Teaching a child to ride a bike -without the training wheels

[samy23]

My dd had bikes with training wheels from ages 3-5, at age 6 she didn't have a bike at all. Now she's 7 we are getting her a new bike and will be teaching her to ride it without training wheels for the first time.

My question is, do you have any tips for teaching a child to ride their bike without the training wheels? any tips? And how old was your child when they learnt to do this?

[TiredX2]

Moved to The Childhood Years

[*Lisa*]

Subbing. We just took the training wheels off of my DD's bike, and we're trying to teach her to ride. So far we haven't had much luck--she gets scared every time she gets going fast enough to really balance. She's 7 1/2.

[Daffodil]

DD learned to ride last year, when she was 6 1/2. She learned to balance by riding down the hill in our yard on a little bike that was short enough she could use it like a balance bike. Once she could easily go all the way down the hill without putting her feet down, I lowered the seat on her regular bike so she could use it the same way, then encouraged her to try pedaling on her way down.

[pinky]

My dd also learned on her bike that was "too small," and then went back to her bigger bike, this time without the training wheels. I think it really helped to be closer to the ground, so she felt less worried about falling.

[sunnmama]

Dd was 5.5. I taught her the same way I remember my dad teaching me at that age---running alongside and holding onto the handlebar or back of the seat! We went to an empty parking lot and did a lot of repetitions. I got lots of exercise

[Alyantavid]

My older son got a bike with training wheels for his 4th birthday. He never liked riding it until we took the training wheels off. After that, it took him maybe an hour to get the hang of it. This was right after he turned 5. He's 8 now and he's a a little scary to watch with all the crazy tricks he tries on his bike.

[spirit4ever]

Originally Posted by sunnmama

Dd was 5.5. I taught her the same way I remember my dad teaching me at that age---running alongside and holding onto the handlebar or back of the seat! We went to an empty parking lot and did a lot of repetitions. I got lots of exercise

yep, thats how i taught my younger sister too!

[chel]

my dd resisted taking her training wheels off.
what worked for her was having her learn to ride a scooter. once she learned "balance" she was able to hop right on a bike (honestly, within minutes she was able to ride her bike)

[Drummer's Wife]

I recall DH helping our oldest by holding on to the bike and havin her go a short distance until she could keep her balance for longer periods. She caught on quick. I can't remember how it happened w/our 2nd (bad, I know). I think he did it mostly on his own.

My 3rd, I recall clearly b/c it was last year when he was 4 and one day he asked me to take his training wheels off. I was busy andsaid wait until your dad gets home b/c he knows what tools to use. DS went out in the garage, found a wrench, removed his wheels and took off across the driveway like he'd been riding a bike for years. He was just really ready, I guess, and had watched the older two do it and figured it out. I was super impressed.

[Super~Single~Mama]

My little brother never had training wheels. I remember when he learned to ride a bike. My dad promised up, down and sideways that he wouldn't let go. He got my little brother started on a downhill, and let go, and my little brother never fell over! I think he was 4 or 5, (he was the tinyest little person ever, at that time he probably weighed 30lbs? he was 35lbs in 3rd grade, so I don't know). He was the only one of us that never had training wheels!

[littlehoneybee]

For my son, I held onto the back of the seat while he pedaled and learned to balance then I would let go and coach him on turns (slow and steady). The best advice that helped him was to remind him to hold the handlebars very steady and not make jerky movements. He was 4 and he learned after two practice sessions of about an hour.

[CanBoo]

Pedals off.

I strongly believe in not using training wheels for that very reason. Balance bikes from an early age are much better.
I am a balance bike dealer and very strongly believe in using proper lightweight and low center of gravity balance bikes for the 2-4 crowd.
That said, I would not bother getting a child older than 5 a balance bike. Take a bike a size too small. (Any used junk bike is fine, it will only be for a couple hours to a few days at most.) Remove the pedals and allow them to learn to balance first. Once your daughter figures out how to balance on it, then give her the new bike, allow her to walk it too so she can get a feel for the bigger bike. Then she can pedal. She might even run first and put her feet up on the pedals once she has gotten some speed.

Of course there's also this device...

(From my experience chopping off the pedals does not work with a child under 5, the weight of a normal bike would be too much to learn properly, but a 7 year old should be strong enough to handle it and this should be very temporary measure.)

[verde]

This is the advice I got from a guy who worked at a bike shop: he said take the training wheels off and put the seat down till the child's feet touch the ground. Take off the pedals and let child learn to balance bike with feet held above ground but able to put on ground as necessary. Once they learn to balance without the pedals put the pedals back on and in a short time they will be using the pedals.

We did that and it worked nicely. DD is still practicing but she is going longer and longer stretches with her pedaling. Good luck!

[Red Pajama]

http://www.rainbowtrainers.com/default.aspx?Lev=2&ID=50

http://losethetrainingwheels.org/



Both sites are designed more for parents with special needs children, but there's stuff there to learn about size of bikes, weighted front wheel, and other things that may be helpful.

[LynnS6]

This is the method we used and it worked great:
http://www.ibike.org/education/teaching-kids.htm

It's basically what a previous poster suggested:
Start with the feet flat (pedals on or off, doesn't matter) and on a slight incline.
Get them used to balancing the bike.
Once they're able to coast, add in pedaling.
Once they can pedal, add in turning.
Once they can turn, they're good to go.

[babymommy2]

After 2 days of killing my back leaning over to hang onto the back of the bike, we took off the pedals for a month and put them back on, and instantly my son could ride the bike. This really is the easiest way to learn. Once you can balance it is easy. He was 5 at the time. I am going to try it with my 4 year old this year.

[claras_mom]

Originally Posted by sunnmama

Dd was 5.5. I taught her the same way I remember my dad teaching me at that age---running alongside and holding onto the handlebar or back of the seat! We went to an empty parking lot and did a lot of repetitions. I got lots of exercise

That's more or less what we did, except that the first session was in a park, on the grass. Dd was just shy of 5. So we did another session on a school playground, so that she could also practice on asphalt, and from then on it's been fine. Still walks up hills a lot, but has the hang of downhill (foot brakes, not hand brakes).

[eepster]

When I learned, we didn't just go from training wheels one day to none the next, we moved them up gradually. Training wheels can should be adjustable.

Though you start off learning with them actually touching the ground, once the kid is reasonably comfortable riding you raise the training wheels about a half inch above the ground when the bike is balanced. The child has the security of the training wheels to prevent falls, but they aren't relying on them to keep him/herself upright. Also, the sound of the training wheel touching the ground lets the kid know they are getting off balance before they get to too far.

At the point when the kid can ride without the training wheels rattling on the ground you will know (and more importantly the kid will know) they are ready to ride with out them.

[corrio]

I took the training wheels off when my daughter was 6, I knew she would never ride her bike if her 4 year old brothers bike still had the training wheels on it so we removed his as well.. She learned to ride without training wheels in less then a week.. it took my 4 year old son about a year to gain the confidance to ride without training wheels..

I think it has to be a develpoment thing either they are ready or they arent..