Bike Safety Guide for Child Seats

Child seats are the traditional answer to the problem of transporting small children by bicycle. They're not as visible, as stable, as protective or as capacious as child trailers, but they're not as expensive either. They also require less leg-and-lung power, so for some journeys, especially in better weather, they are a good option.

You can purchase either front or rear child seats. Children are ready for a child seat when they can sit up for long periods; usually by the age of about nine months. Four or five years are the normal upper age limit for a seat. The main restriction is weight: the safe load limit of the seat and the load that you can safely cycle with behind you is usually between 18 and 22kg (3-3 1/2 stone).

Fit the child seat to a bike with wide flat or riser handlebars to give you maximum control and leverage. Make sure you've got a triple chain set, unless you're very fit or live somewhere flat. And fit the fattest rear tyre you can get away with: more airspace equals more comfort for your passenger.

Handling

Even a small child can add the equivalent of a couple of loaded panniers to your bike, so handling can be severely compromised. Panniers put the weight around or between the axles while rear child seats put the weight above and - more importantly - behind the rear axle. Get a plumb line and aim to ensure that the base of the seat back is no more than about 10cm (4in) behind the rear axle.

Before you take your child out for a ride in the seat, load it up with a heavy weight - a 10kg (22lb) sack of spuds would be ideal - and take that for a spin to accustom yourself to the bike's compromised handling. You can stabilize the unbalancing effect to some degree by using low-rider panniers up front. Front child seats don't have such a dramatic effect on handling (although they force you to ride bow-leggedly!), but it's still worth taking the aforementioned spin with the potatoes. Also, make sure you practice getting your leg over the top tube without swinging it over the saddle, or you'll kick your passenger in the head!

Safety

Safety is paramount with any child-carrying device -and what price your child's health? Today's wraparound style moulded plastic seats offer some protection if the bike falls on its side, and they mean that feet in spokes are a thing of the past. Beware anything else going in spokes, like mittens-on-strings. And if you have a sprung seat, be sure to zip-tie on a home-made plastic guard to prevent small fingers finding their way in between the springs-Look for a waist belt or grab bar, in addition to the three-point over-the-shoulder harness. Children can slump at any angle when asleep and you don't want them to dangle dangerously over the side of the seat. In fact, that's another reason for getting a seat that reclines or that in some way supports a sleeping child.

Extras

Consider fitting a twin-leg centre stand as it can be difficult getting a child into and out of a child seat if you're on your own.

If you find it hard to balance when looking round with your passenger on board, fit a mirror - not only will you be able to monitor traffic behind you, you'll be able to see if your child has fallen asleep.

if you have a seat post fitting rear light, a child seat will obscure it. Fit a light to the back of the rear rack instead.

Helmets are essential for child passengers and cycling children.