Leap pad and balance bike or my first scooter?

[Mummy0786]

I am trying to be mega prepared and take advantage of some of the sales!
Next year for Christmas we are going to
Center parcs so need to really consider what I can fit in the car, really like the idea of a leap pad and either a balance bike or my first scooter for our daughter who will be 2 years 6 months old.
What are your thoughts/ experiences with these products?
Thanks x

My first scooter is fantastic, it saw DS through from age 2 to 5 DD has been using the same one from age 2 and is now 4 can't rate it enough.
We had a balance bike but it was barely used and have never bought a kids tablet as DH is techy and our children have always used our smart phones or their grandparents ipad.

Our scooter was a bigger hit than balance bike too.

DS was 2 - 21/2 and that was a year ago.

Balance bike is still largely ignored at the moment but I'm sure he will grow into it.

Thanks! I am really torn as husband really wants a bike but from this think we should go scooter! X

My ds took a while to get used to his balance bike but loved it in the end.
Could you get the bike for her 3rd birthday?

My two loved their balance bikes and it got them onto a proper bike with no stabilisers.

I don't think a 2yr old needs a tablet. Take a phone with some apps and some toys.

A balance bike depends on their size, dd is too small at 2yrs to fit on any in the shops safely. Ds has had a scooter from 2yrs and he still loves it. Just converted it to 2 wheels so he can learn to balance.

Daughter had a balance bike at 2.5 years and now at nearly 3 thinks it is the best thing ever! Doesn't do scooters. To be honest I think the balance bike needs more skill to use and get going so children need to stick with them a bit, other friends child had one and because she couldn't go fast on bike to start with, have up! And We are similar to above, daughter uses our iPad/iPhones with supervision and better kids apps available on this I think. Can very much recommend Isla bikes for balance bike.

Balance bike - unless your daughter is very petite indeed she will be easily tall enough for the smallest Puky and most likely tall enough for the medium Puky (brand). My kids have all lived on Puky balance bikes at age 2 and been riding normal bikes without stabilizors between 2.5 and 3. Then again they did get the nikes ling before scooters, and see scooters as toys. The balance bike is real transport - given a few days practice befire you go, a 2.5 year old will go an awful lot further and faster on a balance bike than a scootet (my middle one easily did the 8km round trip to Kindergarten on his at 2.5, to drop his sister off - we have cycle paths totally away from the roads where we live, and I had to cycle too to keep up).

We've never had scooters here.
DS1 got a balance bike at 3, mastered it in about a day and at 4 is whizzing round on a proper bike. He could do several miles on the balance bike (in chunks) over a day easily on the bb.
DS2 inherited the bb at 2. It took him a couple of months to get used to it (he insisted on a bike helmet, and then pushed it around - even slower than him walking), and now at 2y7m will happy pootle around.

Using a spanner to loosen off the handle bars, and the bb took very little space up - it basically was flat, and went on top of the bags in the boot.

Interesting to hear all the balance bike success stories. I've inly ever heard good things about them which is why we bought one. But I think we got the timing wrong as he was too small for it and so of course was not interested.

We then went on to a scooter instead and he is incredibly fast on it. So now he always chooses scooter in preference to balance bike although I'd really like to see him take an interest in it, sooner or later he will want to learn to ride a bike and balance bike is the best way forward for this I'm told.

Im surprised to see posters say their kids went really fast on the balance bikes though, I've only ever seen kids tentatively wobbling their way around and seem to be much less fun than the scooter!

They will default to a scooter if it's there as they are slightly easier to master. Mine got on a balance bike at about 3. Could cover a lot of distance as they don't tire so much coz they are sitting down. It's definitely the way forward in teaching them to ride a bike. Avoid stabilisers at all costs. Try saying we're not using scooter for a week and if you try really hard on bike then you get a treat and either way they get the scooter back at the end of the week

Definitely a balance bike. Both my children have loved theirs and zoomed around on them. Good exercise for me and the dog as we had to run to keep up! They can also go much longer distances on a bike than on a scooter. Plus it is an easy transition to a pedal bike. DS was riding a pedal bike with no stabilisers at 2yrs 9mos.

laughing no tentative wobbling here - is the tentative wobbling children who have only had access to them on bumpy, slanting, pot-holed pavements? Both my boys were heart-in-mouth fast on them long before their 2nd birthdays - feet up down hills with me panting along behind, until I took to my bike too to keep up.

Its easier to brake with your feet on a balance bike too than a scooter, when they do reach speed they are much more in control on slopes than on scooters - I think they are safer.

We have defintiely never needed to bribe the kids to use them, in fact my middle one would have taken "ding-ding" to bed with him if he could (he was riding a proper bike without stabilizors at 2 and 9 months too Marrow - the same week he came out of nappies! though my daughter was 3.5 - she didn't get a balance bike til her 2nd birthday though, late starter compared to DS1 who picked his sister's up ad took it over when he was 16 months)

I say balance bike too. we had the smallest Puky at 19 months. ds was riding a pedal bike before he was out of nappies or could talk (22 months!)

Wow thanks everyone!!i think we will be going for a the bike now, had a look at the puky ones and love them. Need to try fond somewhere that has them in stock so I can go test, also love all the accessories you can get for them. X

I've benefitted from this thread too because its given me a renewed enthusiasm to reintroduce the balance bike. Now, where did I put it? I think it's in the shed!