Bicycle for 3 Years Old

I would recommend telling him you will be buying him a bicycle. 3 year olds are smart and babies certainly can not "bring" a bicycle. This is a way bigger stretch than Santa who is a large capable man with transportation means.

From a mom who has had her son point out all the non-sensical things I say!
Good luck bike hunting.

Really, a three-year-old bike he will outgrow rather quickly. My son outgrew his, size-wise, by about 5 1/2 years old so I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it. He actually got the bike from Santa at 2.7 years and was riding without training wheels before his 3rd birthday, in May. If your son's large motor skills are that good, you will be extra-busy this May!!!

My son's first bike was from Toy's R Us. It was some off brand (even places like Sam's Club and Costco carry cool boys bikes in season). He was always on his bike and surprisingly, it lasted for a long time (just tossed it out last year - he had high hopes of painting it and keeping it as a second bike - he's going on 11.) We bought a second bike, for his birthday, just before 1st grade.

Toy's R Us (Schwinn) aren't like the old Schwinn's. My daughter bought a Schwinn bike there, when she was going into 3rd grade and it lasted only a couple years because it just fell apart - very disappointing. Her bike before that was a Huffy and she just outgrew it.

I'd go for the color and fit - I love the fact that it's a "baby" present to the big brother! My daughter was 3 when my son was born and the "baby" gave HER a present, too. Not quite as big but was very meaningful. Now, they are 13 1/2 and 10 1/2 and maybe that's why she adores him to this day! Great age difference. Congratulations!

Our little guy just got a Skuut for Christmas- it has no pedals, so it teaches them balance and then they skip training wheels altogether. They're much more popular in Europe than in the US, but they can be found at some retail stores. It's made of wood, and the seat can be adjusted really easily to make sure the size is right. They're a load of fun, and easy to manage. The design is much cuter than some of the other balance bikes I've seen too. Good luck!
www.skuut.com

Don't put that much thought into it ... The size you'll buy him @ this age will only last (max) 3 summers. Buy cheap (garage sale or walmart with training wheels-- about $65). Take your child with you to try for fit.

If you need more expertise, there is a wonderful bike shop on Main Street, Lombard -- west side, btwn jewel & dairy queen.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2408834

This is the bike I bought my almost 4 y.o son last summer after he turned 3. It is the perfect size for him (he is kind of tall) and he can ride it perfectly. he loves it and I expect that he will get plenty of use out of it again this summer
Cute idea by the way! Congrats

Whatever you decide, make sure it fits for size. I bought my 4 year old her first actual bike for Christmans and bought it too tall. She has gotten over it and can ride it now but at Christmas she was scared as hell to even get on it even though it had training wheels! So again just make sure that it fits his height. And that is a darling idea having the new baby bring the brother a gift! Very Cute!

I also got a Thomas bike for my 3 year old last year (the one posted in the link) and my son loved it. He outgrew it quickly (now 4) and we ended up jumping up to a 16". It really depends on your son's size: if he's smaller, I'd look into a 10". I agree with the other ladies that it's not a great idea to spend a ton on it b/c he will outgrow it FAST!

Hi! We just gave our daughter a Mini-Glider balance bike for her 3rd birthday, and so far she loves it! (I'm letting her scoot around the house for now, while we can't be outside.)

It's a "balance bike" and has no pedals -- designed to be the easiest and safest way for kids to learn how to ride a bike. A child starts by walking and pushing while seated, trusting his/her own abilities, while quickly graduating to running and gliding on two wheels. After mastering the Glider, the child can move directly to a bike without training wheels. Which means no "trauma" from removing training wheels on which the child has grown dependent.

There's a version of a balance glider at Toys R Us under the PlaySkool brand, in which you can attach pedals at a later date. However, we felt it was much, much too heavy for a toddler. Your child will need to be able to manage the weight of the bike.

You can find tons of info on the internet by googling "Glider Mini Glider." But here's an easy link to Amazon. We had to order this online, as no one around here sells it.

http://www.amazon.com/Glider-Mini-Glider-12-Inch-Balance-...

Hi S.- we bought a Schwinn Roadster trike for our very tall son last summer- he turns 3 tomorrow btw! The seat adjusts forwards & back so it should last for a while (my 6 year old neice likes to ride it). Besides being cute, it's made well and is low to the ground so it doesn't tip over. We bought ours in a bike shop but I've seen it on-line for less and Target.com has it too (but Target stores do not carry it).

http://www.tricyclekids.com/Schwinn-12-Roadster.pro

Good luck!

I'd do a 12" bike with training wheels I think. What I didn't realize originally when we bought is that there are ones that training wheels could be taken off of and ones that can't. The ones that cannot have the training wheels off work more like a trike in that the pedals go around with the wheels, so it doesn't really coast, make sense? Probably fine with the one that always has training wheels. Could find them for $19.99, as I've seen here and there. Though those are plastic and not real sturdy, but all you really need for the short phase. Then a 14" real bike with removable training wheels. It varies when kids learn to ride without training wheels, but can be as soon as 3.5 years old, if your child loves to ride bikes, so keep that in mind. Maybe you'd want to do a 14" with removable training wheels, depending on the size of your child...if that's not too big for him in case he learns on the ealier side.