Hints and tips needed for cycling with child seat

indiekid007

I have just started to transport my 3 year old around on the back of my bike but am finding it quite un-nerving and difficult to balance in certain situations.

Can any of you give me some advice or point me in the direction of a website or document that would help me.

I love having him with me but just need some advise to help my confidence.

White Horse

Get a trailer?

I don't like the change in centre of gravity that a child seat gives either.

madtam

Practice !

But I would suggest that you practice with a weight rather than an actual child. Try a sack of spuds or similar in the seat until you get the hang of it. I found it was the low/zero speed that was an issue and quickly learnt that the bike needs to be kept pretty much vertical all the time and not leaned over when just pushing it etc.
Sometimes when commuting I am back to the same issue if I have to carry extra weight on the bike it can end up on top of the panniers and it's surprising how unwieldy it is when off the bike and just pushing. Spring loaded doors are a particular problem as they can be tricky to open and keep open as you pass the bike through. If you let the bike lean much at all then gravity takes over and I wouldn't like to think it was my children who were stuck in the back.

As has been suggested, a trailer could be a better option. However, I don't know how many children you have (or are planning), but beware overdoing it. I had a 2 seater trailer and whenthe kids got bigger it started to get intersting on the hills. Once with 2 in the trailer and one on the childseat behind me I pretty much ran out of steam on a hill and a couple of workmen actually gave the trailer a push up the last bit of the hill. That was a touch embarassing although perhaps less so than stopping or even running baclwards.

baudman

Do a bit of a search on here - lots of alternatives. I'm not a lover of the rear mount seat - because of the centre of balance and, even more than when riding, I think when walking/wheeling the bike.

So yeah, consider alternatives. Otherwise it will get easier with practice. Also a bit of 'kid training' can be required, with respect to not throwing their bodyweight about. They often even learn to lean into corners with you