With one of the best child seats or trailers parenthood doesn't have to be the end of cycling. Once your youngster is old enough you can take them along with you on a child seat on your bike or a trailer behind. Based on a wide range of user reviews from around the web, these are the best child seats and trailers you can buy.
You can carry Junior in a child seat as soon as they can support their own head, usually from about six to nine months. Trailers can carry children from even earlier as they can just lie down and doze off.
Front-mounted child seats are less common in the UK, but their fans love being able to easily communicate with their kids.
The biggest child seats — like the Bobike Classic — can carry kids up to 35kg, or around ten years old
The best child seats
Avenir Snug Child Seat
Buy Now for £39.99 from Wiggle
This well-reviewed child seat has its own mount that clamps the seat tube, so you don't need anything else, and is considered a bit of a bargain.
Amazon reviewer C. Isherwood said: "My son was very comfortable and very safe and we have had so much fun with this now that the weather is getting better. I can't praise this enough. Don't pay a fortune for a child bike seat. This is brilliant and does everything you need."
There's also a version that mounts on a rack.
Find an Avenir dealer
Thule Yepp Mini
Buy Now for £67.50 (£87.80 with windscreen) from mantel
In a previous version of this guide commenter KiwiMike said: "I'm amazed that the Yepp Mini isn't there. It fits onto both quill and Aheadset-style bikes, fits with one hand - we sometimes took it on/off with a sleeping child still strapped in. It also locks, has the sleep mat, windscreen, your knees are safe and it weighs bugger all. When it's removed the bike is almost totally normal, unlike the WeeRide that still has a stupid heavy steel girder in place.
"Seriously guys, put the Yepp Mini in there. You're doing parents a disservice by omitting it."
Find a Thule Yepp dealer
Bobike Classic Junior
Buy Now for £71.96 from Holland Bike Shop
In a previous version of this guide commenter Username praised the Bobike Classic: "We upgraded to this when our girl exceeded the weight for her Hamax.
"I must say I had my doubts because it was already a handful riding with her bouncing around in Hamax, upsetting the bike's balance, which meant one had to be a very confident cyclist to cope with it but the Bobike Junior is a revelation because it doesn't bounce.
"It is fixed firmly and despite the fact she is now a few years older, taller, heavier, than before the Bobike makes it easy to cope with her on the back.
"It's rated to 35 kgs, or roughly aged 10, and I can see us still using it for quite a while.
"Fully recommended."
Find a Bobike dealer
Hamax Siesta
Buy Now for £89.99 from Halfords
Suitable for children older than 9 months and up to 22kg, this seat can be tilted back 20° so that Junior can have a nap, hence the name Siesta.
It has a tall back and high sides with double buckle system means you can strap your child in quickly and securely.
There are two versions. The one shown above mounts on a bracket that you add to your bike, or you can get a model that mounts on an existing rear rack.
Find a Hamax dealer
WeeRide Safefront
Buy Now for from £89.99 from Amazon
The latest front-mounted childseat from WeeRide has its own mounting bar that fits between the seatpost and handlebar stem, so once it's set up the seat itself can be removed quickly.
For year-round kid-carrying, WeeRide also make a windscreen to keep the weather off your young 'un. It might make your bike look like a moped, but a happy passenger is worth looking a bit daft.
Find a WeeRide dealer
Topeak BabySeat II with rack
Buy Now for £115.00 from Wiggle
Another recommendation from a road.cc reader, DaveE128, who says: "I would recommend (from experience) both the Topeak Babysitter II and the Copilot Limo. [The Limo seems to be no longer available in the UK - Ed]
"Both mount onto a rack. My preference between the two is the Topeak. This can be easily fitted to bikes with disk brakes, and although it doesn't have an adjustable recline feature, this isn't great on the Copilot anyway.
"I would warn that when towards the upper end of the weight range though, that with a lighter weight frame (eg my CX/adventure cross/commuter Pinnacle Arkose Two) you don't want to stand up, as it makes the frame flex scarily. It's much better on a mountain bike.
"For either seat, you can keep the rack on the bike and use it for commuting with panniers, or in the case of the Topeak, a rack top back and a rack-mounted rear light/reflector."
Find a Topeak dealer
The best trailers
WeeRide Co Pilot Tagalong Trailer Bike
Buy Now for £127.99 from Winstanleys Bikes
This popular single-wheel trailer effectively turns your bike into a tandem; Junior has their own pedals so can contribute or just relax and encourage you to go faster. It attaches to your bike's seat post via a quick-release fitting that makes it easy to remove, and it's hinged in the middle to make it easy to store or pop in a car boot.
It's recommended for riders between four and nine years old, up to 35kg.
