Baby Bike Seat - Special Needs - Cerebral Palsy - Pommel

[MNG]

Hi All,

I am looking to buy a bike seat for my 2 &1/2 son who has cerebral palsy. He has high tone in his hamstrings which means that he tends to slide down/forward so I am looking for a bike seat that has a pommel at the front or a handlebar or something similar that can help hold him in an upright position rather than him having all of his weight on the seat belt strap.

I thought a rear seat would be best as he is quite tall and I am short and I was concerned about how that would go if he was in a front mounted seat.

Any advice / recommendations would be appreciated. I have never ridden with bubba on bike before but we are both looking forward to it!

Thank you.

[ironhanglider]

Hi MNG,

My biggest concern is that at 2 and a half he'll be starting to be a heavy lump, and heading toward the upper weight limit of the seats. From memory they are rated as being up to between 18 & 22kg at most. The problem with baby seats is that by necessity the weight is fairly high, which is particularly a problem with getting on and off, because there is a real risk of tipping the bike and passenger over. Bikes with a low top tube are preferred for baby seats for this reason.


I suspect that you would get better value out of a lower solution like:

A trailer
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/cranbour ... 1128563156

A half-bike
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/mount-lo ... 1126628047

or something more exotic:
There is video on youtube for one of these
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/armidale ... 1127292593

Bike Friday's are seriously cool
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/hobart-c ... 1126059507

As are box bikes
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/parkvill ... 1128546748

I realise that most of these don't have the central pommel, but perhaps having something to brace the feet against would help in that regard.

Cheers,

Cameron