A Guide to Biking with Young Children

Originally posted at Greenwala. Don't forget to stop by to check out 

their fabulous resources (and my weekly posts)! 

I've always loved the thrill, the independence, the wind whipping through my hair, the happiness that comes with biking. But when I put our son on a bike seat behind me for the first time - my joy turn to absolute fear. I know that I had nothing to worry about: we'd bought the most expensive child's seat with maximum suspension, lights, bell, everything. He had his helmet tight on his head. So why did I have this intense urge to run back in the house and cover him completely in bubble wrap?

Well, because the statistics aren't very encouraging: according to a KidsHealth's bicycle safety article, roughly 300,000 kids go to the ER because of bike injuries every year! So what can we do to arm ourselves? And what type of gear should we get for what should otherwise be a perfectly relaxing, environmental excursion?The number one item is fitted, secure helmet:

• Helmets can reduce the risk of serious brain injuries by as much as 85% so it's important to get a good one. Consumer Reports recently wrote an article rating 15 to see which offered the best protection. You can read their 2009 report here.
• The US government has created safety standards especially for bike helmets so the first thing to check when you purchase one is to see whether it has met the Consumer Product Safety Commission standards (CPSC). There should be a nice sticker to indicate so.
• The helmet should not be too big or too small (test it be tilting your child's head back and forth - the helmet should be secure) and the straps should be fastened at all times.
• If any falls occur and the helmet hits the ground, a new one should be purchased. Falls can damage the helmet and won't protect your child if it has been compromised.

Helmets on, now what? For young children - those not riding trikes, bikes or those too small for the tag-a-longs - trailers and child seats are the best options.
Trailers:

• Pros: These are particularly great for the once-in-awhile, casual cyclist, as bicycle balance is not greatly impacted, if at all, by a trailer. Most trailers can hold two children and you can also carry toys, food, books, the family dog or groceries from the store (not recommending these should be done together).
• Cons: The down side is that trailers are a bit of a rough ride and depending on the quality of the trailer, can bump the child around a lot so it's important to shell out for a good trailer if this is the option you choose. We've heard that the InStep trailers are pretty easy to use and are good quality for their price range, particularly as they're also lightweight, foldable and stable.

Child seats:

• Pros: Certainly one pro is that they're generally less expensive and come in a number of options (ours has built-in suspension and can recline as nicely as an airplane seat for those times when my son decides he needs a little nap). This is where you'll need to consider the amount, type and extent of your biking to choose the best that fit for you, particularly as the options include front or back, rack or frame mounted, portability, lights, suspension, recliners etc.
• Cons: Bicycle balance and mounting - particularly as you will be bearing the brunt of the ride on any hills, it'll be important that you keep in mind how comfortable they are, the strap mechanisms that will keep them from wiggling while you ride and the flexibility in mounting and unmounting the seat when you want to go for a solo ride.

Once you have the gear, it's important that you let your child get used to the helmet and go for a handful of short, quiet rides to get your child accustomed to the seat. Then enjoy! Bike rides, though they should be taken responsibly, are fun for everyone and lead to many wonderful memories for you and your child for years to come.

PVC-Free Rain Coats for Kids

Now that we’re officially Londoners, I have recently been preparing the family with what I would have come to learn as essential UK equipment – a public transportation (oyster) card for each member of the family (our two year-old insists on his own), an A to Z map (I’ve been too spoiled by Manhattan’s grid system), and of course, rain gear. Umbrellas aside, my life has recently been taken over by the encyclopedic search that I’ve had to undertake in order to find the perfect rain protection and in particular, rain-jackets. While adult rain jackets are more often made of sensible material, or at the very least, a type of synthetic not as toxic as PVC, almost all of the jackets for the under 12 set are made of shiny, rubbery PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which, is commonly referred to by environmental groups as “poison plastic” (http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/usa/press-center/reports4/pvc-the-poison-plastic.html)

 The harm of PVC is not simply that it is man-made, leaches harmful carcinogens and is an unrecyclable item – it usually also contains a number of toxic additives that are phthalates, heavy metals such as lead (?!) that easily leach out and accumulate in increased exposure, meaning the longer a child is exposed, the more likely he will be incur a risk of brain development, an impact on the nervous system or disrupt the endocrine system. This is certainly not news to me – I have seen Blue Vinyl: A Toxic Comedy (2002) a documentary that the filmmaker, Judith Helfand embarked upon as an investigation into the toxic life cycle of polyvinyl chloride.

