Laura Dern and Ben Harper take Jaya for a bicycle ride

Actress Laura Dern, 40, and her husband, musician Ben Harper, 38, take their youngest child, daughter Jaya, 3, for a bicycle ride along the Santa Monica, California coast on Saturday, January 5th. 

Photos by Ramey.

Jaya is wearing Patagonia Baby Reversible Puff-Ball Jacket in powder pink ($88).

She also wears Patagonia Baby Plush Synchilla pants in midblue ($35).

They are using a Chariot Cougar 1 Gold/Silver/Grey bike trailer ($435).

This also converts to a stroller. Read Ciaran’s recent review of it here.

Comments

She is such a beautiful girl. PLEASE have your children were helmets. Even when they are the passengers being pulled.

- Mary on January 6th, 2008

Why is this child (or her parents for that matter) not wearing a helmet???

- Lisa Marie on January 6th, 2008

She’s very cute!

Seconded about the helmet thing, though.

- Annie-Kate on January 6th, 2008

She’s adorable. But she comes from beautiful parents, so what else can we expect

I believe it’s the law in California (according to my co-worker who just moved here from San Francisco) that ALL bicycle riders are supposed to be wearing a helmet, is it not??? Even if it’s not, please be a good role model for your kids by wearing one.

- kelly on January 7th, 2008

She so beautiful, and she’s gotton so BIG!!
Jaya is wearing- Patagonia Baby Reversible Puff-Ball Jacket in Powder Pink
$80.00
http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/product/product_focus.jsp?OPTION=PRODUCT_FOCUS_DISPLAY_HANDLER&style_color=60186-262&patcatcode=MAIN_FA07_US.CLOTHING_GEAR.KIDS.INFANTS/TODDLERS
&
Baby Plush Synchilla® Pants
$35.00 in midblue

- Zoe on January 7th, 2008

I can’t believe she’s not wearing a helmet… in fact the whole family should be wearing one.

- Megan on January 7th, 2008

She has my name! I wonder if it was Indian-inspired? I’ve never heard it outside of an Indian family.

- Jaya on January 7th, 2008

I think it’s great that they treat cycling like an everyday thing that you don’t need a helmet for. Here in the Netherlands cycling is just another way of transportation and no one wears a helmet.

Jaya is a very cute girl too!

- Sarita on January 7th, 2008

It’s funny, my little girl is called Jaya too and she looks an awful lot like this little girl with the same blonde curls and dark eyes!

- Jemma on January 7th, 2008

Sarita, Cycling is a great mode of transportation and exercise. IF the law is you must wear a helmet. Then you should be wearing a helmet. IF it is not a law I think you should have at least your children wear a helmet. (no one is above the law) I trust them as the cyclist driving, I DON’T trust the other drivers. (cars, busses motorcycle, an animal)The driver of the car could be texting talking on the phone ect. All it takes is one rollover and she could hit her head. Yes I know that the cart is suppose to be roll over proof. BUT I know for a fact that they can. She is a gorgeous little girl, I would not like to see her or anyone get hurt.

- Mary on January 7th, 2008

Mary, I don’t know what the law is where they are so I just gave my personal opinion.

The thing is you are right; cycling is not dangerous, reckless drivers are and they always are. You can also be run over by a car when walking and we don’t wear helmets for that.

- Sarita on January 7th, 2008

I agree… law or not, the fact is that no matter how careful you are, accidents can happen.

My brother in law knows first hand. When he was a kid, he got hit by a car when on a bike. He got lucky… while he got a skull fracture and concussion, along with minor cuts and bruises, he was okay.

But that is why he never let his kids ride without helmets. Once helmets were available, he was wearing one and passed the habit on.

I would never go biking without a helmet. Just one innocent spill could wind up with an unexpected head wound. And you can’t predict other people and things.

- Kat on January 7th, 2008

I probably shouldn’t be jumping into this debate but here goes. I do believe that children should be wearing helmets whether they are riding the bike, in a bike seat, in a chariot…etc. But (and this is just my personal opinion), I don’t think adults should feel the need to wear a helmet if they don’t want to wear one. The law is for children so I think its enough of an example to follow the law and make sure your child wears a helmet. Extending that example to the adult wearing a helmet too (if he/she doesn’t want to wear a helmet) is too much.

Its against the law for a person under the age of 21 to drink alcohol. I wouldn’t let my kids have any, but I don’t see an issue with having a glass in front of them. There are different rules for kids and adults across the board – wearing a helmet when riding a bike is just one of them.

- madison on January 7th, 2008

Jaya is very cute and I would be surprised if she doesn’t sit in a car seat in the car. She should be wearing a helmet while she is strapped to the back of a bicycle on the streets of Santa Monica. I can almost guarantee that the culture, traffic, and driving personalities of people in Los Angeles is extremely different from that of the Netherlands. Nobody is proving anything by not wearing a helmet here in the United States, even if it doesn’t look cool. Playing chicken with cars and other wheeled traffic while out for a sightseeing bicycle stroll is not wise in my opinion. I doubt this is their mode of transportation to go about their daily chores.

- Heidi on January 7th, 2008

When my kids were 3 and 1, we had them both in one of those bike trailers and they were attached to my husband’s bike. When we were going up a hill, a piece of the trailer’s attachment broke, and the trailer detached and started to roll backwards down the hill and traveled about 25 feet before flipping over. Luckily we had both kids strapped in with the seatbelts and had helmets on both of them. They were terrified and screaming but unhurt. A police officer who saw it happen told us that if they weren’t wearing their helmets and seatbelts, they probably both would have suffered some head injuries and broken bones. So please put your kids in helmets just in case the unexpected happens!!!

- Beverley on January 7th, 2008

Enough of this cycling/helmet debate already. Someone should go tell Ben about it.
Sarita, are you an Indian, living in Netherlands?
I have a cousin named Sarita. I think this name is more common among Indians and Hispanics here in the US.

- boy123 on January 7th, 2008

Do the Pitts have the same one? (The bycicle thingy)

- Ida on January 7th, 2008

Jaya is darling, and a great picture. Last I heard of Laura Dern is when she broke up with Billy Bob Thorton. Is Ben her father? Their noses are very similar. Cute.

Now if the Judgemental Mommy Brigade would chill out, this could be an enjoyable discussion.

Sarah’s note: Yes, Ben is her father. They also have an older son, Ellery.

- J-Lin on January 7th, 2008

wow, how did I manage to survive? no one wore helmets for bike riding when I was a kid. Next thing you know they will require us to wear helmets when we are in a car…or walking near a road(some driver might run off the road you know)

- jeesh on January 7th, 2008

The thing is, she not only is not wearing a helmet, she isn’t strapped in either. You can tell by how far up she is sitting in the seat. It just looks extremely unsafe. So I would say it’s their choice about the helmet if she was properly strapped in, but being that she is clearly hanging out of that thing…

- Haylo on January 7th, 2008

Life is probably quite a bit different now than it was when you were a kid. It was a whole lot different when I was little. Biking on the street in traffic is also a whole lot different than walking. A whole lot different.

- Heidi on January 7th, 2008

boy123, I’m Dutch. I think my parents just liked the name

- Sarita on January 7th, 2008

Why aren’t they wearing helmets? Do you know that nurses call bike riders with helmets (both kinds) donormobiles?

- winecat on January 8th, 2008

wow! her husband is very yummy. good for her! baby is cute as well.

- m-dot on January 9th, 2008