I was completely ignorant as to what balance bikes actually were until I had a baby. The concept of a bike without pedals didn’t make sense to me. It wasn’t until I saw a toddler scooting about on one, to then move gracefully (and easily) to a bike without stabilisers that I realised balance bikes were the way forward.

I’ve always been a big fan of wooden toys so, initially, when looking at potential balance bikes for my three year old, I was drawn to the wooden ones. But then I saw this review of a Boomer Bike at Not Another Mummy Blog.

The Boomer Bike from Paul’s Yard comes with removable pedals. So, once your tot learns to whizz around and gets the hang of the balancing part of riding a bike, you simply add the pedals and (the idea is) they’re away. No stabilisers, just straight to the pedals.

It’s no secret that Frog is a bit behind when it comes to physical stuff. Her recent development appraisal noted that while she’s advanced in areas like speech and language, her locomotive skills are around the 18 month mark. Her hypermobile joints mean she has problems balancing, gets sore joints if she has to walk too far and is, generally, a lot more wobbly than her peers.

She has only recently mastered the confidence and ability to start scooting, which is a joy to see, so I thought she may be ready to try wheels of a different variety. When Frog was having physiotherapy we were told there were two activities we needed to encourage. Swimming and cycling are a great way to build strength without putting stress on the joints.

Enter the Boomer Bike.

The Boomer comes in red, pink, green or blue. We opted for red because it’s vibrant, dashing and rather beautiful. It’s practical, with a brake, proper rubber tyres and a hardy metal frame. It’s also lightweight enough for a three year old to manoeuvre.

At nearly three and a half and with a dad who is 6ft 5″, Frog is not on the short side. But the seat on the Boomer Bike is still that tiny bit too high for her to comfortably sit on and reach the floor. That said, in the beginning it’s all about getting used to the concept of walking with the bike. By the time she is confident enough to scoot along and pick her feet up from the floor it’s likely she’ll have a few month’s growth in her anyway.

I love the fact that, once she does get used to cruising around, we won’t have to invest in a brand new bike with pedals. Bikes don’t come cheap, so to have a balance bike with removable pedals is a very clever (and economical) idea.

If you want to see the Boomer Bike in action then check out the video below. Frog and the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine had some Daddy – daughter bonding time getting to grips with the bike earlier today. You can totally tell from the NLM’s face that he wishes he was 4 ft shorter so could have a go on it himself…

You can buy a Boomer 2 in 1 Balance Bike online from Paul’s Yard, for £130. In my humble opinion, it will be money well spent.

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Disclosure: We were sent a Boomer 2 in 1 Balance Bike for the purpose of this review. All opinions remain my own, as ever. They really are as good as they look. 

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I still find it hard to believe that Frog only started walking a little over a year ago, aged two years old. When I look at her now, I realise just how far she has come.

Moving to a new area has meant joining a completely new hospital system. Frog still has ongoing issues with her hypermobile joints – issues that may never go away completely. For example, she needs hospital-issue insoles in her shoes to correct her lack of instep and relieve the pressure on her knees and hips. In the future, she may need more physiotherapy treatment and – if she still suffers from hyper lax joints when she’s older – she may experience added discomfort during pregnancy. People with hypermobility are also sometimes prone to early arthritis, which is a bit of a bummer. (There’s more information about hypermobility and some of the symptoms on the NHS Choices website.)

The thing is, every day my 3 year old diva gets a little stronger and her past battles with those bendy joints are almost forgotten. This week we’ve ditched the buggy on the way home from pre-school, opting for a mixture of walking and mum piggy-backs instead. That wasn’t even a choice we could have considered back in September.

And then, the other day on our walk, Frog found a huge hill (Dartmoor is good at hills) and ran towards it like a bee to a hive. That’s when this happened:

At the bottom, she turned around and ran right back up it again. And again. And Again. I even got the opportunity to film it:

You might watch that video and think, “So what’s the big deal? It’s just a kid running down a hill.” But it isn’t. It’s a kid who, this time last year, could barely walk. It’s a kid who, 18 months ago, we feared would never run – let alone run down hills.

On the umpteenth hill run, Frog asked if I’d join her. I’m not a fan of running, but there’s something kind of tempting about watching a child belt it down a hill with such wild abandon.

Of course we both ended up falling over and half rolling into a muddy, squelchy bog at the bottom. But we laughed, and then laughed some more.  My guffaws turned to wimpy sniffles when my formerly non-walking tot turned to me and said, “Mummy, I like running down hills.”

And that made me happy.

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A side note: I get quite a lot of emails, tweets and Facebook messages from parents who are at the beginning of their journey with hypermobility. I’m not an expert, but I’ve picked up a few things in the 18 months since Frog was diagnosed. There is a difference between having hypermobile joints and having hypermobility syndrome. Lots of people have hypermobile joints and it causes them no problems at all. Hypermobility syndrome is often diagnosed when pain is added to the equation. Some sufferers also experience dislocation. We are still unclear to the degree of Frog’s hypermobility and, indeed, it may be something she grows out of. If you are looking for more information about hypermobility then The Hypermobility Syndrome Association is a good place to start. And, of course, speak to your doctor. 

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I’d been told my nearly 22 month old daughter had an “issue” with the joints from her hips downwards and she was, to put it simply, too flexible to walk.

We sat there, our family of three, on hard plastic chairs next to a picture of everyone’s favourite donkey Eeyore, and tried to decipher the medical jargon tumbling into our confused brains.

Your. Child. Has. A. Problem.

Your. Child. Needs. Treatment.

We were in shock. We’d just had to pin our screaming, terrified child down to be X-rayed. We’d just had to explain to her that the light from the machine wouldn’t burn her, desperate to console her sobs of “HOT HOT HOT!”

And now this.

But, as the strip lighting in that sanitised room flickered, we began to feel elated. She didn’t need an operation. There was no major issue with her hips. A pair of special shoes and some Physio and she’d be fine.

Then we booked the Physio assessment and we slumped again.

Three months. Three more months of tantrums and tears at not walking. Three more months of watching my formerly confident, outgoing child withdraw into herself, as she becomes aware that she’s not like the other kids. She can’t jump into the swimming pool. She can’t dance along to the music. She can’t walk.

So, when this happened earlier today, I was (perhaps understandably) in tears…

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