Any 7 year old can't ride a bike without training wheel?

[gardenmom5]

I was 10, but I also had sensory processing disorder in areas that affected my vestibular function. My brother actually grabbed the bike and ran with me until it was going fast enough I could stay upright.

[BatmansWife]

My ds learned really late. He just wasn't ready. I bet he was 9 or 10. We just inched those training wheels up higher and higher until I could see that he was riding and they weren't even touching the ground. Little dd learned, I think a year ago. On the other hand, my nephew was riding a 2 wheeler at age 4. He would do jumps off their picnic table. Not too long later he was riding a small dirt bike. :001_huh:

[WIS0320]

My DD struggled until we bought a Trek Float bike. She learned to ride in 2 days after getting it.

 

http://thebikerack.com/product/10trek-float-39643-1.htm

[kewb]

My son taught himself to ride when he was around 8 or 9. My dd tried and tried but she could not get it. Now at 11 she still can not ride a bike. Now she is embarrassed that little kids can do it and she can't so she won't even try anymore. To me this is not a make or break life skill so I let it go.

[ChristusG]

My son taught himself to ride when he was around 8 or 9. My dd tried and tried but she could not get it. Now at 11 she still can not ride a bike. Now she is embarrassed that little kids can do it and she can't so she won't even try anymore. To me this is not a make or break life skill so I let it go.

 

No, definitely not a "must have" as far as life skills though, but we'd like to bike ride as a family during the cooler months and DD is getting a bit old for training wheels. Mostly it causes her to lag behind because they are slow....and they also make a TON of noise.

[MsAlimar]

What worked for us was taking the pedals off and having her coast down a hill to work on balance and steering.

 

This is the method that we used with both of our daughters. One learned to ride the week she turned 5 and the other learned to ride a few months after she turned 4. It only took a week of coasting without pedals before they got the hang of balancing.

 

Dh read an article on this method and tried it. It mentioned that not only are the training wheels unsafe but that kids get used to relying on them instead of learning to balance themselves. It really works! Take the pedals off and lower the seat so they can easily touch the ground with their feet.

 

I haven't read all the replies so this may have already been mentioned.

[IsabelC]

To me this is not a make or break life skill so I let it go.

Didn't you know that riding a bike off a picnic table is a prerequisite for entry to all ivy league universities?

[curlygirlzx2]

My dd will be 8 next month and she can't ride a bike without training wheels. She actually has no desire to ride a bike and just rides her scooter.

[PiCO]

DH is trying to teach DD7 now. He spent about an hour with her on Monday night and he's going to spend another hour tonight. He said that her balance is just so-so, but that it got a bit better as they went on. She's just not the most graceful child LOL. Any other late bike riders? Anything that really worked for your late rider?

 

I looked on Amazon and I think I'm going to purchase one of those Strider balance bikes for DD4 to ride, and we'll be able to pass it down to our new baby one day as well. I think that if they could start out balancing, then learning to ride would be a breeze.

 

At any age, learn to balance on two wheels first. The Strider balance bikes are great, but you can make any bike into a balance bike- just take off the pedals and the training wheels! Make sure your dd can reach the ground on both sides with flat feet, and let her scoot around for a few days until she can glide for a while and turn. Then put the pedals back on, and she can just start pedalling as she's gliding.

[Kertie]

We had one of those little 12-inch (tire size) bikes with training wheels, so when the kids were on bigger bikes with training wheels and I could see they were ready confidence-level-wise, I just brought out the tiny bike sans training wheels and had them glide around. No fear of falling, easy success, great transition to bigger bikes. Same idea as those newfangled glider bikes:), but less expensive. In fact, if they're tall enough, you could probably just lower the seat all they way on a 16-inch bike and get the same results!! Have fun:).

[NanceXToo]

My daughter was 8 I think. And i had no luck teaching her myself, or did my husband, in the first couple of days of trying.

 

Then her friends decided to help her. Instead of having her steer and pedal at once as we were trying to do, they had her just keep her legs out, not on the pedals, and focus on steering/balancing until she got the hang of that, and then start pedaling, and within like an hour, they had her riding her bike up and down the sidewalk like she'd been doing it forever.

[Guest so115077a]

I am a firm believer in the strider bikes. I have three children and the older two started on the stider when they were three and could ride a bike within 6 months. The younger started on a strider at age 2. He turned 3 this past december so we bought him a real bike in April and he took off. He didn't need the training wheels at all. The bike we bought was expensive but it's so light weight and easy for him to ride. I think it's called a Specialized. I could see people thinking that the strider is just a bike with the pedals off but I don't think you will find a bike that is as light weight as the stider. It is by far the best investment we have made and it's very durable. Check craigslist and you might find a local dealer or even a used one. Well worth the money.

