walking or riding your bike

i bought the chariot stroller so you can use it as a stroller until you think you are ready to use it on your bike. i used mine ALOT

I have a bike trailor and LOVE it. I used it daily last summer, and probably will this summer too. I didn't put my dd in it before say last June, so she was 16-17 months when I started using it. I ALWAYS put a helmet on her too. I know a couple women who put their kids in those things without helmets, they say they are safer cause they are enclosed and sturdy. But my dd has had a concussion from just bumping her head on a table leg at 11 months old, so I wasn't taking any chances with her noggin.
I would put her in the trailer, give her a couple graham crackers and a sippy with water and a toy, and off we'd go. It was a nice change of pace exercise for me (I walk alot too).
I wish I had gotten the one that converts to the jogging stroller too...but my dh didn't get that one he just got the regular old bike trailer one. Probably better cause my left knee acts up from high impact stuff anyways.

I would think that biking pulling a trailer would be more exercise. Biking is our main mode of transportation in the summer, and I am the one pulling DD in the trailer. I would guess that just with DD (she's a slim 3 1/2) and whatever stuff we pack in the trailer I am pulling an additional 50 pounds behind me. Add another kid into that and there you go. It's tough at first, especially on hills, but it's a great cardio workout.
I do wish we had a bike trailer with shocks though. This is the only think I think DD does not like about the trailer. It's pretty bumpy and jarring. We can usually only ride when we have a destination in mind as opposed to going for a nice, leisurely ride. So, this is something to think about. As for safety, I am not worried about DD in the trailer. I would worry more if she was in a seat behind me. In a trailer, if I spill off my bike the trailer stays upright, and I find that cars are more aware when they see me pulling a child behind me.
Good luck finding something!

Getting one of these helped change my life. I used it first with my son when he was about 18 months, and then once dd was big enough, I used it with both...until I added the tag-along, and then I cranked it for a summer with the crazy bike-tag-along-trailer combo. We lived in town, right on a bike lane, within a mile or two of everywhere I might have to go in town (even rare exceptions weren't more than 4 miles). I could run a nice errand loop and put on 8-12 miles. I felt really good about it, because I needed the workout, I felt better about the kids' being in sunshine and fresh air than carseats, and with the price of gas, I was saving at least half a gallon each time I did that. It was also a great lesson in consolidating errand runs.

Oh--on how it changed my life: it was a contributing factor to my losing about 90 pounds.

Now, I live out of town, but I use the same strategy in running errands, and even ds is excited about biking into town (4 miles) for some fun when the weather warms up.

OMG I love our bike trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get a good one for safety and quality issues!
It saved my sanity and then I moved up to a trail-a-bike which is basically a 3 wheeled bike.

Hundreds of miles on each every summer. I'd easily ride 100 miles/week and the kids had a ball. Sometimes, we'd trade off so I'd pull a ds and friend and someone else would pull a ds and friend.

My kids the trailer and would easily go 3+ hours in it w/breaks & snacks & toys. Total workout for me + just plain FUNFUNFUN. With the trail-a-bike, I can only help one kid unless you find a friend.

Hassadah, I have to be totally honest. I was flat, flat broke...somehow I am always broke ...and I bought literally the last of some cheap bike on the floor at a local discount store, and my big brother gave me a hand-me-down trailer, the molded plastic kind. We found an identical one the following summer at a garage sale and snapped it up because it was in better shape...but the bike and trailer together cost about $75. We found a tag-along at a sale last summer for $15, and we got a hand-me-down toddler seat, so this summer it looks like it will be the bike with seat and tag-along, if we fit on it. We shall see.

As I rode through town, from the park to city hall to the post office, etc., I'd talk to myself about the interesting way that the American obesity epidemic and giant oil crisis went hand in hand...and at the end of the day, I felt better not only about my activity, but about my consumer choices. And it set a great example for the kids.