At what does a child need to be able to ride tricycle / bike?

[JudiAU]

My son just turned four.

I’d like to know what other parents think or if anyone knows if this a developmental goal and if so when. My son cannot ride anything in an coordinated way and can’t manipulate peddles. If may be that he hasn’t been very interested or that he is frustrated. It may be that he will have a burst of enthusiasm. But I am concerned about that there might be a larger issue at play, one of balance or coordination. I know that I’ve read that body coordination can even be linked to reading readiness. And he never really crawled. Walked at 17m.

He is big and not very coordinated although in the past year his coordination has improved. He is moderately physical, has access to riding toys that fit his body, goes to the park frequently with our athletic nanny, and goes to a play based preschool. Until recently, we lived in a space that didn’t have access to the outdoors and our floors were uneven so although we had riding toys that couldn’t really be enjoyed. Our new house has amble outdoor space and indoor space.

We have a Svan scooter, wheelie mouse, trike adjusted to fit him, balance bike that fits him. To make it more complicated, my 2 year old would really like to use the trike and balance bike if they were adjusted for her. Her brother shows NO interest in them. I feel like I should adjust them downward to get her a shot.

My sister (four kids) suggested that at 5 we might have hime evaluated but it seems really strange to me that a kindergartener wouldn't be able to peddle.

[insidevoice]

Given your description, I would lean in the direction of having an evaluation done. It sounds like he might benefit from some PT/OT to help strengthen and coordinate his body movements. 

As for body coordination and reading readiness, DD was reading before she was three, and even at nearly 10 the couple times she's been on a bike this year have resulted in bad falls and skinned knees.  She didn't learn to ride at all until after she was seven, and didn't pedal until she was eight.  At this point, I've kind of started looking around for a 'cool' three wheeled bike for her because she's just not able to safely maintain balance and pedal- at least not so that she could go to the library or something on her own. 

[LaughingHyena]

That sounds on the late side to me.

DD was riding her bike (with training wheels) to and from preschool at 3 and was able to scoot a 2 wheeled scooter reasonably well at 4

DS is only just starting to scoot in the last couple of weeks (he's 4 1/2) and is not very confident yet. He's been riding a bike with training wheels for a few months but will not go far, and is easily put off if the pavement is at all sloped (like going past dropped kerbs). I do have a few worries about his coordination in that sort of are though, he is still hesitant to walk downstairs and prefers to scoot on his bottom so he may nto be the best comparison.

FWIW both mine have been able to peddle a bike before managing a trike with the peddles on the front wheel.

[Alyantavid]

I don't know.  It couldn't hurt to have him checked out but I do know lots of kids that just aren't able to ride bikes until much older.
 

Originally Posted by LaughingHyena 

FWIW both mine have been able to peddle a bike before managing a trike with the peddles on the front wheel.

Yep.  Mine did much better on bikes than they ever did on a trike. 
 

[LynnS6]

You might want to read "The Out of Sync Child" -- there's a chapter on there with kids with dyspraxia -- basically difficulty in planning and executing motor movements. See if it sounds like your son.

We had ds assessed at nearly 5 for sensory processing disorder, and the OT noticed his dyspraxia at the same time. Occupational therapy really helped him. He couldn't pedal a trike before 5 either. He's a tall kid, and he looked really silly on our little push car. 2 years of OT made a huge difference to his ability to balance and find his body in space.

[JudiAU]

Thanks Lynnx6. I looked it up on the interwebs and it actually made me feel much better. His speech and finer motor skills are very good. The only aspect of concern was the coordination of movements. I'll keep an eye on it and if I don't see any improvment get an evaluation done.

[sarahr]

My dd -- who is almost 5 -- never was able to ride those four wheeled toddler toys or a trike. (I mean, she can now, but never could when they fit her). She had a very hard time peddling a two-wheeled bike (with training wheels). Just about a month ago, she finally got it. She doesn't go fast and tips over a surprising amount, but enough to enjoy it. She also has a 3-wheeled scooter that she enjoys, but is noticiably slower/less coordinated on it than her peers.