Out of all the toys we’ve ever owned, none of them frustrates me more than our Little Tikes “Perfect Fit” (hahaha) 4-in-1 Trike. My daughter received this when she was nine months old because it would supposedly “grow” with her and become a standalone bike with training wheels. It wasn’t cheap, but it seemed like a worthwhile investment.
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Let me now guide you through the years.
- 9 months old: we were afraid to push this trike for more than a few paces at a time for fear that B would fall right out because she couldn’t balance her weight enough to stay in the middle of the seat on her own. “That’s OK,” I thought. “She’ll grow into it.”
- 12 months old: B was no longer interested in sitting still in the bike, but was too short for her feet to touch the pedals and therefore she refused to use it at all. “That’s OK,” I thought. “She’ll grow into it.”
- 18 months old: we removed all “unnecessary” bars and sun shades, but B still cannot touch the pedal. “That’s not really OK, but maybe she’ll grow into it?” I thought.
- 2 years old: nope, still can’t touch the pedals. Back into the garage it goes.
- 3 years old: umm, my kid is average height – how is it just me that has this problem??
And ladies and gentlemen, we are now at 3.5 years old and still cannot pedal this trike. B is totally frustrated with it (as am I) and now has zero interest in riding ANY bikes whatsoever. I see this on sale at Amazon all the time and am filled with uncontrollable rage because the reviews are really good and I’ve GOT to be missing something – but I just don’t see what I’m doing wrong and now just hate the thing so freaking much that I can’t even look at it anymore.
Thanks a lot, Little Tikes. I thought we were friends.