Roller Blade / Roller Skate

[sandwish]

My DD, age 6, wants a pair of roller skates. Is this too early? Is it better to start off with roller skates or roller blades? I've never roller bladed before, so I'm not sure what it is like.

What brands would you recommend?

[KpbS]

At my DS1's school (last year) all of the K3, K4, and Kindergarten students roller skated regularly. I think roller skates are far easier than roller blades. There are quite a few different brands of skates out there. We bought a couple second hand (but in great shape) our current pair looks like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Boys-Roller-...item3a6a2b4b3c

[kijip]

Many kids find blades easier than skates. My husband can actually not manage skates at all but he is fine on blades. The longer base makes them easier.

However. I skate roller derby so roller blades are a dirty word in my house.

We plan to start F when he is maybe 4 so I do not think 6 is too young.

T has great Carreras that I got on consignment. Normally though, I would not buy those for a kid. We got a screaming deal. His next pair will not be so nice unless someone consigns some in a bigger size. The plates, trucks and wheels on his skates are amazing. I may just buy him boots (the shoe part) when he outgrows these and attach the wheels, plates and trucks he has now.

Super cheap skates are much harder to learn on and in my opinion dangerous since if it is hard to skate, it is easier to get injured. I would avoid any with plastic wheels and without decent bearings. The ones at Target are not good IMO. I would order online unless you have a skate shop nearby. These are ok starters for little kids to learn on:

http://www.lowpriceskates.com/galaxy-girls.aspx

These are better wheels for sure and what I would buy for a new and young kid skater:

http://www.lowpriceskates.com/white-bullet-skates.aspx

Wrist guards are my other bit of advice...kids always want to break their fall with their hands and little wrists get hurt easily.

[baileygirl]

DS1 got rollerblades (from Sports Authority) around the time he turned 4. He LOVES them. He hasn't mastered stopping though, and likes to go faster then I would like (i.e. down hills). I had a hard time finding them small enough and finding pads that fit him well. I should add that he already knew how to ice skate well when we got the rollerblades.

[sandwish]

Thanks for the advice. I decided to get DD Rollerblades, Phaser. I liked how they span 4 sizes so she can wear them for awhile. Here is the NW, it will be cold/wet soon enough, so these will really get their wear next year. I found a pair through Amazon Warehouse deals used/repackaged.

I also got her a full set of pads, wrist, elbow and knee. I bought those at Big5 because I wanted to make sure she had them right away and that they fit. Online seemed to be a bit tricky to make sure they fit right. The set I bought her seems to fit fine.

Still waiting for the blades to arrive.