Compared to many other requests, this may seem like quite a shallow concern. However, my daughter has not learned to ride a two-wheeler bicycle like most of her friends. She wants to ride with them, but won't ride a "baby bike" that has training wheels. Does anyone have any sure-fire methods of teaching how to balance on a 2-wheeler? We have both kinds of bikes to practice on (w/ and w/o training wheels). BTW, she is a perfectionist and likes to do activities where she excels. She has begun avoiding this because she doesn't feel competent. We try to get her to practice by holding on to the back of it but she says "she's done" after 10 minutes. Thanks for any ideas on what worked for you!
Hi H.,
I know this sounds simplistic, but I've seen it work. Tell her to keep pedalling. It's easier to balance if she's in motion. So try giving her a little push and have the whole family (and friends and neighbors) cheer her on! It works everytime. Good luck!
You've got some great responses. my son couldn't get the balance of a bike until he was 11 years old. He had other issues, but the main thing was he didn't correct his balance. He'd ridden a scooter since age 7, but it wasn't a favorite pastime of his. Anyway, there are lots of ways to practice balance - and I think 10 minutes of trying is just fine for a child who is avoiding something. Cheer her 10 minute trials, and have her stand on one leg, holding the other and be as still as possible up to one minute. (the other leg, next). When that is easy, have her do the same with her standing foot on a partially inflated ball or a well-stuffed pillow, something that will move her foot as she balances so she constantly has to correct for it (up to a minute). Have her walk balance beams/ and lines on the floor, chalk on the driveway - maybe zig zag them a bit- just for the variety (that is, if she's going from door to street, have a line she walks over on the ground instead of nothing). I like the no pedals idea on the bike, too. Good luck, and thanks for asking!
H., This was our sure-fire way to teach our boys. They have both been on a 2-wheeler since 3 years old and are killer bike riders!
1) Take off the pedals! Yes, the pedals. (And the training wheels.) They even make bikes like this, but are expensive. You can google it, maybe they've come down in price.
2) Let them glide down hills and get use to the feeling of balancing. And you don't need to worry about catching them, since their feet are down already. The can also scoot around, without the pedals getting in the way.
Eventually, they will learn the feeling of balancing and you can put the pedals back on.
Good luck and have fun!
My daughter just learned how to ride a two wheeler last Spring, 3 months shy of her 8th birthday!!! One day she took the two wheeler out of the garage and said "I'm going to do this." She worked on it literally for 2 hours until she was riding like a pro. Up until then she was just like your daughter. Exactly! I guess my suggestion is this - make sure she has a bike that is a little too small for her. Once my daughter was riding it was pretty obvious the bike was too small, but up until then she felt more comfortable being closer to the ground. I've also hear taking off the pedals works great but we never tried that. And if your daughter is anything like mine, don't say too much. I had to work hard to keep my mouth shut b/c any suggestion I made was NOT wanted! Good luck. She'll get it :)
Both of my girls learned in this way: Take off the training wheels and put your daughter on the bike. Stand in the front of the bike holding onto the handle bars, straddeling the front wheel. Then turn the handle bars to simulate falling and have her correct the handle bars. By doing this, it should help with her balance. With my son, he wanted a skateboard, so I told him to learn to ride a two wheeler first, then we would see about the skateboard. It took him about 2 seconds to get on the bike and ride. Most kids at 7 should have enough balance and coordination to get a feel for riding. Good Luck!!
my daughter, who just turned 6 last week, learned to ride her bike just two weeks before that. she basically decided SHE was going to do it and got on her two-wheeler and took off! that was it. no stopping her. i'm writing though because we were intending to teach her over the summer but daddy was gone a lot and i am preggers and lacking in energy. anywho...i bought this thingy at target to help out. i don't remember what's it's called and i couldn't find it on the target website either. (I know, so far no help here). it's a long u shaped handle that attaches to the rear axle. this way mom or dad can hold on without having to bend over. never tried it though. heard it worked good. the only reason i hadn't used it was because i couldn't find it come time to start the training. best of luck to you!!
Not sure if you have seen them, but there is a handle called a Balance Buddy, that attaches to the back wheels of the bike which saves the parents back and makes it easier to steady the bike. You can check at Toys r Us, Target, Walmart, or local bike shop. I haven't tried it yet, my 5 year old is so far content with his tricycle.
We just taught our 5.5 year old ro ride, but she was one of the youngest on the block. The other kids have learned closer to 7. She had a 12 inch bike that she had rode with training wheels for a couple years. We took them off and struggled since the spring to train her. I think we had success for a few reasons. The older girls on the block left her in the dust. We also took her to the track at the elementary school - far fewer distractions, safer with no roads, nice and wide, and no one to watch her so she didn't feel embarrassed. Finally, we took a good cop bad cop approach. My husband would work with her and she would complain "don't let go" and "I'm done, I want to leave" after 5 minutes. So he was good cop, and I said, "Will you do it with Mommy?" She thought I would be a pushover. But I dug in and said, "stop wasting time and just pedal." Also a little reminding her tha tshe can't ride with her friends - Once the training wheels were off, they weren't going back on.
