Todder Bikes/balance Bikes

Children for years have been learning to ride bikes without having a special bike, other than training wheels to learn. My kids received razors(scooters) and learned to balance on those and then picked up a bike in a very short amount of time. At 2 1/2 even if she is the size of a 3 1/2 year old she may not yet have the cognitive skill needed to either peddle or do anything but push with her feet. She may even not want to do this yet. I have an almost 2 1/2 year old and all the interest is not there and even though the desire to scoot is there the skill is not there for the actual ride. Get an inexpensive bike with well put on training wheels and closely supervise as it is still possible to fall, can't imagine you'd leave a child that young very far away anyway.

Hi E.. Both my children have their own balance bikes. My daughter has been on one since she turned 3 (one year ago) and my son started riding hers since he turned 2 (he also rode the tricycle). They are currently 4 and almost 3

There is no way my kids are ready for a regular bike this year. I might be wrong, but I don't see the real bike happening for a couple more years. In the first place, my kids are much to young to allow to ride on the street -- so they don't really get enough practice to become appropriately proficient on the bikes. (There's only so much speed you can build-up on the driveway!) Second, I think it really does depend upon the child, and I'll bet my son will be ready before his sister. But I can't imagine him moving to a real bike next year when he turns 4. I'll keep him on the balance bike until he gets older/bigger/taller.

We absolutely love the bikes and are happy with them. If you have any other questions about them, feel free to send me a message!

I would not buy a bike from Walmart. I have had really bad experiences buying one they put together. The ones I bought for my girls: the first ones (smaller) were missing bolts and then the bigger ones later were put together wrong and the frame was rubbing the wheel. I was told that they jsut have whoever is working in the area put them together. A friend of mine worked at Toys R Us and told me that even though they do not have "experts" put the bikes together, they are inspected before put on the floor or given to you if you get one from the back and ask for it to be assembled. I bought bikes some time ago from TRU and only paid about $29. Buy just a bit bigger and it will be good for next year too. A 12 or 16 inch she should be able to stand or at least tiptoe.

I think balance bike is a great idea, I always wanted one for our boys, but they are just so darn expensive. When taking the pedals off the regular bike make sure that the bike itself is light (balance bikes are very light) I tried doing it for our 4 year old but it just did not work since bike was too heavy to keep up.

I wanted to get my daughter a balance bike too. But, they are so expensive! I almost got one, with the idea that cousins & future siblings could use it later, we just didn't have the money. So, instead I just got her a 10 inch bike & never attached the pedals & training wheels. I was so excited to give it to her, but she wasn't as excited about it as I'd hoped. She's only played with it briefly a few times. She's still more interested in pedaling her tricycle! She just turned 4, so maybe she will be interested in it more this Spring/Summer.

Perhaps you could try the same idea. My daughter is small for her age, so you might be able to get your daughter a 12 inch bike. You just have to make sure she can comfortably reach the ground with both feet while sitting on the bike.

I figured even if I had gotten an actual balance bike first, I still would have had to buy a pedal bike when she was ready for it!

My son had a balance bike and it was the greatest thing ever. We got it when he was 3 and he rode it that entire summer. It only takes them a few days to get used to it, and by the end of the summer he was going so fast on it, it amazed us. We would ride out own bikes beside him through the neighborhood. Then when he was almost 4 we bought him a pedal bike WITHOUT training wheels and he could ride it after practicing one day because he had the balance concept down (we just held the back of the seat and ran down the sidewalk with him). I would recommend getting a bike at a bike store - support the little guy, get great service, they can measure your daughter to see what size to get, etc. One other thing, for the pedal bike, we bought one that has both seats and handle bars that can be adjusted. We just got the bike out the other day after winter and we adjusted the seat and handle bars and the bike will last for another season (now the 3rd). Plus, if you spend a little more to get a good bike, it will be sturdy enough to last a few seasons. My son is very rough on things, rides through mud, etc. and his bike is keeping up with him.

My son (now four and riding a 16" bike better than most 6 or 7 year olds... can take it down ramps over curbs, stand up to pedal etc.) had a wooden balance bike and we loved it!

He had a bike with training wheels for a while before we got the balance bike, and if I had it to do over again I NEVER would use training wheels. They are really dangerous... when he was riding down the sidewalk, if one of the trainers would go into the grass, the whole bike would stop moving, or worse, fall over.

Anyway, a little after he turned three I got him a balance bike. It took him about a day to feel comfortable gliding much on it, a week later he was zipping around the neighborhood and even taking it on ramps at the school where I work. He could go way faster than any of the neighbor kids riding bikes with trainers, but he never fell because he could just stop running so fast.

About 8 weeks later, he picked out a 12 inch bike at Walmart. I took off the training wheels and made sure the seat was adjusted so that he could touch the ground with flat feet. We went to the park, and he dragged it to the top of a hill, coasted down with his feet behind him (like he would have with the balance bike), then put his feet on the pedals and kept riding! Ten minutes later, he rode down the block to show our friends.

Look on craigslist for a used balance bike, people are always selling them. Even if you have to pay full price, they are worth it... great for bike riding, but also coordination in general.

Hope this helps,
T.

not sure if i'm grasping the concept, but if a balance bike is simply to teach them balance, why buy one, then in a few weeks/months have to buy a regular bike? that's the beauty of a bike with training wheels - when they are ready to learn, just take the training wheels off. right? maybe i'm missing something. anyway, i was going to tell you, my son is 3 1/2 and is about 45 inches tall (almost 4 feet) already - people think he's a kindergartener. we just went to walmart last night and got him a 16" bike (it was the next step up from the smallest one), it has training wheels already, which come right off when he's ready. it was right around $50 and he LOVES it. all kids love bikes tho - i'm sure she'll love whatever you get her!

My husband got a very small bike from a garage sale, took the pedals and chain off, and presto - instant balance bike for $5. It worked amazingly well w/my two boys. We've loaned it to friends who've all loved it, and my daughter will use it maybe next summer (she just turned 3).

pedaling is a major skill to learn. I would not do a balance bike for that reason. It is VERY hard to find small bikes or larger tricycles but they can be found. The balance bike is not a needed nor appropriate toy in my opinion as an early childhood educator who knows what skills they need to learn at what ages.
Try Toys R Us for bikes - they have a great selection and many to try.

We took a very small bike (maybe with 12 inch wheels) that we got for $10 at a yard sale and just took a wrench and removed the pedals. My son kicked around on that with his feet for about 3 months last summer and then asked me to put the pedals back on. He was riding a 2-wheeler by himself (no training wheels) at 3 years 2 months! I am 100% convinced that a balance bike is a great idea, but also 100% convinced that you shouldn't bother purchasing a special balance bike. Just take the pedals off a small bike. Check craigslist - maybe you can find one for cheap.

We never used balance bikes for our boys, and both were riding two wheels (no training wheels) at age 3. We just took the training wheels off and let them go, they both got it right away and had no problems. They both learned on a 12" Tonka bike from Wal Mart the summer they turned 3.

Try Craig's list. they are often on there. My sons are very big for their age so the balance big was too small for them by the time they were ready for it...but our neighbor's son was riding a two-wheeler at 3 yrs old after a few months with the balance bike.

You can get a brand new Strider balnce bike shipped to you from Zoolu for $74 if you buy this Mamapedia deal:

http://deals.mamapedia.com/deals/zoolu?ref_data=zoolu&amp...