Getting a 2 year old up and riding....

Any advie on getting a 2 year old started. I saw this in an ad and was curious if anyone has used one and maybe where I could get one. Also if anyone has some thoughts on getting my goddaughter up and riding next year that would be great.

I've heard the ski skimmer in the picture on the left is the way to go. A friend of mine's kid learned on one of those last year and switched straight to a wakeboard this summer. I think O'brien makes one

Ski Skimmer at Overton's is $100 (called the Gladiator Ski Trainer...just search for "ski skimmer"). Definitely a good way to get kids used to being pulled by the boat. Very stable...all they do is hang on to the handle. Shore starts only. You would need an adult in the water for a deep water start and even that would still be difficult.

hey havasubu, how old is the girl pictured?

i have already bought the obrien ski skimmer for my little boy who just turned 2. we played around some on the beach with it this past summer when he was like 20 months, but he was just not ready for it yet. by next summer, he will be 2 1/2 so i am hoping that will make a big difference.

Wakegump ~~ I will be first to say it takes a lot of patience and time. What I found that has helped my little ones is, I use my Roam with the bindings all the way in and teach them the basics of getting up on the carpet. Then I teach them how the pull is going to feel pulling them across the carpet. My boy 8 is ripping now and my girl 4 likes to practice but not ride in the water,yet. Good Luck!

Thanks everyone for your help. The ski Skimmer seems like a good Christmas gift along with her first board. Josh, I plan on working with her in the house like you said, just so she gets a feel for it. Thanks again everyone.

hardwood floors work even better. we have done that too.

my little brother got up on a ski skimmer to and so did i when i was little defnitely a good idea

Alan, I think she was 4 or 5 at the time. A late bloomer compared to these young whipper snappers starting at less than 2 years!

I learned on a sheet of plywood with a couple of old ski fins in it. Think I was 5 or 6, my sister was 3 or 4. Ski Skimmer looks like a great alternative.

i rode a ski skimmer the other day and can vouch for its quality. No wake to wake, but i did get some air on that bad boy.

friend's daughter's. she has been riding it since about 3 yrs old i think?

Barefoot boom works well, plus your right next to the child and you only have to go about 6 MPH.

Word of caution...don't push to hard. My experience is that the youngsters will ride when they are ready. One bad experience will set them back years and you could end up pulling a tube around with your nice wakeboard boat.

Here is my 3 year old son this summer. I just slid the board off the platform, but held on the the nose of the board the whole time.

thats awesome, he'll be a shredder when he is older

those ski skimmers just make me think of how much they have capitalized on ideas from the past. I remember in the EARLY 90s me and my dad trying to teach my brother how to ski. We had bought these two little bitty skies that had a rope about 3/4 of the way to the tip and another about 3/4 of the way to the tail. so you couldn't do the splits. i saw that video of that little 20 month old kid on the skimmer. man he can almost stand up on that thing without the boat going anywhere!

Lachie - that's awesome man! I have a 14 month old. this summer i hope to get him up boarding, if not then skiing i hope.

IMO, you are pushing to hard if your kid is under 3 and your tring. I was on doubles at 3, single by 5 and at the time everyone felt that was pushing to hard, and frankly they were right.

My little one is three now, and she probably won't be trying for another year. Just my opinion.

I understand what you are saying Jeff but I also think it depends on the child and their devolopment. She has been in swimming classes since she was six months old and love the water. That being said, we won't push it on her until she proves she is ready.

Damn that's awesome . . . Dude that handle is almost as big as he is

I agree totally about not pushing too hard. In my case, he brought it up himself because he has been watching from the boat since he was i diapers.
I borrowed the board, so we brought it along to see what happened. The "session" lasted about 5 minutes or less and then he said he was done, so we quit.

He tried boarding twice this summer but never with any tension on the handle and I was right there beside him the whole time.

I'm very cautious about pushing him into wake boarding because that would probably have the opposite effect.

yeah, i agree with not pushing also. that is what i meant when i said he was just not ready. i was not going to be a stage dad and try to force it. when he's ready, we will both know.

that is a great idea viktor, i will definitely try that next summer

My 4 1/2 year old boys is a water nut too. He has skied a few times with trainers, first at 3. Last summer, at 4, he asked to try wakeboarding! Man was I ever the PROUD DAD! He tried, but kept going over the front... We all screamed and clapped for him! But that was it, he was done for the time being... He rides a PW50 (dirt bike), is very athletic too.. but I don't want to push him too much either.

My .02:

Put your kid on snow at the age of two, teach them skiing first and let them switch to snowboarding after a couple years.

I say kids on wakeboard and 4 and up, I first waterskied at the age of 6 and used the training skis that are tied together.

My son skied at 3.5yrs old. He's an extreme sports kid. Rode a 2 wheeler just before 3 yrs old, got a 50cc kawa dirt bike at 4 and already wants to upgrade. He's gonna try to wakeboard at 5.
It's all about the skill level of the little guy. My other kids started at 6 and that was borderline. I agree with don't push it.

This is my son at 4, he actually rode some last year at 3 but learned to deep water start by himself this year. It's all about their comfort level, he started riding with me as soon as he could hold his head up out of the water, progressed to a kneeboard, and then wakeboard with help last summer...

here is what me and my son did do though. he is about 20 months in this pic. he loved it, and says weeee!! i first had him on the board with me at 9 months old last summer, but sadly i did not get any pictures of that.

That's awesome Alan! I can't wait til I have a little guy to do that with.