Seeking Opinions on Child's Seat for Bicycle

We have a rear mounted seat and trailer for our 2y10m old. I like the seat that is attached to my bike because it's easier to ride uphill and all together just easier on the thighs. It doesn't feel safe though and when he suddenly turns to see something the jerk throws me off a bit so I feel like I may lose balance. It only goes up to 40 lbs so we won't be using it in about a month. The trailer is safe especially with the falling part. They can't tip over BUT it is hard to pedal. Think about it, you're carrying all that weight of the trailer plus your child so stay away from hills because ouch on the thighs!!!! They're also hard to maneuver on sidewalks if you're passing someone because they're wide. I've struck things with it before but my son was never hurt. Wal-Mart has a bike trailer for about $100 and it's very spacious and even has a small trunk to carry lunch,snacks, toys, etc...

We have a trailer for our 1 year old and a trail a bike for our 4 year old. We have had the trailer since the four year old was almost one, and we use it all the time. They feel totally safe in there, and have plenty of room to play and have toys and snacks etc. I don't worry about traffic or exhaust fumes, because we usually only use it on the bike trails. We drive to the trails and park and then get on our bikes and go from there. As far as being hit by a car, they have a lot more protection around them in the trailer than they do in a bike mounted seat, so they would be less likely to be injured. In addition, with the trailer, they can have protection from the sun and wind, so even on cooler days, we can go out, and not feel like we are freezing our kids. (It is really breezy on a bike, and if you aren't doing any work, can get pretty cool, even on warm days). Also, the trailer won't tip over if you accidentally fall. This is especially important as your kids get heavier and harder to balance on your bike. And for us, for awhile, we could go with both kids in the trailer until my son was ready for the trail a bike. For the trail a bike, most models are built for 4 year olds and up. We got ours when my son was 3 and a half, but he is pretty tall, and he could just reach the pedals. We like the trail a bike for him because we don't have to worry about him keeping up, but he still gets some much needed exercise. He is able to handle up to 15 miles on the back of the bike like that, which he would never be able to do on his own. I have never been a big fan of the seats that attach to the bike, since I have seen a dad hit a pothole with one of those and then totally tip over, and his daughter was pretty scraped up, her arm was bleeding (she had it resting on the outside of the seat and pretty much landed on it). She was crying hysterically. Not sure if any other serious injuries, but it was pretty scary to see that happen. (You could also tell the dad totally felt horrible too).

I don't have a bike anymore (I think the last one I had I got from you guys!) but I am in the market for one, and I never thought about the whole "trailer is down by the dirt and exhaust" thing when I was thinking about a bike hitch. I figured they'd be safer, due to low center of gravity, but then I saw someone in a car practically take out a family on bikes recently. Luckily, no one was actually injured, but it shook me up. I puke when I see dead cats in the road, so a bicycling family escaping a near hit by a speeding car almost made me have a stroke.

How old do kids have to be before you can get them the tandem hitch so it's like they are riding along with you? I may wait until then to start biking again.

I also saw (at the bike shop on K) a cool seat that hangs on the handle bars (I have no idea if these are even legal anymore). This was awhile ago, before I had Beanie. The cool part was that the child is in front of you and doesn't require any weird manouvers with your legs to accomodate a front facing safety seat (like the ones that attach to the cross bar) but the thing is, you would have to be very careful when stopping, because the weight of the child would seriously affect the manouverability of the steering.

Still, I think the front mount child seat would be easier to deal with for you because it distributes the weight more evenly, and you are a tiny person. If you fall, you are more likely to fall and cushion your kid in an accident.
A rear mounted one, no matter how fancy, just wouldn't be able to provide the same protection as your own body in a fall, and I just looked up accident protection/rear mount seats and sure enough, kids suffer more head and neck injuries in those than in the front mount. Plus, it looks like the weight distribution/center of gravity is a serious factor when stopping (more so than when moving), so you'd definitely want a kid in front for stopping. In my opinion.

I've used a rear mounted seat and a Burley trailer. While I really like the front mounted seats like they use often in Holland, I don't think they are all that safe with standard American bikes. Most people, when they fall on a bike, fall forward. If your child was there, you run the risk of squishing them. The Dutch have bikes with a longer wheel base and wrap-around handlebars to get around that problem, but I've never seen those "mom bikes" here.

As for the rear vs. trailer issue... well, I have to confess that I have fallen twice (once with each child because I'm a slow learner) with the rear seat. In both cases, the kids were scared out of their minds and a little banged up. In both cases, they were around 20 pounds (lighter than that was ok). With the trailer, while I have hit a curb and sent them airborne on one wheel, they have never been hurt or even all that scared.

I'm a big fan of the Burley dual trailer. It's pricey, but I use mine every day, either on the bike or as a stroller -- totally worth it. It's great for farmer's market and beer runs, too. The hardest thing is having them behind you where you can't see them. It's scary at first. I have a big dorky flag on mine that helps with visibility. I have seen them used on Craigslist and in the Pennysaver.

Ideally, we would have the European bikes that are actually trikes and have the wagon full of kids in front of the pedals, but those are thousands of dollars...

Good luck!
S.