6.5 year old WILL NOT ATTEMPT to ride a 2 wheeler!! - Page 3

[Lula's Mom]

My son learned to ride last summer; he was 4 but also would not even think of trying to pedal a 2-wheeler. We did as some have suggested here: training wheels AND pedals off. We showed him how he could just coast along, and put his feet down at any time that he lost his balance (it's crucial that the bike seat not be up too high!) We just turned his own bike into a balance bike.

I thought it would take much longer, but 4 days later he asked to have the pedals back on, and rode by himself. The balance bike thing works. I think we will go that route with our baby when he's ready for a bike, rather than put training wheels on at all.

[leighann79]

Originally Posted by wanderinggypsy

OK OK OK.

First this. The reason I want for him to master this skill is that he wants to be able to ride up and down the street with his big brother, but I will not allow it when he's on a bike with training wheels. The training wheels make a lot of noise, which in my mind constitutes a safety concern. We live on a very quiet, closed crescent, but still I wouldn't want him to not be able to hear what's coming up behind him. And that leads into the whole 'being left out' issue as every kid on the block rides up and down our street, including kids who are a good year and a half younger than my little guy.

Anyways, thanks MDC mamas for going all hardcore judgy on me, but really, believe it or not, I'm not as evil as you wish. Kiddo is just fine. He just really wants to be able to ride with his brother and his friends, which means that he really needs to get a handle on the two wheeler thing. Sheesh, what backlash. Yuck.

And um... he's WAY too big for a balance bike. I just got one for my three year old. My 6 and a half year old is tall, and he weighs like 60 pounds.

Okie dokie folks. Thanks for the suggestions, the sarcastic holier than thou feedback, and the entertainment in general. I guess I'd better get back to pressuring my kid to do something so obviously beyond his grasp.

And amateur child experts. Google "Vygotsky, Zone of Proximal Development" sometime.

Peace!

So you tell him this. "You can ride with your brother when you don't need training wheels." Then back off and let him work on it. No big.

(And I don't say "back off" meaning you are pushing. It's totally innocent. )

[attached2ethan]

I am going through some frustration with getting my 7yo to ride as well, but only because he is WAY too big- physically- for the bike with training wheels. We gave it to his little brother when he outgrew it, and took him shopping for a really cool bike on his 7th birthday. We were dismayed when we realized it was too big for training wheels, they don't even hold up the bike!! Basically he's taken to riding his 2 wheel scooter instead, and he really enjoys that. Every once in a while he'll ride his old bike with the training wheels, but when his knees bump the handlebars it's usually over pretty quickly.

Neighborhood friends have made comments but he doesn't care, he's jhust not ready yet. Sometimes he'll let us give him mini-lessons, but he is a very cautious type and just doesn't feel comfy with iet yet, so I'm not pusing the issue.

My 4yo, however, is very bold and physically agile, and has asked continually if I can take the training wheels off his bike and teach him to ride, but I've been putting it off because I think it would be a huge blow for his big brother if he learned to ride first. On the other hand, it might encourage 7yo to try and/or he could practice on the little bike without training wheels and perhaps get comfortable with that before moving on to the big bike.

All in all, I'm just trying to let things fall into place as they will There's no sense in being pushy- I've found that waiting usually results in things working out much more smoothly.

Jessica, Mom of Three
Ethan (age 7)
Alex (age 4.5)
Baby Girl due this spring!

[ann_of_loxley]

No advice...but my son is 4.6 and won't go near a bike at all!...It is super frustrating becuase he is the average size of a 6-7 year old and has outgrown ALL of his little plastic trike/ride on toys and he seriouisly is not going to fit a fun 'character' (like Bob the Builder or Thomas) bike either for much longer. And you guessed it...quickly getting too big for a balance bike too! So - he is gonna be left with no outside toys to play on at this rate! lol

Sigh

[nolansmummy]

My son just turned six, and won't even get on his bike with training wheels. Of course this is due to an incident last summer where him and dh had a huge power match and dh yelled and acted like a total a$$.

I have just told him that if he wants to go on a bike ride with family than he will need to ride the bike but i won't push it.

[laila2]

What we did that worked

We tried when she was 5.5 in a deserted parking lot, with nobody around. The She did a bit but then was reluctant beyond a push and a bit of pedaling.

We tried 6 months later with more pedaling success than the last time at the same location

6 months later we took the bikes to a local school's baseball field that had soft dirt and lots of grass. The grass made a slower and softer path to fall on. It gave her the confidence to pedal freely. She was so happy that day later pedaling on our street with all the other kids.

[maya's mommy]

My 7 year old just learned to ride. The training wheels had been off her bike since last spring(or maybe it was the fall) when she went out riding in a long nightgown and they got caught. So the bike just sat. She rode her scooter around the block and anywhere else she wanted to go.

Then a couple of weeks ago she decided she wanted to ride her bike. It is the same bike that she has had since she was four, so it is little for her. She just ran for a bit. Then tried to pedal and kinda of stopped trying. She could get goig if she started on any kind of decline. We spent the afternoon at a park that had sidewalks that slanted down just a very little bit so she could get moving. By the end of the afternoon she was riding really well. The only issue was that the pedals kept hitting her legs but she was so determined to get going on the bike it was ok.

The next day she pulled out the hand me down bike we had in the garage and after a couple of tries she is riding that one.