Balance bike or normal bike with stabilisers?

[Bluebell121]

Hello , my daughters 3 in April and she's obsessed with her little brothers balance bike , ( he's not bothered about it at all) she goes on his all the time and asks me too take it to nursery for her , question is... do I get her a balance bike or a normal 12inch toddler bike? I'm really not sure she is really skinny and little I don't no if she will have the strength to push the peddles she really wants one but I'm not sure if she will be too old for a balance bike??

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Balance bike!

Balance bike!

Another vote for balance bike!

Balance bike! I have three boys. My middle one was the only child who had a balance bike and he learnt to ride a real bike without stabilisers teaching himself in an afternoon age 4. The other two didn’t learn until they were 6 and 8 - with lots of help and really painful, slow progress. They’d had stabilisers.

buy an ordinary bike and take the pedals off (a bike shop will remove the pedal mechanism for you for £10 if you aren't technically savvy)

once she can scoot along balance-bike style, get the pedals refitted and she will be able to start pedaling straight off with no need for stabilisers.

stabilisers teach the wrong skill. pedalling is easy. balancing is harder, and is made really hard by getting used to stabilisers, and by trying to pedal at the same time as first attempts to balance. much easier to focus on balancing first and add pedaling later.

Balance bike. My daughter had one from 18 months. She had a bike with pedals for her 3rd birthday and could ride it confidently a few days after that.

Get her a normal bike and take the pedals off to start with - it’s easy to do, and she can ride it just like a balance bike. When she can scoot along and balance, and you think she’s ready, put the pedals back on. She’ll be riding in no time, and you won’t have had to fork out for 2 different bikes. We did it with both my children, and they could both ride a bike by the time they turned 3.

Balance bike. You can even get some balance bikes that you can convert into pedal bikes, they are obvs more expensive though.

DS is a similar age (3 in March), we gave him a balance bike for Christmas and it took him a month or so to get used to it but he LOVES it now, I'm impressed by how quickly he took to it and he goes fast!

Any advice on how to get DS going on a balance bike? He has had one for over a year but just can’t get the hang of it.

I'm in two minds so bad! As my garden is massive but it's kind of down hill so I no the only time she could ride it comfortably is when we go out and I wouldn't be able to take her out on it all the time as I have a younger child too where as the balance bike she can go in the Garden because she wouldn't be have to push the peddles on the grass if you get me?

Never stabilizers.

At 3 both my kids could ride pedals, having come from balance bikes

@NewNameGuy yeah I thought so as stabilisers people think they help but it's like having to learn how to ride 2 times
Having to take them off

My kids can't ride bikes with stabilizers, its hilarious:)

We also got a bike and left the pedals off and then reattached them

Not sure why the grass is a problem it slows them down so they have to balance

Balance bike. Stabilisers are crap!

@GreenTulips my grass has got a hill and my little girl is only thin she hasn't got a lot of strength to push pedals on grass as I've read a lot of bikes are stiff

Hi,

We actually reviewed the best eight balance bikes of 2019. You might find it useful if you do decide to go for one.

Balance bike.

Remember also that for a young child it's a good thing if they're a little slow. They're not mature enough to notice everything around them and react, so you don't want them getting away from you too fast. That's why traditionally bikes weren't recommended until children were 5 or older because something something some sort of maturity level reached and you can read traffic better.

Balance bike - DS cycled a "big bike" from age 4 (we never had to teach him to cycle) as he had 2 years of a balance bike.

Quite interested in thus. I bought DD (now 2.9) a balance bike at Christmas and she us quite hesitant on it and hasn't yet been willing to ride it outside. Breaks my heart a bit to hear of 3 year olds riding pedal bikes when she probably won't be riding her balance bike at 3. Any tips for teaching her? I got her an Islabike so pretty light and easy to steer.

They all do it at different ages. It is very normal for 3&4 (and bigger) year olds to take time to figure out and become interested in balance bike.
Whatever the age, as everyone says balance or pedals removed to start, then pedals back in and away they go.

Ordinary bike with the pedals off, or balance bike if you don't mind the extra outlay.

Stabilisers are just awful.

Ugh, we're currently trying to teach my daughter how to ride a bike with no stabilizers after making the mistake of using them for ages. Shes got so many bad habits and it's so hard!

I'd get a balance bike. Normal bikes are often very difficult for little ones to peddle as their legs aren't strong enough.