First, thanks for everyone's advice on biking while pregnant. With the help of an old comfort bike and the encouragement of my docs and midwives, I was able to bike up until the day I went into labor (2 weeks past my due date!). Finally met my beautiful baby girl on May 16.

I'm wondering what everyone's experience has been with biking with infants. We have a burley-type trailer, but I'm not sure how old a child has to be to be safe in that, or if there is even a helmet that would fit her. I've also heard of folks buckling the car seat into the trailer, but don't know of anyone personally who has done that. Estelle is developing pretty decent head control, but isn't able to sit up by herself yet. Thoughts?

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We received similar advice from our pediatrician (although she said one year). She simply wanted to ensure that the neck and back muscles were strong enough so that our baby could sit upright without support, hold his head upright, and handle being jostled.

At slightly less than 1 year, our boy had the necessary control. I think waiting for the ability to be jostled was good. While Gabe was pretty well strapped into the font-mounted seat we still use, I would have been concerned about him not being able to correct himself if he somehow got jostled to the side.

I will say that I really love having the front mounted seat. (I use the Ibert Safe-T-Seat. Link = http://www.ibertinc.com/) I wanted more interaction and abiltity to watch Gabe than I could get with a trailer. This thing has been fantastic. Gabe just turned two, and we still use it. While at some point I'll have to get a trailer because he's too big for the Ibert, it has been really nice to ride and talk and point with him right there. Of course, having him in that seat made the whole control thing even more important.
We started about 9 months, but I do know people who did the car seat in the trailer thing (rearward facing of course).
First...Hurray! for biking throughout your pregnancy! And for your doctors being okay with it. I rode throughout my pregnancy as well.

I think the "official" recommendation is 12 months but, if your daughter has the neck/head strength you can start riding a little earlier (9-10 months). Keep in mind that she will have to deal with the weight of the helmet plus the jostling and bumps of the ride. I found a Giro brand helmet that fit if he was also wearing a hat.

I started riding with my son when he was just over 10 months old. I had him in a front-mount seat (Bobike) that was awesome! I attached it to an old Raleigh step-through. Not only could I talk with him, I could also monitor his response to all the bumps and jostles. And I didn't have any of the balance issues of a rear seat. I would highly recommend you consider a front-mount seat when your little girl is ready to ride with you. My son is now 3 and we had to switch our ride set-up. I now ride a Surly Big Dummy with xtracycle set-up (www.xtracycle.com). He rides safely on the back of my bike and I still have plenty of room to carry all sorts of stuff.

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