Find a WeeRide dealer
Burley Bee
Buy Now for £360.05 from Brilliant Bikes
With room for two kids, this classic trailer has additional storage space for all their bits and pieces and is reported to be very stable and easy to tow.
Wiggle reviewer NewDadExperiencedRider says: "The Bee is very stable and it gives the impression that the cargo (my daughter) is very secure. It tows easily and is very light, the weight is comparable to a light road bike. It is a well engineered piece of kit and attaching both the trailer and connecting bracket to the bike is less than a 5 minute job. Once the bracket is on your bike you simply clip in and out in seconds."
Find a Burley dealer
Thule Chariot Cross
Buy Now for £809.99 from Wiggle
Babies don't come cheap, and forking out £800 on a bike trailer may not be your number one priority, but the Thule Chariot Cross looks like a wise investment. Suitable for children up to about 30kg (roughly 6 months to around 5 years), and even younger with the Infant Sling (around £70) designed for babies 1 to 10 months, this trailer is robust and nimble enough for both town and track, making it ideal for keeping the family mobile when there is a little one in tow.
It's also a favourite of road.cc readers, one of whom called it "the Rolls Royce of Thule's Chariot range of child carriers". With a lightweight aluminium alloy frame, it'll take up to 34kg of kid and kit.
At heart, the Cross 1 is a stroller on steroids, and comes with the bike attachment it's shown with above. It can be converted into a three-wheeled jogging stroller, a round-town four-wheeler and even a ski trailer.
There's also a two-child version, the Cross 2 for £1,099.99, and there's a vast range of accessories.
Read our review of the very similar Thule Chariot Cougar 1
Find a Thule Chariot dealer
Tout Terrain Singletrailer
Buy Now for £1,495 from Kinetics
Reader wstephenson describes this as "the only trailer that doesn't feel like you're hauling a wheelbarrow full of bricks using a bungee cord as soon as you put the power on, and it's great with a road bike or MTB. Has lots of happy daddy daughter miles with ours."
With a chromoly steel frame and just one wheel, it's light at a claimed 9.5kg and a built-in air shock helps keep Junior comfortable if you want to take it off road.
The Singletrailer famously co-starred in this classic Danny Macaskill video.
Find a Tout Terrain dealer
Things to know about child seats and trailers
To take a young child along on your bike you have three main options: a seat behind your saddle; a seat on the top tube; or a trailer.
The classic behind-the-saddle child seat either sits on a rack or has its own mounting system to attach it to the bike. It will usually cradle your kid, with a high back and sides so they can fall asleep without falling out, leg guards and a harness. It should be designed so that your sprog shouldn't be able to get their feet or fingers into the spokes.
Once a child gets a bit bigger and heavier, they can make a bike with a rear-mounted child seat a bit top-heavy, and affect the handling.
Your child needs to be able to hold their head up on their own to be comfortable in a child seat. That's usually from six to nine months old, but check out what each seat says about the minimum age it supports and follow that guidance.
The front-mounted seat, that sits on the top tube so the child is between your arms, is the least common option in the UK, but more often seen in Europe. It has the advantage that your child is very close to you, so communication is easy, and kids enjoy being able to see where they're going.
A trailer can accommodate very young children, as they can just lie down and doze off. Your child sits in their own little carriage behind the bike, which is very comfortable, but you may worry that you're a bit out of touch with the child.
Junior probably won't be very bothered as they're enclosed in a spacious bubble and protected from the elements. If you need to transport a child by bike all year round, this is the way to go.
Trailers are the most expensive option, but they hold decent resale values if looked after and you can use them for much more than just carrying children; a trailer is perhaps the best way of carrying shopping too.
They need to employ some young gamers/drone pilots and have some drones for capturing evidence along the crime hotspots. Who's going to suspect...
The bike looks, well.. mean. I'm not sure I produce enough testoterone to even look at it in the wrongway. #createmayhem
Meet the Biggest Bike Dork in Congress...
Ugh.. more strikes.. FFS not the World Champs and surely any disrutption to these world champs would affect any future bids we might have.. (for...
I thought it was talking about cycling infra in Ipswitch...?
Under no circumstances should that race have continued after the incident. How distressing for the deceased's family. Poor management from the...
The Dogma was slightly over the weight limit in the rim brake era and Sky often used Lightweight carbon wheels on climbing stages to get the weight...
The whole article has a weird mix of sleb-awe and ultra-cliche. Who would "dream" of such a bike other than a gushy fan of that Swede with a daft...
Another article in the Groanydad discusses "perfectionism" - that strive to become better than before which never ends as nothing is ever better...
Because I take this stuff seriously? People took the time to read the review, and felt strongly enough to write what were long and detailed replies...