Learning to ride a bike without training wheels

[yogibigdog]

My son (who just turned 6) is his having trouble learning to ride his bike without training wheels. It seems to be a balance thing. I saw this CD called Pedal Magic it is suppose to help them learn. It sounds to good to be true that it would really work. Anyone ever used it? Any other tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[CEDmom]

I've never heard of it. My best suggestion is to take your son to a park where he can ride down a very slight hill on the grass. Start him at the top and hold onto the back of his seat while he pedals and you run along with him. After you've worked up a good sweat and realized you're too old for this kind of stuff try not holding the seat but still run along with him. Once he realizes you're not holding he'll already be pedaling and doing fine on his own. Good luck.

 

[Beth76]

I would make sure his seat is pretty low so that he can stand over it. That really helps with catching himself when he starts to tip. My son just started 2-wheels and picked it up fairly quickly. He started on his little starter bike (12" I think). Then we got him a bigger bike (16" I think) and I had his seat up to high and he had a hard time stopping and starting. We lowered the seat and he can do it all by himself now. Looking at him, the seat looks too low. But this way he can reach the ground with his feet easily to help with balance.

 

[DisneyArk]

I agree with CEDmom about learning on the grass. We let our sons learn on a bike that was slightly small for them. They learned on a 12 inch bike and when they figured it out, we moved them to the 16 inch. They were able to balance on the smaller bike much easier when they were learning. We borrowed the 12 inch bike just for them to learn on.

Good luck!! Now that ds5 and ds7 have the hang of it, they love riding their bikes and I can't get them to come inside so mom can rest.

 

[diznygirl]

DS has a bike that has training wheels and they are adjustable so that they don't really touch the ground and help all that much. But he thinks they do.

Other than that, all I can say is practice, practice, practice! (I just saw an episode of Franklin and that's what worked for him! )

 

[mickeyboat]

I agree about the hill. Also, remind them to pedal. As soon as they stop pedaling, they start to tip. My DD's (4 and 5) learned earlier this summer. They still need to perfect their stopping and steering skills, and their awareness of their surroundings, though.

Denae

 

[debster812]

The other thing that worked wonders for us with teaching DS was this:

Have him sit on the bike, and have him push off with both feet simultaneously and glide. That will help give him the feeling of what it's like, without having to have the pedalling down yet. Once he gets used to that, the pedalling seemed to come around MUCH more quickly.

And I totally second CEDmom's advice about practicing on the grass. Because once they wipe out on the pavement, it's going to take them a long time to try again. (just trust me on this one..... )

 

[laurie31]

DD2 learned so easily, doing the things the other posters have described, but DD1 had the hardest time. It didn't help when DD2 came along and learned before she did.

We used the tips from a parenting magazine. I just searched Parents, Parenting, and Family Fun and can't find the article, but it really worked for DD. It suggested doing things in steps. First let the child balance on the bike while you hold the handlebars. Then you gently lean the bike from side to side, so the child learns balance. Next, you continue to tip the bike, but your child should put his foot down to stop it from going over further. You are still holding the handlebars; your child should feel totally confident that he cannot fall. When he masters putting his foot down, then he can begin to ride as the above posters have described. If he starts to feel "wobbly" he can put his foot down and he will not fall. I haven't described this nearly as well as the article. I will see if I can find it. It was so exciting for DD1 to finally master riding Now we can all ride together.

Another thing that helped DD was to buy knee pads and padded gloves. She never wears them now, but they gave her confidence when she was learning (that if she fell, she wouldn't get hurt). Of course, we all wear helmets!

Laurie

 

[yogibigdog]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Will start working on it this week. I printed out all the tips so I can bring them outside with me.
Thanks again.

 

[stevenpensacola]

I'm 6'4", so bending over while holding on to the short bike seat while running just killed my back....so what I did was take a broom handle (or something similar) and fastened it to the bike by inserting the handle through the smaller tubes behind the seat. The bottom of the handle ends up near the bottom bracket (where the big sprocket is) I'm thinking I was just able to jam the thing in there.

What this allowed me to do was to run behind the bike, and hold onto the bike via the broom handle, with bending over. Used this method will three kids. I could let go of the handle, while leaving my hand around the handle (w/o touching). Kids knew I was right beside them and thought I was holding them...but it was them. Next thing you knew, I'd be running up a little to show them I was not helping. Then made sure they knew how to stop. Then while "helping" them, I'd just stop running and let them go....and they never looked back.

 

[floridafam]

We started on a very tiny grass hill. We had DS push off on the hill and just hold his legs out to maintain balance. We did this a few times. He just put a foot down if he felt off balance.

We then had him bring his feet in and start to pedal. He also did this a few times.

After a while, it just clicked. I heard this on some show and didn't think it would work and it did.

Good luck.