2 wheel scooters

[MummyToToby]

a spin to the swimming thread:
when could your child ride one of these?

[Earlybird]

DD is 5, and got one for her birthday in February. She is still learning how to push off, glide and balance. Her initial method of propelling herself left her exhausted after only a short distance. My guess is she'll have it mastered within another month.

[Anchovy]

DH - 4.6 - has had one for about 6 weeks. His style owes more to enthusiasm than technique. I took him to school on it this morning and it wasn't necessarily any faster than walking. but I think in another 4-6 weeks he'll be pretty good - already doing some dangerous experimenting with braking.

[pebblemum]

My 2.7yr old has a 3wheeled one which he rides extremely well but for some reason he prefers his big brothers 2 wheel one. Hes good on that one too hence the newly aquired grey hairs, he doesnt know the meaning of the word 'brake' and just carries on full speed round the corners. He can also ride a bike (with stabilisers but they are coming off soon)so maybe he is just good with balancing or just not scared of anything

[MummyToToby]

bump

[TwoToTango]

I am so pleased to see this thread. My ds is 5.5 and his 3 wheeled scooter is now too small. We want to get him a 2 wheeled one. I like the inline ones with small wheels which can be folded and easily transported. My dh says we should get one with big wheels as they are safer - can't trip up on paving stones etc. I would welcome anyones throughts/experiences.
He is very good at balancing and has been riding his bike without stabilisers since he was 3.

[LIZS]

ds had one at 4 but couldn't really ride it properly then (he has motor and balance problems). He's now 8 and over the past year or two has become more confident. Just bought him a Flashing Storm to replace the original one which came apart and lost a wheel ! dd is 4 and got a 3 wheel Princess one for the Christmas after her 3rd b'day and could use it straight away.

[brimfull]

My ds started riding his older sisters two wheeler one(the metal fold up type) at about 2.5 yrs.He now zips around at a ridculous rate mainly on one foot.We haven't yet taken the stabilisers off his bike yet as they slow him down so it's less scary for me.
As pebblemum said some are early balancers.I would get the folding one as it will last years and they're pretty good at going over bumps.

[MummyToToby]

WOW, just speaking to a woman who's little boy had a 3 wheeler scooter at 10 months (he walked at 8) a 2 wheeler one at 16 months and learnt to ride his bike stabiliser free at 2!i am amazed!she said he too had the fold up metal kind and were great for goign round corners and over bumps etc to i'd say go for it two for tango. also much easier to put in the car and take on holiday or to friends etc

[MummyToToby]

WOW, just speaking to a woman who's little boy had a 3 wheeler scooter at 10 months (he walked at 8) a 2 wheeler one at 16 months and learnt to ride his bike stabiliser free at 2!i am amazed!she said he too had the fold up metal kind and were great for goign round corners and over bumps etc to i'd say go for it two for tango. also much easier to put in the car and take on holiday or to friends etc

[MummyToToby]

apparently she got him the bike at 13 months as he was keen to copy his older brothers and sisters - and has now just learnt to swim at 3 and a bit. she is one brave lady IMO!!

[TwoToTango]

Thanks for advice about folding scooters.
That little boy sounds really advanced - I bet she has a few grey hairs!!

[MummyToToby]

he does doesn't he!!she was just looking at some old photos of him at 8 months on one of those sit and ride toys. must have looked ever so funny!!

[TwoToTango]

Just been to Argos and spent £9.99 on their folding 2 wheeled scooter. It has slightly bigger wheels than some I have seen. Ds is zipping around the garden on it. The best tenner i've spent this week

[MummyToToby]

aw glad to hear that he likes it-great price as well!well i'm off to take my 3 year old cousins swimming now, just bought them both some swim vests as a treat cos a swim teacher on here advised they were much more suitable than arm bands..

[MummyToToby]

yay swimming was a great success, they really enjoyed themselves. i'm tired out though now!! speaking of these advanced babies when we came out of the leisure centre i saw a little boy pedalling a trike. he looked tiny so i felt inclined to be nosey and ask his mum how old he was - 10 months can you believe!!

[spursmum]

A word of warning over the 2 wheel fold up scooters-I got ds one as he kept stealing my cosuins. He was fine for a few weeks until he hit a hole in the pavement and ended up face first in the ground missing a tooth and split mouth that required stitches!!
He now has a BMX style scooter that goes over anything and a lot less stress for me!

[TwoToTango]

OMG - Pedalling a trike at 10m - I sure one day we will hear of a 5 year old climbing Everest!!
Kids seem to do everything so much earlier nowadays.

[Bink]

dd (now 5.5) was given one for her 4th birthday, when ds was 5.5. We tried it out and both of them were nowhere near - they could only do that hopping-while-falling-over thing. So it gathered dust till this winter, when I decided we had to make a project of it.

Ds (just 7) is now pretty much OK using (ie balancing on) his right foot; bit clumsy but getting there with his left.

Dd is getting there with her right foot, but still hops-and-collapses when she tries to use her left.

I do not have physically adept children - think someone mentioned "late balancers" - that's them!