How Old Was Your Child When... ?? - Richmond,VA

I taught my brother when he was 4. I took the pedals and training wheels off his bike, so he could use his legs to push and coast. That taught him his balance. Once he could coast for a while without needing his feet on the ground, I put the pedals back on and he was riding like a champ! (and he didn't have a single crash... until he got braver than his skills allowed. lol.) :)

My daughter was 2 1/2. I knew she was ready because only 1 of the training wheels was actually touching the ground. Lol. So when they were removed, I held on to the seat in back of her for a little while. When I felt she was comfortable a few days later, I let go, and she was on her own.

My youngest is 7 & still has her training wheels on - our goal is by the end of the school year! Our oldest was younger but she was our 1st so she did everything accordingly! Don't beat yourself up over it - sometimes i think people are so caught up in the "right thing" or the right time - we do what we can when we can, so be it. Sometimes our plates are a little fuller then others, so I wouldn't keep beating yourself up.

Just get out there and do what you can! Good Luck!

When we purchased bikes for our 5 yo twins, the salesman at the store recommended the hill idea. He said to find a grassy hill in case they fall. Not too steep, though. The girls are 5 1/2 and still use training wheels. Out son learned when he was 7ish. We waited until he wanted to learn. After he saw his cousin(same age) riding without t.w. he decided he was ready. You aren't a slacker unless your 7 yo has been begging you for a year to teach him/her. Then maybe... :)

My daughter was 4. We started by putting her on a small hill in the backyard and she would coast down. After doing that 3-4 times she started peddling down the hill. The next day she was riding in circles on the driveway. She could only turn to the left. The 3rd day she was going down the sidewalk without any problems. I read about the coasting on a hill online so that is why we tried it and it worked.

Good luck

We bought bikes for our kids several times over the years but after hours & hours & hours between both my husband & myself, neither one would stay on the bikes. The second they started to wobble they would jump off afraid of falling (which is so weird because they're constantly wrestling & tumbling around together). Eventually when my son was in 4th grade I believe they had field day and one of the activities was to ride a bike between cones. He came home embarrassed that day & I did feel awful for him, but pointed out how many times his father & I had begged him to just stick with it & stay on that bike until he could do it. That did the trick though, because afterwards he was determined & now goes for bike rides through the neighborhood every afternoon.

My daughter was 7 1/2 before she mastered a 2-wheeler. Her dad was the one that did finally push it until she learned. I do know kids that were older than this before they had the strength, balance, and muscle control needed for a 2-wheeler. And then some do at 4. It really varies.

I have the worst experience with this, and is all my fault.
My daughter was using still training wheels at 7 but many kids on the block didn't so she ask me to help her, so I did try, but she whine the whole time.
So we would stop and then she would ask me again to help her then I try but she was still scare and I did what you should never do (I think) I got mad and told her she has to be brave even if she falls that she eventually would do it but at that moment I was already mad. She keep asking for help but every time I try to help she would whine and didn't want to try, things went so sour that she didn't even want to touch her bike for years.
Looking back I would have done things so different =0(
Eventually at 10 she try again but she didn't even let me try to help her, it was my mother who teach her, I was upset but I knew why, but I also was happy because they share that memory.
Anyway, I guess my advice is to don't do what I did, lol.
Every kid is different and is afraid of different things or need a little more encourage, I have see little kids of 5 without wheels, for some reason mine was having trouble, doesn't mean that she is a scary cat, she was the littlest one in camping and she mounting climb like a champion =0)

My daughter learned at 7. I tried teaching her on the sidewalk in front of our house. It was a disaster. Then I googled it. Someone recommended going to an empty parking lot. It was amazing, she could just do it. I think the initial problem was trying to make her go in a straight line. In the parking lot, she could go where ever the bike took her:) Then slowly she learned to control the bike.

My daughter just got brave enough at the beginning of the school year this year. She turned 7 in Jan.

My 2 oldest boys were about 4 and taught themselves. They started off going down a hill and just kept going. Helmets of course. My youngest is 4 and has absolutely no interest in riding a bike but he is better than my oldest on inline and ice skates. My youngest also loves his scooter. I'm not pushing the bike thing with him. He will figure it out one day

My two older boys were 4, my daughter was 6 and my youngest boy was 3. I think the most important thing is to make sure they learn on a bike on which they can firmly put their feet on the ground. I remember as a kid trying to learn on my own bike and finally teaching myself on my friends smaller bike.

