A guide to child bike seats

Most child seats are suitable for children between the ages of about nine months and four years. The lower limit is dependent on the ability of your child to sit up unsupported – that is, on the floor rather than propped up with cushions.

Some seats recline and children as young as six months – those who can sit up when propped up – can go in those. A reclining seat is better anyway because it allows your little one to drift off to sleep without slumping sideways or forwards.

Rear-fitting​ seats

Rear seats come in three basic designs: cantilevered from the seat tube; fixed to a rear carrier rack; and fixed directly to the seat tube and seat stays. Those that bolt to the frame – or to a rack that’s bolted to the frame –  are more stable and sturdy but cannot be fitted to bikes with rear suspension.

Front-fitting seats

Front seats usually attach to the top tube, a bar fixed above it, or a bracket on the head tube. Some are moulded plastic seats, like smaller versions of rear seats, while others – aimed at older children who can hold on themselves – are just little saddles and footrests bolted to the bike.

Riding with ​a child seat

Even if you’re used to riding with rear panniers, a child seat takes some getting used to. Panniers put the weight around or between the axles. Child seats put the weight above and – more significantly – behind the rear axle, which destabilises the bike. Get a plumb line to check where the base of the seat is relative to the rear axle. The shorter the distance it is behind the axle, the better the handling will be. If it’s level or in front, so much the better. There’s no hard and fast maximum distance, but keeping it under 10cm is a reasonable rule of thumb.

Safety

Feet in spokes account for half of all child hospital admissions that involve child seats. Footrests are not enough; feet may slip off or your child may simply forget and let legs dangle. It’s essential that any seat has secure foot straps, ideally in wraparound foot wells. Be aware of what else might reach the spokes – items such as scarfs, mittens on strings, and long laces – and make sure they can’t.

Comfo​rt​

Bicycle child seats should offer full back and head support. Even then, a sleeping child’s neck won’t be well supported so it’s best if the seat also reclines. If it does, you can also use an inflatable, horseshoe-shaped neck pillow (from baby shops, and intended for use in car seats) for even better support.

Useful extras

To use a child seat on more than one bike – on mum’s as well as dad’s, for example – buy an extra rack or bracket for the seat when you purchase it. While seats are usually quick-release, racks and brackets stay fixed to the bike because they take minutes rather than seconds to remove.

Hamax Kiss

While it's not as well equipped as its fancier stablemate, the Caress, Hamax's Kiss is still a well designed and decent seat for the money. It features a tall back support and double-wall side protection. It didn’t take long at all to install, adjust to fit our passenger and get riding. Once on the road, the seat felt sturdy, safe, stable and secure. As with the Caress, the back and footrests can be adjusted to fit your child as they grow. Our one gripe with the seat is that the three-point harness clip is very hard to undo with one hand, which makes the already somewhat tricky task of supporting both the bike and your dismounting passenger at the same time all the more difficult.

• Seat and mountweight: 3.45kg 
• Suitable from: 9 months
• Max child weight: 22kg
• Mount: Frame or rack

 (Source from: http://www.cyclinguk.org/guide/guide-to-child-bike-seats)&(https://www.hamax.com/product/kiss/) &(http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/best-child-bike-seats-39715/)