What is the Best Age for a Balance Bike?

A close up of a little boy with blue Nike shoes, sitting on a wood and blue balance bike.

What is the Best Age for a Balance Bike?

Satisfying a child with a perfect gift is a serious challenge for parents. Kids are today flooded with tons of toys and games. Sometimes surprising them with something extraordinary is no easy feat.

So how do you combine a gift that is attractive for them and educational?

There are no two ways about it, a great gift is a bike.

With a good-quality bicycle, they will have fun and learn how to ride properly. To get them started, let’s focus on the balance bike.

What is a balance bike?

If you’ve never heard of a balance bike, you should know that’s not the only name of it. While shopping, you can come across such names as a run bike, no-pedal bike, or dandy horse.

It’s the type of training bicycle that helps children learn balance and steering.

What distinguishes it from a standard bike is the lack of pedals, drivetrain, chain, gears, and freewheel.

It can be both wooden and metal.

Some of them have brakes, with either air or foam tires. Also, most designs go with flat handlebars.

How does it work?

Most kids might wonder how the balance bike works if they can’t put their feet on pedals.

However, its usage is quite simple.

If they’ve mastered walking, they good to go. Firstly they walk while standing over the seat.

Then when they feel more comfortable, they can sit in the seat, putting both feet flat on the ground.

After some time, when a child is in their element, they can even start scooting and running.

What is the best age for a balance bike?

According to experts from the Parent Center Network, the best age for a balance bike is between 18 months to 5 years old. Basically when a child can already walk.

So, you can buy a run bike, even for your toddler.

It’s great training before they start riding a regular bike, which will become much simpler for them after using a balance bike. Mimi had a balance bike and loved it.

But, what about tricycles? You may think that they seem to be equally helpful in the learning process, right? The difference between a balance bike and a 3-wheeled bike is the speed with which a child can ride. Plus, the difficulty in riding on uneven surfaces.

The tricycle is much slower, can’t get everywhere, and can have direction problems.

Instead, the no-pedal bike focuses more on balancing a child rather than pedalling. This type of bike is also better for longer rides since it’s fast and easy to balance on all sorts of roads.

Most of all, it gives your kid a sense of freedom and excitement, encouraging them to spend more time in the open air with you and their peers.

How to teach a kid to ride a balance bike?

The next step is purchasing the right bicycle that is suitable for both their weight and height.

It’s always good to ask a salesperson which type they recommend for a particular age.

Once you buy it, it’s time to explain to your child how to use it. Show them to stand and slowly walk with them so that they feel comfortable and confident.

When they get this down, they can finally sit in the seat. You can even push them to walk.

After some time, you can show your kid that they can also use this bike to run. This will probably be the most exciting part for them.

Nancy Polanco is a freelance journalist, lifestyle content creator, and editor of Whispered Inspirations. She is a proud Mom to Gabby and Michaela and partner and best friend to Darasak. Having worked as part of a health care team for almost a decade, Nancy is happy to be back to her passion. She is a contributor to the Huffington Post, TODAY’s Parents, and an Oprah Magazine Brand Ambassador.

What is the Best Age for a Balance Bike?