YBike Pewi, designed to help develop balance and co-ordination in young children, is locally marketed as an alternative to baby walkers.
Unlike a typical walker where a child just sits passively and rolls himself around, the YBike Pewi allows the child to stand freely in front of the bike and push it along as a walking aid. If the child's legs are long enough, they can also sit on the bike and maneuver themselves manually.
Also, with normal walkers, the child doesn't have an opportunity to learn how to fall (Studies have shown that walkers might actually hinder the baby's ability to walk sooner). The YBike gives the toddler absolute freedom and control over their toy.
We tested out the bike with Oliver and look how excited he was!
The color of the bike is cool and vibrant, attracting the little one's attention almost immediately.
At 9 months old, Baby O was already honed in his standing skills, so that's what he did for the first few times, trying to get a grip on the bike and pulling himself up.
The Pewi's freewheeling function though, as we quickly discovered, was antagonizing for the baby.
The multi-direction caster wheels were going wild in all directions as Baby O fell again and again.
Eventually, he gave up (even after a lot of encouragement) and completely lost interest in it after a few days.
It was not only one month later when he's started walking that he's able to pull himself up without falling. He didn't push the bike forward very much though, feeling contented to just stay on the spot, standing and waving.
At the end of 10 months, he was confident enough to take baby steps (literally) and a few weeks later, actually pushing and wheeling the bike around.
The actual ride-on part came only at one year old, when his legs were long enough to push himself off the ground and propel the bike along.
All in all, although the bike is touted for 9 months and above, with the freewheeling function, Baby O only started getting around to it at 10 months old.
The constant falling discouraged him and I was hoping there's at least an add-on that I can attach as a stopper so he'll feel secure enough to play around with it at first.
Secondly, O is a decent 81 cm at one year old but I still deem the height of the bike too high for comfortable riding.
You can see the actual test drive in the video below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C8OAWEdaLw]
The YBike Pewi has rubber wheels that doesn't scratch the floor and even after numerous whacking around by my ever curious and energetic baby, still comes away with relatively minimal damage.
It's cheaper than a normal baby walker and grows with the child (Oliver is starting to enjoy it even more as he gets older), so I'd say it's a pretty cool toy for the baby. But do be prepared for the initial setback if baby is not sturdy enough to grapple with and control the bike.
The YBike Pewi is available at Mothercare for SG$69.90.
YBike Pewi Review:
Aesthetics: 9/10
Functionality: 8/10
Durability: 9/10
Affordability: 9/10
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