DS ignored the balance bike....

[arivecchi]

We celebrated DS1's bday yesterday. He totally ignored his new Specialized Hotwalk bike and played with all the other toys he got instead. Will this change or should I just retun the darn bike?

[jeno]

xxxxxxx

[bubbaray]

I'm totally in the minority here, but I just do not "get" the balance bike concept. Personally, I would return it and get either a trike or a regular bike with pedals and training wheels.

DD#1 was around 2 when she started riding a 12" bike with training wheels (prior to that used a trike). DD#2 isn't really "riding" on the 12" bike -- she uses it, but DH mainly pushes her. She no longer likes the trike, though. Its for babies, LOL.

JMHO.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I like the idea of them in theory but in practice I would totally get my kid something like an awesome Big Wheels instead. It might be a plastic trike but they are so, so much fun!

Beth

[o_mom]

DS1 took some time to warm up to his, but once he did it was a really great thing for him. Finding a fairly open area with a gentle slope was key to him learning to glide on it. Once he did that, he rapidly learned to balance and then never needed training wheels, which I was afraid to use with him (he doesn't transition well and I had a feeling if we did training wheels it would be a very long time before he let us take them off).

If you can try it somewhere like that, see if he is more into it. It doesn't look very exciting compared to a pile of toys, so I wouldn't judge it based just on the day of the pary.

[baileygirl]

DS (3 as of Friday) got a strider bike a year ago, and never really got into it (maybe he was still too young). My parents gave him a Trek Jet 16 inch for his birthday, and so far he really loves it. He is able to ride a lot further then he was able to on the smaller bike. That said, at the bike store he really had fun with the 12 inch Specialized Hotwalk.

[ged]

call me mean, but *I* personally preferred the balance bike so that's what we got my DD. My DD had plenty of opportunities to ride trikes around at school, so I did not feel like I was depriving her of anything. She took to it just fine, and loved having it eventually.

But more specifically, I would not return a gift just b/c he didn't play with it right away. Many times it takes a little while before my DD would start playing regularly with something. I am *still* waiting for her to take to her dollhouse I got for her 3rd birthday....and she's now 4.5 (OK, I know that is an extreme example).

[hellokitty]

I feel your pain. DS1 was not at all interested in our balance bike (I got the target one on clearance a few yrs ago) until after DS2 suddenly showed an interest over this summer and now it is pretty much too small of a bike for DS1. He still is not as interested in it as DS2 is. I'd return it, esp if you got an expensive one. I'd recommend that if your younger child becomes interested in one later, buy one used. I got lucky that I only spent $20 on ours. If I would have paid full retail, I would have been really irritated that we spent that much for a bike that has gotten very little use.

[elektra]

Oh bummer. It's such a cool gift! I would give him a little time to warm up to it before considering returning it. But yah, if he still shows no interest after a week or so, I might return it.

[brittone2]

Have you tried showing him a youtube clip or similar video clip of kids riding balance bikes? DS got a Puky for his 3rd bday and was obsessed with watching the kids on the gliderrider site riding their balance bikes. I think seeing it helped him figure out how to really get going on it (vs. just walking on it).

I'd give him time to see if he warms up to it. At least start w/ a video if you haven't yet and see if it sparks any interest.