When we were in Nova Scotia, my Bestest Buddy and honorary second godmother to Owl (she couldn’t make it to his Christening) got to see him for the first time since he was 6 weeks old.
She brought him a little gift. And by “little” I mean “a giant three foot long cardboard box”.
Inside it was, no word of a lie, a two wheeled bike.
For the 20 month old.
At first I thought it was a trike, but she quickly explained that there were only two wheels.
I was touched, because I LOVED my bike when I was a kid, and I do want Owl to get his butt on one ASAP, but I thought she was crazy. Owl still gets tangled on his own feet. (Just today I watched him trap himself in a weird downward dog position with by pushing a ball between his legs and then trying to retrieve it with one arm on either side of his right leg. It was highly amusing to watch.)
“He may not be big enough for it yet,” said Bestest Buddy.
You think?
“There aren’t any pedals, either,” she explained.
“No pedals?”
It turns out that this bike works kind of like a scooter. It’s meant to be low enough that the kid can sit astride with his feet flat on the ground, and push himself along. Instead of training wheels, his own feet provide balance and stability. As he gains confidence and speed, he can lift his feet up for short distances, and coast. When he wobbles, down go the feet.
Apparently kids can learn to ride a standard bike by age 4 on one of these things. Youtube is full of videos of toddlers basically riding them like a two wheeled bike.
Owl has a Norco Run Bike, not a Strider, but the principle is the same.
What a brilliant frigging idea.
I’m sure lots of you have probably seen these, but they are entirely new to me. After lunch I insisted on putting Owl on the bike.
He was very excited about it (“bike! bike!”) but sadly, it’s still a good inch or more too high for him. He can just barely touch the ground on his tiptoes.
I have never particularly minded that Owl is small for his age. I am always amused when my friends’ much younger babies surpass him in weight, and I actually feel for parents whose kids are unusually big, because people often expect more from them. There’s a baby in Owl’s daycare who looked like a two year old when he turned one, and the mother said she got a lot of flack from people who said he should be walking and talking. Meanwhile people think Owl is advanced for his age, because he looks younger than he really is.
So I have never really minded having a baby who is in the 15th percentile.
Until now.
it fits fine as long as he doesn’t SIT on it…
Because DAMN, I want to get him on that bike.
If By Yes 
I have seen them about, but none as flash as that one. Go Owl!! 🙂
My friend said she trawled several stores to find one that didn’t look
a) stupid
b) plastic
She wanted to find one that looked like a real bike in miniature, and finally found it at a bike shop.
My nephew has one, but at 3.5 is still figuring it out. He certainly doesn’t ride it like the kids in the video.
My husband will buy on for my son as soon as his feet will touch the ground when sitting on it, I’m sure. He rode a bike ridiculously early and desperately wants our son to do the same
I can’t wait to see our kids out biking together. The world would die of the combined cuteness/
I’ll get on the bike front. RuRu is almost big enough, even if he’s a little young agewise
Hugh has had one for a couple of years now and has loved it. Owl will get the hang of it pretty much as soon as he is big enough. However, we haven’t found that it has made the transition to a pedal bike easy, because (Hugh being Hugh) he doesn’t want to learn to ride a pedal bike because he loves his balance bike too much. Even though it is so small for him now he practically has to wrap his knees around his head to get his feet off the ground.
I don’t blame him. *I* want one.
Aren’t they cool! We had an easy and young transition to bike because of our Strider. The appeal of a bell on the bike with pedals helped P move on when he was 4. We just had to get a seat extender so D, who is tall for a barely-3, can keep riding it for another year.
I have seen these bikes and read the principle, but never really understood like you’ve explained here! I want one for my kids now! I totally get you on that too…I wan to put my 21 month old on a bike ASAP. Could be because one of my old neighbors was a little girl who was riding a tricycle before she was 2. She was on the big side though.
I love these things. I have a Skut bike for the daycare. Same deal, very nice, all wood with padded leather seat. I think they’re brilliant, because *I don’t have to hold onto the back*. My back is very, very grateful for this…
Kick bikes are awesome – all the kids with crazy biker parents use them!
Saw these in Europe and thought they were ingenious. When it came time for my kiddos to learn to ride, I had them use their feet to propel themselves like you would on one of these. Yes, the pedals did get in the way a bit, but it seemed to help them figure out their balance.
Owl will be whizzing down the street in no time! 🙂