[kewb]

Didn't you know that riding a bike off a picnic table is a prerequisite for entry to all ivy league universities?

 

Uh-oh, I forgot that little fact. Perhaps she will have a friend who will one day have the patience to teach her to ride a bike before it is time to submit her application to Harvard.

[MicheleinMN]

Ds#3 was 10 years old. The other children were somewhere between 6 and 8.

 

HTH

[ereks mom]

EK is 16yo (will be 17 in 2 weeks) and has never learned to ride a bike. But it wasn't for lack of effort on our part! We bought her a bike for her 7th birthday, thinking she'd be delighted, but instead, she was terrified at the prospect of riding. Dh tried repeatedly to help her learn--very gently, I might add--but every time she got on the bike, she cried and pleaded and begged him not to make her ride it. We figured she'd eventually come around, but she never did.

[Guest holatjenkins]

My almost 7 year old seems way too fearful about learning to ride the "big boy bike" I just bought him with no training wheels. I'm going to convert his smaller bike into a strider (balance bike) as I've read about here and get him comfortable with balancing that way. So my question is: since it may be a year or more before he's ready (after reading these posts about some boys not learning til 8 or 9, I think that's going to be my son), should I take the new bike back? It was only $59 but if it sits for a year or more won't that be bad? I'd rather get the money back and then buy him a new one when he's really ready.

 

Am open to suggestions!

[swellmomma]

Ds13 did not learn to ride without training wheels until he was 9. He had horrid balance issues and just could not do it younger.

[Hoot]

I don't even remember when DS learned to ride a bike but he was never graceful at it. Now, at 13 he STILL isn't good at it and actually hates to ride. He CAN ride, he just doesn't like to and isn't very good at it. No amount of trying has made him capable of stopping properly though. :001_huh: The poor child just kind of jumps off mid-roll and hopes for the best. It is a complete mystery to DH because he can't fathom a 13 yr. old boy that doesn't LIVE on his bike like he did.

[acurtis75]

DD7 can ride without training wheels...in a small circle by making only left turns. She can't figure out how to go straight or turn right. We've been practicing off and on for 2 years. She also can't take a breath while swimming without standing up...despite 2+ years of swimming lessens. The teacher counts her strokes and says 1, 2, 3 breath and everytime she gets to breath dd stands up.

 

She is really advanced academically and really average or below in coordination:lol:

[Mommyof4ks]

My dd is 12, and she just learned to ride without training wheels this spring. My 7 yr old is not coordinated enough yet. Some kids just get their coordination genes from the wrong side lol.

[SKL]

I know this is an old thread and I posted on it last September. But I wanted to add that my now 5yo daughter has been riding for months but still is kind of jerky on the bike. She just really has an odd balance mechanism, I guess.

 

She was having a hard time learning on the 13" bike when I bought a bigger (16") bike for her more athletic 5yo sister. Miss Wobby tried the new bike and did much better on it. Even though logic would say it would be more scary, the ability to go fast helped her to balance; the 13" bike was history.

 

I don't know when she'll be able to really be carefree on the bike, but she's riding it independently, so I'm not complaining.

 

I keep two 16" bikes in the trunk of my car all summer, so we can stop at the parks whenever we get a chance. We do this at least a couple times a week. We live at the top of a steep hill, so we can't really ride bikes here.

[Dmmetler]

Mine can't yet. I think it's more a confidence thing than anything else. I'm figuring it will be like so much else-she'll get it when she's ready and she wants to do it. Right now, she strongly prefers her scooter to her bike anyway.

[Mom-2-7]

My oldest dd was a late rider. She was just too cautious to let go. We took her pedals off the bike and let her scoot around to get the feel of the bike and get some balance. When we put the pedals back on later in the summer, she was ready to ride. We've done that for both girls and the boys are now in the process of scooting around without pedals.

 

Just thought I'd suggest it if you wanted to try that, rather than buying a special balance bike. :001_smile:

 

:iagree: This works great!!!

[Ruby Rose]

Mine just learn right after her 7th Bday. It just clicked one day. She said she was ready. We took off the training wheels and off she went. Proud Mama Day!

[Luanne]

before she learned how to ride. She still has balance issues. I don't think she was ready at all before that.

 

I, however, learned how to ride at age 4 because my 6 year old brother thought I should since he learned to ride at age 4.

[gardenmom5]

it varies so much. I had one at four, one who taught himself at five, and one as late as ten.

[catz]

Both my kids learned to ride at 7. My just turned 8 year old can still use some confidence building yet. For us it was a combo of lazy parenting (we really had to go somewhere to have the space to practice with a new rider) and very cautious, tentative kids. I think more kids are learning younger now that get the balance bikes. My kids never had one of those. They came a little late for my oldest, and then I was too cheap with my youngest. :D