My son learned when he was at someone else's house, and they had bikes but no training wheels. The other mom gave him a push and he took off down the street, not realizing that she wasn't holding on anymore! Other kids in our neighborhood learned on their own by using a neighbor's driveway that had a slight incline - they could work on balancing the bike without actually pedaling at the same time, and that seemed to help. I don't think you can do it with a stroller! You're not superwoman! If you can put the baby in the stroller in a safe location where you can still run with the bike, fine. Otherwise, one of you can watch the baby and the other can work with the 7 year old. Leave the 5 year old for now. One at a time! Now that the weather is getting nicer, you can be out more, and it's a good time. Also, I would say that, if your kids aren't concerned about it, you don't need to push. But if they want to try it, then take the training wheels off and just give them a chance on a smooth, quiet street or even a large parking lot - a school or office parking lot on a weekend is a good place with no traffic and no obstacles. Good luck!

My son was 5 years old. He outgrew his old bike and we got him a bigger bike that did not come with training wheels. I told him that if he wanted to ride his new bike and sell his old bike he needed to learn to ride without training wheels.

My daughters were 6 & 4. My older daughter was petrified to take the training wheels off. My husband did work with her because he was more physically able to keep the kids upright while running alongside. When my younger daughter saw her sister riding, she wanted to try and she just took off.

Just a quick note: To know they have their balance correct to ride a two wheeler, raise the training wheels up and see if they just ride of the wheels. If they are constantly leaning to one side and still using the training wheel for support, they may not be ready.

Good luck and have fun!

My son was 7 as well, and I was 4. But he grew up in apartments and traveling, and then finally our house on a busy street with a gravel driveway. I grew up in quiet neighborhoods with pavement. He grew up with other ride on toys he liked better than a bike (plasmacar, skateboard, razor, etc), while I only had a bike.

You teach them by taking the wheels off, holding onto the seat, and running. You just need clear weather, no traffic/foot traffic, and to run along behind them.

My son was still using training wheels at age 7 and I felt the same way! Last summer in June, he turned 8 and I took the training wheels off. He tried to ride for awhile, then lost interest and hardly tried at all for the rest of the summer. When the weather broke a few weeks ago, he drug his bike out of the garage and took off, riding circles around our driveway!!! (it's a circle drive and fairly long) Worries over! Now riding his bike is one of his favorite things!

I am a worrier and I don't ever want the training wheels to come off...however, I have been an avid biker my whole life and still do at least 20 miles a night during the summer. But I don't want them to!!! :)

My oldest, six, is currently riding an attachment on the back of her father's bike (makes it like a tandem) and her own bike with training wheels. Maybe we'll try this summer...in the grassy back yard.

Our son learned when he was 5 by using his friend's "push bike" or balance bike...a bike with a seat that is pretty low and no pedals. You push off and glide with your feet up. They are a little more than we wanted to spend at the time so we took the seat off his tiny 12 inch tire bike and wrapped a towel there to sit on (to make it really low). We then removed the pedals. He practiced a LOT on his own and then suddenly it clicked and he hopped on his bike and was riding it. Our two friends did the same thing and both their kids learned really fast too.

My oldest was 6, but my youngest is 7 and still has no interest. We live on a small farm, not in a neighborhood. There aren't any other kids to ride with, and there isn't anywhere to ride other than our driveway, so I understand him not really caring about learning. The boys are always out running in fields and exploring together, but bike riding they aren't areas that are good for riding. I'm not sure he'll ever learn. My husband would like for him to, though.

Mine were 4 and 5. When the 5 year old did it, the 4 year old did it the same day to keep up with big brother, it was so cute! It's all about exposure and giving them the confidence. We also had lots of kids riding two wheelers in our neighborhood, the peer pressure to do it was great... and I'm sure that is what nurtured it along more than Mom and Dad's prodding.

My son was 5. He was ready sooner, but I wasn't! I live in a neighborhood full of single moms and some of my friends are single moms. I did a poll and NONE of thier kids can ride without training wheels. It's a mom thing. We don't want to see our babies hurt. It kind of takes a guy to go out there and teach them. FInd a dad, a brother, or an uncle and have him teach the 7 yr old 1st and then the 5 yr old will follow.

Updated

My son was 5. He was ready sooner, but I wasn't! I live in a neighborhood full of single moms and some of my friends are single moms. I did a poll and NONE of thier kids can ride without training wheels. It's a mom thing. We don't want to see our babies hurt. It kind of takes a guy to go out there and teach them. FInd a dad, a brother, or an uncle and have him teach the 7 yr old 1st and then the 5 yr old will follow.