3 year-ol Kai hopped on his balance bike after 3 months away a few weeks ago, thrilled to have his bicycle again. He began using the balance bike at 2, trying it out indoors at first until the weather improved. His balance steadily increased and he was ready to start cruising as soon as the sun appeared. His daring and bravery made us nervous at first, but we soon realized he could comfortably and safely chase after his siblings on their bikes and ride down a hill without his feet touching the ground.
Kai asked me to take a video the other day and it made me think of all of the questions I see parents asking about balance bikes online. While Kai is being a bit silly and doesn’t show off much balance in his regular riding, you can clearly see his balance and control as he takes three turns down a hill near our house. He’s accomplished this more times than I can count, without any major crashes or injury, and can stop himself comfortably.
We plan to transition Kai directly from a balance bike to a bicycle when he is ready, skipping training wheels. Those darn wheels seemed like more of an obstacle than help with our daughter and my husband even removed her pedals for a time so she could learn balance without anything in the way. Our family has tricycles, but Kai isn’t interested. He would much rather cruise around quickly and confidently on his balance bike.
Overall, I think the balance bike is an excellent investment and a great introduction to riding a bicycle for young children
Have you tried a balance bike for your child? What do you think?
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We have not. My husband said like you, that he planned on taking off the pedals and training wheels and starting our daughter on a slope. More like mountain! I guess this is probably how the balance bike idea started. Because ‘parents’ did it first!