But, even though there are efforts to educate and encourage a more natural transition to sustainable materials, our lives are already so embedded and bombarded by the plastic conglomerates that they can operate almost entirely undetected and we need constant vigilant attention in order to make sure that the products we purchase are indeed non-toxic. I'll certainly be the first to admit that I didn't look at the material label for Henry's wellies. I just bought them in a hurry as he was running about the store in a shoe frenzy. (A trait I’m sure he inherited from my side of the family.) But frankly, even through frantic running, mothers ought to have the PVC-option clearly displayed and not have anything that challenges the large vinyl conglomerates hidden away and it’s up to the consumers to be active in order to change this paradigm. The good news is, there have been previous articles in the past helping chemical-conscious parents navigate this mire, such as the report on raingear that Planet Green did early last year. Though it seems like we’re making progress, the bad news was that all of the stores listed were US-oriented (boy did I miss America then), meaning that I was still stuck here in the UK without a suitable alternative, particularly as the alternative stores don’t have the budget to market and export their products worldwide. Back to the drawing board – but with a few leads, which eventually led me to some corner shops that coincidentally carried Hatley, one of the only 100% polyurethane kid-friendly stores. I was ecstatic – even more so than when I saw David Sedaris in New York spring of 2007 – so really ecstatic. (You can also find Hatley products from a limited number of retailers online, anywhere in the world - and they are just as fun and colorful without the hazardous carcinogenic effects of the standard jackets.)

So what was the take-away from this experience? It was tiring and certainly worth it, but surely there has to be a better way! I think the mistake is that each of us conscious mothers continues to privately research for hours on end the products best for our kids, the toxic chemicals that we should avoid, as our neighbors do the exact same thing when we should be sharing our findings so that our better product choices can be multiplied at a higher level of impact (and our research time spent on better things – a nice glass of wine, for one) that will eventually lead to greater exposure for the Hatleys of the world and certainly encourage more innovative natural products in the future.

Get outside!

I've always been a proponent of activities in the great outdoors (i.e.picnics, leisurely strolls under the sun etc, but it should be known that I am not necessarily talking about those with fantastic self-discipline who wake themselves up at 5am everyday because they "love to run under the sunrise"). Seeing how these simple things have had on my disposition, I therefore strongly believe in the power of activities outdoors, like gardening, to turn around one's outlook (at the very least to the value of time spent outside, if not overall -although I may have been watching too many Mr. Men episodes) which has been true for many of my extended family, who view this nature cultivation as their own therapeutic release, but also with children, who still have an innocent wonder to the magic that is nature.

And for those of us who know what it is like when their children are cooped up indoors- we see what a big difference outdoor time has on kids. And it's not just about the gardening (although admittedly that does "build character"), it's about just getting some good ol' fashioned fresh air. There truly is no maximum time a child can spend playing outdoors, running around in the grass, exploring jungle gyms and so forth - it gives them a chance to breathe, to take in and digest everything that has been bombarding them in the classroom, in their daily lives, in the high expectations of their parents) and, at the end of the day, kids need to be kids. It's the natural release valve that we all wish we could have that we cannot afford to deprive or take away from our kids (although I bet most are begging to stay in and play the new Zbox-what-have-you) and despite the fact that there are already not enough hours in a day to do what we all need and want to do, it's amazing how much just an hour, or even 30 minutes outdoors can do to our psyche, much less our stress levels - so it's not surprising that researchers are also saying it's great for mental health

So get out there - go for a walk, run, skip, jump, whatever - just go...and take your kids with you.