They do have to get a point where they have a little bit of balance while you are holding them. Once they turn the corner with that, it is a matter of them allowing you to let go. That's where god cop bad cop really helped. But I think the trick was using the track. much easier than the sidewalk or street. Our daughter was really too big for a 12 inch bike and I think it wobbled a lot which didn't help her, but we told her if she rode on her own, we oculd go pick out a big girl bike - she actually fit a 20 inch. Another trick is that they need to look where they are going, not at their feet, and they have to pedal fast. IF they aren't going fast, it is hard to get balance. We also tried to appeal to her competative side - "look, you rode from here to here on your own - I bet you can go further next time" - you could even use chalk marks.
Personally, I think your daughter must ride with training wheels for at least a few hours/days to get the "feel" of the bike and balancing. My understanding is that you can adjust the training wheels higher to make them less dependent on them over time, although we didn't do this. If you persist and dedicate a few solid hours for a few days, you will see it all click. They go from riding 10 feet on their own to doing laps in a few minutes. Good luck!
Both my kids took much longer to master two wheelers than their friends. Some strategies that were suggested to us:
1) Try a very small bike. 2) Try on a grassy hill, not too steep, sitting on seat but dragging feet on the ground. This was from a bike shop. 3) Ride bike next to curb. Good if you have curbs on a a not busy street. I am not sure which worked for us. It may be your daughter just needs time to feel comfortable with this activity, and will eventually master it because she really wants to ride. Good luck
We lived on a cul de sac, so there was very little traffic and we used our driveway for both kids to get a running start. They went to the top of the driveway and used the ramp to get started then they worked on keeping the balance. They then used the slight grade of the road toward the drains to their advantage. So they rode and pedaled down the slight hills (the driveway and the slightly angled road) and walked their bikes back up until they could keep their balance, stay on the bike longer and pedal back up the grade. I found grass too hard to ride on, it was a soft place to fall, but they fell too often because they couldn't keep pedaling at a good speed. We also had them practice the skill of constantly pedaling on a stationary bike. If it isn't working she may need to take a break and revisit it in a few months. Good Luck!
My son learned on a razor scooter. One day when he was 6 one of his training wheels on his bike fell off and I was tired of having to always fix it so I took both off, he said he couldn't do it and I said yes he could and gave him a push and he was off and riding on his own. He learned how to balance on the scooter and that carried on to the bike. He was riding without training wheels in literally a few seconds. the Razor scooters are only like $20. I got his at BJ's a few years ago for $15. If spending extra money is an option this worked well for us though this wasn't the initial idea when we bought him the scooter and the scooter I think because he was standing up he learned really fast and felt comfortable doing it. Good luck.
Hey H.,
I put a towel around my son's waist and held the ends of that, while he was riding. Perfecto. Good luck!
start with a small bike 10-12". Where she can comfortably put her feet down. Take her to the local middle school or high school track. Put her in the grassy area and let her go at it. Our middle school track as a dirt path that is surrounded by grass. Just set them on it and let go. Will they fall? Yes! That is what helmets, pads and long pants are for.
Good luck
M.
This is not a dumb request - we have the same problem with our 12 year old boy! He never had the chance to learn to ride his bike because he was raised with a grandmother with disabilities that couldn't run alongside his bike and his dad was in Iraq, etc....so now he has a bike, but every weekend seems to be filled with activities - and the one weekend we went to teach him it started raining. We have been married for 3 years and moved twice within that period, so our lives have been very busy - I feel badly that he has not learned yet, but he is also a perfectionist and has issues learning something he should already know. My MIL did suggest taking the pedals off like some others have suggested - we may try that as well...?? No request is dumb when it comes to parenting! :)
My kids all learned late despite our best efforts. To alleviate the embarassment of being watched by the neighborhood kids, we drove to a park or school for some private practice. Keeping them on a smaller bike so they could touch helped too. And riding on a path with grass on the sides for softer crashes helped. Mostly you need to run holding the bike and then let go.
It's very exciting once it works out but for us was a real challenge. Academics come easy to my kids so I compared this to learning to read for their friends who were struggling. It was a good chance to work hard to overcome a challenge and the success meant more in the end.
This isn't a shallow concern! Not at all! We're all glad to share this milestone with you!
My little guy rode a scooter first, and that gave him his balance. Then he started trying with his bike, me behind him, holding on, so he couldn't see me let go! He was shaky at first but caught on quick!
Lots of patience, and encouragement will be the key!
Let us know how she does!
