1. Stuck pacifiers in their mouths right after picking them up off the ground. (NO!)
2. Given them formula so I could sleep at night. (EVIL!)
3. Let them wear dirty clothes because I was too lazy to fight about it. (GASP!)
4. ASKED(!) them to watch a movie just so I could have some peace and quiet. (HORRIBLE!)
5. Hauled them around in a bike trailer at very young ages. (SO NEGLIGENT!)
(note: the list is actually about 300 times as long as this, but I wanted to give you some brief examples)
My baby is 1 month old, exactly two months younger than my daughter when we first put her in a bike trailer 4 years ago. Tygh has been in the bike trailer twice, both times on a combination of roads with *GASP* TRAFFIC! and bike paths.
The difference this time? Second kid. Also? We are even more avid cyclists than we were four years ago. Both Barkernews and I are very comfortable on a variety of bikes in a variety of situations, from racing to evening cruiser rides.
Additionally, we are not about to stop our current lifestyle in its tracks because we now have VULNERABLE! WEAK! YOUNG! children.
ZOMG, STOP THE PRESSES, BABY ON BOARD!
Yeah, can you tell I hate those signs in car windows?
Four years ago, several people were pretty shocked that we would put our daughter in a bike trailer at such a young age, especially since the instructions said most kids have to be 1 year old to ride in a bike trailer.
That's just stupid.
I mean, not stupid if you are a super cautious parent. More power to you. Your kid probably is always wearing perfectly clean clothes, never has a face covered in chocolate (because your kid doesn't eat sugar, right?), always says "please" and "thank you"and was breast-fed through the preschool years. Good for you. I salute you, parent who is cautious and careful and more patient than me.
That is not us. My good friend Sara once told me, "Life is about choices", a phrase I now use on an almost daily basis. And the choice we make as a family is to keep the family happy and healthy by riding bikes and riding them together as much as we can.
Obviously, this is Tygh's car seat inside the bike trailer. Also obviously, he is way too little for a helmet. (Hazel rode like this for over a year because she was on the smaller side). What you can't see is that we have strapped the car seat handle to the trailer (to avoid the "flip up") with the straps that secure the actual trailer seat.
You should note that I have no idea how to do this with a two-seater nor do I know anything about other brands (this is a Burley Solo). I do not claim that this is the best way or the safest way- it's just the system we use. If you have a better system, shoot me a picture. I'd love to see it.
Before we go, consider the following statistic: Your child is more likely to die in a car accident (by a factor of almost TEN) or by drowning than anything else. How often does your kid ride in a car or take a bath?
Just thoughts to consider.
