Child bike seats will come with a harness to keep your child securely fastened in place. It’s important to use the harness and to ensure it’s fitted correctly without too much slack. A five-point harness waist strap will help keep your child more secure than a three-point design if their shoulders slip out of a harness.

You’ll usually get foot straps or wells to stop a child’s feet, shoe laces or clothing from getting caught in the wheels (or kicking you as you ride).

As with adult riders, a helmet is highly recommended. The best kids’ bike helmets will fit comfortably and securely, and will protect them if you do have an accident while out riding.

Getting used to wearing a helmet will serve them well when they start riding themselves, too. Since a helmet is heavy, make sure their head is well supported and the angle of the seat is such that, if they fall asleep, their head will loll back rather than forward or to the side. A neck pillow designed for use with a car seat can help.

How to keep kids comfortable in a child seat

The main thing that will keep a child more comfortable in their seat is some windproofing and weatherproofing. You can buy ponchos to fit them and enclose the seat, keeping them more comfortable. You can also get a rain cover for most seats, so they don’t have to sit in a puddle if you’re picking them up from school.

Mudguards are a handy addition to stop your child from being sprayed with water from the wheels. Side protection from the wheels may be necessary to prevent your child from accidentally getting a hand or foot in them when riding, although most kids’ bike seats are designed to help prevent this from happening.

Keep an eye on the weather conditions when you’re riding. You may not feel the cold as you’re pedalling, but an inactive passenger in cold wind or rain needs to be wrapped up and protected. Conversely, in the summer be careful of overheating and make sure your passenger is protected from sunburn and properly hydrated.

Which bikes can I use a kids’ bike seat with?

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Bike seats for children can put a lot of extra stress on a bike’s frame. The seats are not light themselves and adding a 20kg child to the load, which is held somewhere that a bike frame isn’t designed for, could cause a problem for a performance bike – we wouldn’t recommend bolting a child seat to your best road bike.

Many child seat designs can’t be used with a carbon frame. A step-through frame may not have the rigidity to handle the extra weight and you may not be able to use a front-mounted seat with it.

An aluminium road bike might work, but a hybrid bike is likely to be a better option. A hardtail mountain bike is also a possibility, although the sprung rear triangle of a full-suspension mountain bike is likely to make a rear seat awkward to fit.

Other possible options are gravel bikes and touring bikes, which are designed to carry the extra weight of bike luggage, including pannier bags mounted on a rear rack and top tube bags. If you’re concerned about the extra effort carrying your child and a seat will take, an electric bike is another option.

What are the alternatives to a child seat?

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You don’t have to use a child seat to give your kid or kids a ride; particularly if you have more than one child to carry the alternatives may work better. You can potentially fit a front and rear seat to your bike to carry two kids, but balance may be an issue.

One option is to fit a bike trailer. Many of the best bike trailers come with space and seats for one or two kids, or you can buy seats to fit. That makes the trailer more versatile because it can be used for shopping and other activities too. It will have a life once your children have graduated to riding themselves. Usually, you can fit a hood to make the trailer weatherproof.

A trailer can also be detached easily when it’s not in use and for storage, although trailers are bulky items.

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A second option is a tag-along, or trailer bike. It’s a cross between a child and trailer, with pedals and a non-turning handlebar that hooks to the back of your bike, enabling a child to pedal along with you on your ride. You may get a bit of assistance and they’ll get some exercise.

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Another option is a cargo bike. Again, these can come set up with seats for children or you may be able to buy seats to fit in a standard cargo hopper.

Many cargo bikes will carry two children, either side by side or one behind the other and you may be able to fit a hood. An electric cargo bike is even better.

A cargo bike is a pricey option, though. It will be large and heavy, and you need to think about its life once the kids have grown out of it.

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If your route is safe, letting them ride with you will give your kids some independence and extra exercise. Even quite small kids can get along surprisingly fast on the best balance bikes and older kids will likely want to ride themselves rather than being carried – at least for shorter distances.

There is also a wide range of adaptive bikes that can make cycling with disabled children easier, including pull-along trikes and carrier bikes.

Read our handy tips for commuting with kids for more ideas.

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