I decided a while back that I wanted Mira to have a balance bike (also called a pre-bike or a running bike) rather than one of the more traditional options of 1) a tricycle or 2) a bike with training wheels. A balance bike seems to me like a smarter option for so many reasons. It is much easier for little ones to control and more intuitive to use. It also facilitates learning to balance much more than a trike or training wheels.
We gave Mira her balance bike for her second birthday, which is a little on the young end, but still she took to it so quickly. I was so pleased. Here's a video of her first bike ride ever. She had a little trouble figuring out how to mount it, but once she was positioned on it, she knew instinctively what to do.
These next videos were taken a little over a month later. You can see, she's really getting the hang of it: the position of her hands on the handlebars is more natural, her steering is much better, and she's willing to sit on the seat, which shows that she's starting to trust the bike.
Since she has a more cautious nature, this bike is perfect for her because she can really feel completely in control the entire time. She's small, but the bike is so lightweight that even she can maneuver it on her own. Also, the seat and handlebars are very adjustable, able to accommodate kids as small as Mira all the way up to 5-year-olds. Anyway, Mira really likes her bike. Soon I'm sure she'll discover that she can pick up her feet on the downhill and then she'll really take off.
1 comment:
I like how small that bike is... we got Donovan a balance bike when he was about 2, but he's *just now* getting to be tall enough to have his feet comfortably on the floor while on the bike. I need to pull it out again and try it with him, but wonder if he'll be that interested since he's already so used to his regular bike... We may have to keep one like Mira's in mind for when Quinn's old enough to try it out.
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