Bicycle or Tricycle for kid with low tone

My youngest is turning 2 in Jan. Looking for a trike or bike that has something on the pedals to hold her feet on them. She has extremely low tone and has gross motor delays. I have found a couple of tricycles online, but they are well over $300. IF she got a subsidy I wouldn't mind paying that much, but sadly she doesn't...whole different story!!!

[url=http://www.funandfunction.com]Special Needs Toys | Teaching Special Needs Children Equipment | Child Therapy Toys | Autism Toys[/url] has a lot of reasonably priced toys and other equipment for kids with disabilities. I don't know about trikes and bikes prices but know that they are more reasonable (on most things) than a lot of other companies.

Would a balance bike help?

I'm an OT and I know the bikes you're talking about and they are expensive. Put a fabric loop or Velcro in a regular bikes pedals and voila! :-) Same thing, fraction of the cost.

2nd hand Kettler with Velcro. You can find them on Craigslist a lot.

I just typed tricycle with handle into my search engine and came up with tons of options. We used velcro to keep our son's feet on the pedals and pushed him on his trike, and the pedals moved his feet and legs so he could 'ride' the bike. I think we got ours at a toy store for less than $50 but that was around 5 years ago so Im not positive.

Brings me back to when my son was little. We used the smallest size bungee cords...but only b/c I didn't think of velcro.

As a PT I can say that I hate trikes!! Especially for kids with low tone! The wheel base is so small that it makes it really difficult to pedal and even harder to get going. I am all for the balance bikes but if you aren't ok with that then how about the more "big wheel" type bike. It is an easier motion for kids to do- that extension of the leg is an easier angle than the typical tricycle. Plus they are lower to the ground and for low tone kids (who do tend to have less than fantastic balance) trikes have horrible tip over rates. They are generally not safe but even more so for kids with less body awareness. If you do still want a typical trike I agree with people and the velcro but they also make "pedal shoes" for special needs bikes. I have always made my own by screwing a piece of wood to the pedal and attaching the velcro to that and then also adding a block at the back to prevent heel slide. The heel sliding off and the foot lifting off are the combo that make it really really hard to pedal! In a pinch I have also used kineseo tape to figure 8 a kid's foot to the pedal!! Shhhh!! I just went back to read your original post and saw that she is just turning 2. That is really early to learn to pedal. Especially for a low tone child and I am now wondering if you want her to pedal or just keep her feet on the pedal as you push..........

You might want to consider a scooter instead of a trike. The pedaling motion is really quite hard to learn. I can recall my very physically advanced son having issues with it at age 2. A toddler scooter might be a better fit for this year and then you can consider a bike with training wheels for the following year. Those seem way easier to ride for my kids than trikes for some reason.

Sonny boy has low tone and started with a 12 inch bike with training wheels. He could touch the ground and just push along (you can leave the peddles off) and when he was ready I made three point toe catches with Velcro. His PT said that a trike is hard and doesn't put him over his feet which is where he needs to learn to be

I told my family that I want to buy an adult tricycle to ride around the neighborhood since I don't drive. My dad takes me to work but I want to be able to go to the nearby stores and maybe the library. My family thinks I'm going to look like a dork on a 3-wheel trike and they want me to learn how to ride a 2-wheeler. I have never been interested in learning to ride a bike before and I have trouble balancing. I'm also really afraid of falling. What should I do? I'm going to the store tomorrow to pick out a small kids' bike with training wheels. I need to do this because my family doesn't want me walking around the neighborhood alone for fear of me getting kidnapped. Any advice would be appreciated.