Mini Kick or trike or balance bike?

[mjs64]

Which first, to be given as a Santa gift? DS will be 23 months at Xmas. At daycare, he loves, loves, loves the trikes. We haven't gotten one for him at home yet because he rides them there and we only have a small slab of concrete in the backyard. I was thinking still to get him a trike--but where would he ride it? The sidewalk? If so, maybe we should go straight to the scooter on the sidewalk or the balance bike (so we can ride bikes together).

His birthday is at the beginning of February, so we'll probably get him one of the other options then. Which one for Xmas, which one for bday? DS is very active and agile.

[Momit]

We prefer balance bikes to trikes. DS got his balance bike when he turned 2, but it took him a few months to "get" it. He got the mini kick at age 3 and took to it right away. Now at just over 4 he still uses both every day - it would be hard for me (and him) to say which is his favorite.

We still don't ride bikes as a family. Maybe some do at this age but I still walk while he rides. We go on the sidewalks in our neighborhood.

He does enjoy the trikes at preschool but the few times we've gone out with friends who have trikes, the trikes seem so slow and difficult to maneuver compared to the balance bike.

[KrystalS]

My DS turned 2 last month. He got a trike and won't ride it at all. I wish I had gotten one with a push bar. He tries to ride his sisters razor scooter all the time so we are getting him a Mini Kick scooter for Christmas. We have DD's old balance bike and he doesn't like it either. I really think this varies from kid to kid, some kids love trikes/bikes while others like scooters.

[peanut520]

We got dd a skuut balance bike for Christmas before her 2nd birthday (also in feb). She loved trikes at daycare and I thought it would translate to the balance bike, but I was wrong she much preferred riding the neighbors trike. She only likes the balance bike going down the driveway since there is a slope. The kids around here all use trikes and she had no one to model. I would take into consideration what do the kids in the neighborhood or parks you go to use?

[roseyloxs]

We have all 3 and the trike gets used the least by both of our kids. Unless your 23 month old is especially tall I might get the mini-kick first. Then the balance bike in Feb.

[BabyH]

DS got a ybike balance bike last Xmas when he was 20 months. He only used it for a few minutes, very slowly at first, but then he mastered it and began riding around our house and different parks (never without a helmet!) at warp speed! The best thing about the ybike is that it doesn't topple over when a kid gets off. The "dual wheels" keep it upright. When he started to look too big for it, we got him a Strider (Nitro Circus edition, because it just "fits" him...LOL) in July. Let me tell you, the kid is something else with the Strider. He is FAST! He hasn't had a spill yet, but it's awesome to see him just go for it! It's very different from the ybike, but he was able to ride it confidently right from the get-go because of his use of the ybike. When he plays with the trikes at school, he does seem to be fighting a bit of a learning curve, but he'll get there -- all kids do, right? I don't regret the two balance bike purchases. If you are thinking of going the route we did, I found the ybike at a Gilt sale and then bought the Strider from a home distributor BNIB.

[mjs64]

Wow, thanks so much for the helpful replies. No consensus, so I'll keep debating. Hmm. Maybe since he has the trikes at preschool, a balance bike for home for now. Then see in Feb based on how the b bike went.

I'll have to look at the y-bike too!

[BabyH]

I thought I'd add, you could go to YouTube and watch different videos about balance bikes. I never even knew they existed until this forum! But I think the best thing about the balance bikes is there's really no frustration level - it's as if they are instantly learning about balance, direction and speed. It's automatic fun, versus (IMHO) teaching the whole pedaling aspect!