.

[lph]

I hope you figure out good options! We found out that going out all of us together was great fun, but was often a logistics problem and many trips were cut short either in time or distance. Not a problem, unless you're counting on going on the same trips as before, consciously or subconsciously. Training efficiently we did best by ourselves.

I think this is really the thing I learned most about becoming a parent, how to structure my life and prioritize. Before we could just go out and maybe we did this, maybe we did that. Or I could just feel like a long run or ride and just go for it, without any planning. But we developed new habits and routines that worked for us, like most people. It was just a bit frustrating in the beginning until we worked it out.

One of my favourite memories of when my son was tiny is of us XC skiing in the woods where we lived, with baby in a soft baby carrier made for carrying in front, slung on my dh's back and covered with a jacket, as he set off down a hill. I refused to, because my skiing skills are poorer and I was afraid I'd fall, but he was convinced he would stay on his feet (and he did).

I wish you lots of luck. The feeling when they get a little bigger and start really enjoying the world around them is just amazing :-)

ETA: Forgive me if I'm being a bit sentimental here, but I just stumbled over a couple of old photos. For a small child a swing in the park is just as awesome as a climbing trip halfway across the country:

1595115952

[shootingstar]

Cycling is something I enjoy with my husband and going out by myself isn't fun.

I cannot speak about children here (because I don't have any)....but my partner has 2 children. Even when his kids were 10 & 12, he did find he needed to go cycling for 1-2 hrs. on his own on weekends.

Some of us are in life circumstances that our partners aren't always around for days or for several weeks. So we do go cycling by ourselves: we have no choice if we want to remain healthy/sane or need to get somewhere by bike. Even finding a friend to cycle together doesn't happen that often for some of us.

The good thing, kiwi, is that you have a partner who also cycles: he would already understand your need to bicycle either with him or on your own. Some other couples have problems when only 1 cycles solo often.

Wonderful photos, lph!

[Crankin]

I mostly ride with my husband, too, but I absolutely believe in the need to get away for at least 45 minutes on your own, for everyone, but especially for new mothers! I might not go as far or as long (generally rides of 15-25 miles) by myself, but I'm still riding.

[Melalvai]

A few years ago a family of five rode across the US. I think their "parade" lol included a tandem with a trailabike but I'm not sure. I bet one of our google wizards can find the link.
Was it the Pedouins (http://www.pedouins.org/)you were thinking of?
15953

[malkin]

And beautiful mom in the moment with the kid, and someone behind the camera right there too!

[anakiwa]

I'll chime in a little late with my own experience. We have a 1 1/2 year old and did have several good rides this past summer with him in a trailer (the recommendation in the US is to wait until age 1- we used the trailer for cross country skiing starting at 6 months, but waited until he was 1 before we attached it to a bike).

As an aside, we have a Chariot trailer and have been very happy with it. It's extremely well designed. He is forward facing but the set up and harness are great and it seems like it would be very hard for DS to be injured in anything other than a car accident.

This was our experience- overall, we've done a lot more cycling/exercising individually since our son was born. It's often just easier to take turns while the other watches our son. The down side is that we don't get to ride together as much and we both do shorter rides than we would have before our son was born, but it's just often easier for us to take turns and know we'll each get some exercise time. We had a lot of luck riding in the morning during my son's nap time between the ages of 12 and 14 months (though that said we never did ride as long as we used to). At about 14 months, he needed to drop the morning nap (and what this meant is that we couldn't let him fall asleep in the AM- if he did, he wouldn't be tired enough for a midday nap, and if he didn't get his midday nap, the end of the day was a complete disaster). So we had to give up the morning rides with the trailer at that point. While we could have ridden later in the day, we both simply prefer to exercise in the morning and opted for riding separately again. I expect we'll get out there again next summer when he's 2 and the nap schedule is a little different (it's currently winter here and we're not riding anyway).

So overall, you can have really good rides together with a trailer. But, you may need to be very flexible about timing, and probably won't be able to go as far as you used to. If you're set on doing lots of long rides with your husband, I'd look in to finding a good babysitter. Whatever you think you want to do, you may find that things change when you have the baby- as long as you and your husband are both committed to getting out together, it will happen- but you may find you're happy with shorter rides (at least for a few years).

[luvmyguys]

I mostly ride with my husband, too, but I absolutely believe in the need to get away for at least 45 minutes on your own, for everyone, but especially for new mothers! I might not go as far or as long (generally rides of 15-25 miles) by myself, but I'm still riding.

I wasn't into biking (or any other sports, for that matter) when my kids were babies, but oh, yes, I so agree with this! Maybe some moms don't need it as much, but I most certainly did. At the time, I'd go hang out at Starbucks with a craft or a good book. Exercise is even better, of course, but yes, time out was very necessary in my case.

[Kiwi Stoker]

I'm pretty lucky for have a 24 hour access gym 750m away from my house, so at least I can "escape" rain, hail or shine whenever DH is home to look after bubs. Also the local library is only 1.5km away as well and opens late.