![]() To parents who are concerned with jostling/shaken baby syndrome, etc, please remember that you get jostled around riding in a car or on public transit, too. When they are too little to hold their head up, the bucket seat was enough to support them. It’s a wonderful enhancement to our lives.įor me, using a trailer with a ‘bucket’ style car seat inside made all the difference. Since I teach at my middle daughter’s high school, we ride our bikes to school together each day. All three survived the experience without damage! They are honors students one has graduated high school, another graduates in a couple of week, and both are pursuing educations with scholarships. I biked with my kids from about 2 months of age onward, making a 12 mile round trip 5x a week. This article was originally published in Momentum Magazine, 2011. It was the healthiest thing for me and my child.”Īll parents interviewed for this article managed the risks they were taking with their children by choosing appropriate carriers and quiet cycling routes. Brett Hondorp, a father from Portland, told me, “With the bike we could just park outside and never have to go into the parking garage. Parents have strong motivations to start riding with their newborns, such as convenience and pleasure. Angela Koch, whose first child was born in Jacksonville, FL – “a cycling nightmare” – was relieved to move to Portland where her two other children were introduced to cycling on some of the city’s comparatively safer streets. Living in a city with a decent cycling network helps, especially cycle tracks separated from the roadway, and so does good route planning.īicycle boulevards, low traffic streets with good connections and safe intersections are often the primary routes for parents cycling with their newborns. We made him as safe as we could.” For their second child they purchased a Bakfiets and secured the car seat to its base. Weisenbach-Folz said: “With our first child we had him buckled into a regular car seat that was strapped into a trailer. Some parents I have spoken to choose to cycle with a car seat secured in a bicycle trailer. A lot of people overlook the risks and stresses associated with driving, but make a big deal about bicycling.”īicycling with your newborn can be done safely. 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. ![]() 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. Others saw no extra risk and no difference between cycling and walking with a stroller. Parents are concerned about different risks and threats many, such as Jasper Lieber, told me that other road users and collisions with cars were their biggest fears. Related Transporting Kids by Bike: A Journey None knew of any literature or hard evidence to support the claim that vibrations from normal bicycle riding would lead to brain damage in a newborn. I asked Diana Leung – a research assistant at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC – to contact half a dozen researchers specializing in pediatric injuries to inquire about the safety of cycling with newborns. There was a “fear drummed into us about vibrations that would damage his nervous system,” Roberts said. There is a lot of fear around parenting and this extends to cycling with your newborn. Jessica Roberts, a program manager with Alta Planning + Design in Portland, OR, started cycling with her child when he was around five months old, approaching it more cautiously. ![]() Weisenbach-Folz felt more comfortable riding with her third child, starting just weeks after he was born. Our oldest is now six and a half and we started to ride with him when he was about one month old.” “I was a little nervous with my first child. ![]() For Carie Weisenbach-Folz, a mother of three from Portland, OR, the time came as soon as she felt physically able. When to start bicycling with a baby is a personal judgment. Instead of depending on that information, parents have looked to other parts of the world where cycling with small babies is widespread. Angela Koch, advocacy and events coordinator with Revolution Cycles in Arlington, VA, found what little research there was focused on negative assumption and misinformation. Online research produces very little information on bicycling with newborns. In North America, babies are expected to be kept off a bike until they are at least nine months old and are able to wear a helmet. ![]()
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