Life hasn’t always been easy for our surviving triplet. After a difficult start, being born more than 17 weeks premature, we weren’t sure whether our daughter would ever walk on her own. She faced a number of challenges and delays in the first few years of life and saw more doctors than many of us see in a lifetime. So imagine the joy we see now that Peyton is on the move and riding a bike, thanks to Strider.
Because of her medical issues, Peyton spent years working with several specialists, speech and developmental, as well as occupational and physical therapy. She would fall easily when she would start to run, and often flailed her arms to try and gain her balance. Her therapists had mentioned a balance bike, but we already had a bicycle with training wheels, so we never took their advice. Boy were we wrong!
For the past year, Peyton has opted to ride her scooter around the neighborhood instead of her bicycle. That’s because she fell too often and the bike intimidated her. Even with training wheels, she would steer into the grass and or curb and fall over. So the bike has stayed tucked deep inside our garage.
That all changed this fall when Strider offered to let Peyton try their 14x Sports Balance Bike. It’s geared towards ages 3-7 and converts from a balance bike (with no pedals) to an actual bike with pedals and gears.
Within two outings on the balance bike, Peyton had the hang of her new Strider. She quickly learned to balance on two wheels, something that wasn’t possible with her traditional bike with training wheels. This new Strider forced her to learn to balance and steer at the same time.
To be honest, I had heard of balance bikes for the past few years, but I never looked into them. For preemies like Peyton, it makes the world of a difference! Now instead of insisting on using her scooter, my child always opts for her Strider 14x. It took only a couple of months of practice and now she’s more than ready for my husband to install the pedal kit, transforming to her first bike without training wheels. Thanks Strider!
(Disclosure: We received the 14x bike from Strider in order to share our opinion about the product.)
Sounds awesome! My grandson was born with mild cp and was never able to learn to ride a bike. Wish these had been around when he was younger he might have learned. So happy for Peyton’s progress!