Best way to carry a toddler

That Trio Bike in BTBS 'modern equivalent' is a thing of beauty!

One other solution that hasn't been mentioned is the FollowMe tandem

https://www.followmetandem.co.uk/

There's a review on this site (TLDR: Mike Stead thought it was awesome)

The benefit of this one is that you can tow them to your offroad excursions on their own bike and then let them tool around on the singletrack.

With our two kids, who are now 10 and nearly 7, we've been through a Chariot trailer, Tagalong and most recently a Bullitt cargo bike. All have been good, and have pluses and minuses, but for me the best by a long way is the cargo bike. It's the priciest option, but by far the most versatile, and is a big part of us being able to live without a car which offsets the cost considerably. Until fairly recently I've been able to fit both kids in there, so still comfortably room for one on their own. I can (and on occasion have) fit an adult in the front.

Of the other options, I'd say a trailer probably isn't going to last too long - our kids were growing out of the one we had by the time they were about 5, so you might be faced with the same problem again in a year or two. I've never used a trailgator, but have never liked the look of the angle that the child's bike ends up at. Ours is a Trek tagalong and will probably see another year or so of use with our youngest, before he's too big for it. I've never felt concerned about either the trailer or tagalong not being noticed when riding in traffic. Most models come supplied with a flag which helps a lot I think, but my perception is that drivers gave me more room when I had something on the back (especially if was obviously a child). I also modified a light bracket to mount a light halfway up the flag pole.

Mark B wrote:

While tagalongs clearly handle a lot better than trailgators, they're stuck on there. If  your aim is to get them from A to B safely, that is not a problem, but if you are out riding for pleasure, a trailgator gives you the flexibility to let them cycle some of it where it is safe.

I've forgotten the name of it, but there's an alternative to a trailgator that looks like it should be more stable and is much quicker to get their bike on and off. Not cheap though.

 

The Roland Add+bike connects to a custom rack and is easy to connect--just a tapered pin that slots into a brass hole with a spring loaded catch. The rack is very meaty but as OP already has one it won't be too much of a weight penalty when he's out riding on his own. Best thing about hauling a tagalong is how it makes a tourer feel like an ultralight race machine when you ditch it

While tagalongs clearly handle a lot better than trailgators, they're stuck on there. If  your aim is to get them from A to B safely, that is not a problem, but if you are out riding for pleasure, a trailgator gives you the flexibility to let them cycle some of it where it is safe.

I've forgotten the name of it, but there's an alternative to a trailgator that looks like it should be more stable and is much quicker to get their bike on and off. Not cheap though.

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Best way to carry a toddler?  In these here parts we favour the two-fingered nasal haul....

modern equivalent

Backie, my grandson was very good at clinging on whilst sitting on my brooks as we wheeled down the loop road the 400 yards to mine.

Seriously though, for me I'd say something that enables them to be in front not behind, this was the favoured mode in the early part of the 20th century to transport babies and young kids.

Binbag.

A proper tagalong from Roland (add+bike) worked for me and my son. Much better handling than a trail-gator as long as he can hold himself up, I rode with mine up to the age of 9 before it got too unstable (he's 142cm and powerful enough to give me a shove in the back on it)

It's a good way to get him used to being out in traffic but don't expect drivers to be any less cockwombly just because they see a child - we got run off the road at Christmas deliberately because "we were taking up too much space and you should have let me past".

A child. On Boxing Day FFS.

So, setting that aside, I think it's the way to go. Realistically he's not going to be ready to ride solo on the road until he's 9 so you should get 5 years use out of it.

I don't think a trailer offers anything over a tagalong unless you're doing really long rides. 

Electric bakfiets is probably the ultimate for longer journeys - one of the local mums has one and it's highly lustful but sadly we're beyond that now.

I have used a tagalong, a Weehoo and a trailgator.  I didnt like the trailgator as I couldn't get the bike to sit straight for any length of time.  The tagalong was fine for my eldest, although he did fall off it a couple of times.  The Weehoo was by far the best, the child can sit and pedal, or just sit or even fall asleep.  There are a couple of panniers for holding waterproofs, lunch etc.  The only downsides are that its big to store, and can be a pain to naivgate through bike gates.  They are a bit pricy, but hold their value quite well.  I got one second hand, and recently sold it on for about the same as I paid for it.