"Balance Bikes" (no pedals) for Preschooler

[Anonymous]

PP, and I should add that bike store recommended against it for a newly-two-year-old who likely has at least a year or perhaps 2-3 on the balance bike. May be different advice for an older child who will be riding pretty quickly.

[Anonymous]

We bought a balance bike for our daughter and we thought she'd love it since she was so adventurous (loves climbing, jumping from heights, etc) -- didn't take to it. Got her a bike with training wheels and she loves it and now asks to go biking.

[Anonymous]

Our now 4.5 year old had one since about 2.5 and learned to glide/balance pretty well with it, but still struggled when transitioning to a regular bike without training wheels (he now mostly has the hang of it but needs help getting started).

[Simon123]

Anonymous wrote:We bought a balance bike for our daughter and we thought she'd love it since she was so adventurous (loves climbing, jumping from heights, etc) -- didn't take to it. Got her a bike with training wheels and she loves it and now asks to go biking.

Our DS is the same active way, and my instincts tell me he will prefer pedals as well. But i think those who are adventurous tend to be coordinated so it shouldn't take them to long to ride a bike.

[Anonymous]

we love our balance bike. My son started using it at 2 and was riding a regular bike bt 3.75, never used training wheels. However, as others have stated I am not sure i would get a balance bike for a 4 yr old. Most balance bikes have 12 inch wheels and will be too small for a 4 yr old.

[Anonymous]

We did balance bike right at 2. he also had a four wheel tractor that taught him to pedal. At 3 we got him a regular bike and never did the training wheels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did balance bike right at 2. he also had a four wheel tractor that taught him to pedal. At 3 we got him a regular bike and never did the training wheels.

pp here. Forgot to mention that the strider was tough right at first, then he saw a neighbor kid on hers, and as soon as he saw how it worked, it clicked. I would suggest taking your LO to a park or to someone's house that knows how to ride one.

[Anonymous]

My DS rode a Strider balance bike starting at age 1.5 bit didn't learn to ride a bike with pedals until age 4. He LOVED his Strider but I think you might have a hard time finding a balance bike that will fit a 4 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we love our balance bike. My son started using it at 2 and was riding a regular bike bt 3.75, never used training wheels. However, as others have stated I am not sure i would get a balance bike for a 4 yr old. Most balance bikes have 12 inch wheels and will be too small for a 4 yr old.

This. They are really meant for 2-3 year olds.

[Anonymous]

My dd's had a balance bike at 2, 3, 4, but they just didn't like it. Finally gave in and got the bike with the training wheels. They loved that bike.

[Anonymous]

My 4 year old complains the balance bike has no pedals. The longest I've gotten him on it is 10 minutes at a time.