Need Advice Moms!

Honey my Daughter is almost 8 and JUST learned to ride a bike without training wheels and she's not that good at it yet....you are not a bad parent, each child is different, some kids sprout later than other's he'll learn to ride when he's ready

my son won't even ride his bike, he is 8, and only just took his training wheels off, he has no interest in it at all now, I was much younger than him and rode my bike everywhere.

you are not bad parents lol, if you're son is ready he will tell you, or he will get embarressed that he has training wheels and his friends don't, which is what worked for my son!

like I said though, at least when he had training wheels he RODE his bike!

Gosh we are sure good at beating ourselves up about every little thing we do or don't do as parents. But in this case, don't worry. You and your son are doing fine. = )

My brother went straight from a Big Wheel to a no-training-wheel bike at 4 yrs but I didn't learn to ride a bike (despite lots of help from my dad) until I was 8 yrs. With my son, we took the training wheels off at 6 yrs but he felt so hesitant that he didn't enjoy the bike very much that summer. We felt sort of bad about putting the training wheels back on -- Like we were letting him quit on himself. But you know what? The next summer he jumped right on that bike and had the training wheels off that 1st week.

My oldest really likes to master new skills right away and finds failure to be very uncomfortable. My youngest is a risk taker and can laugh off things that his older brother might consider "failures". Each kid has their own schedule.

Nah, Your son is fine. As long as he is safe and having a good time. You could always ask him if he is ready? My oldest daughter could do back handsprings on a balance beam before riding a bike.

I would say most kids learn at 5. I known an 8 and also 3 yo. Take the training wheels off tonight. Lower the seat so his feet are on the ground, use the bike like those gliders they are selling, for a little while, so he can get the hang of balancing. It works best on a very little down hill. He knows how to peddle, get the glide and balance, he could be riding in just a few days. My neighbor girl who was 8 taught herself this way. NO, your not a bad parent there always things we don't get to.

no it's not too old. He will let you know when he's ready. Have your husband raise the training wheels a bit so he has to balance more. I was 6 1/2 when I learned how but I've always had really good balance. My sister was closer to 9 when she learned. Is it a full sized bike or a little one is he really good on it, are you ready to teach him, does he show interest in trying with no training wheels; these are all questions you need to ask yourself.

You should ask him if he's ready to try it without the training wheels. You can be the one to teach him and get him going on the bike -Dad doesn't have to be the one. It's nice, but if he has a work schedule that doesn't work for that -then you do it! Get a pair of pliers and a screwdriver and you should be able to get them off pretty easily. If not -just take it to a bike shop and it will probably take them 5 minutes. I wouldn't force him to do it if he's not into trying to ride without them though. Make sure he has a helmet and he's into trying before you remove the training wheels.

It's not too old if he's not comfortable with the idea of taking them off. The time to take them off is when your son wants them off.

As for tools, all you need is a wrench - turn it to the left to loosen the nut. It takes about two minutes.

My daughter didn't learn till she was almost 8. We tried earlier but she freaked out. When she was ready she let us know. My son I skipped the training wheels (they actually made learning to ride a bike 100x harder for my daughter) & got him the glide bike. At 2 he could glide around on 2 wheels now we just got to get him pedaling :)

Don't feel bad. I'm sure there is a range at which they take of the wheels. My daughter is 7 1/2 and we just took hers off. It took her two days of practice, but now she is riding fairly steadily without them. When they first came off she was pretty upset and after practicing for a few minutes asked if she could have them back on. My dh said no, and she kept on practicing. I think what finally worked was getting her out of our driveway and to an empty parking lot where she had room to go without having to stop every few feet. :) If he is pretty comfortable riding in general, it may be time to learn, but don't feel stressed that you are "holding him back" if you don't get to it right away.

We are also trying the glide bike with our 3 year old son, to see if that will make for an easier transition for him.

By the way, training wheels are pretty easy to take off. You might be able to figure it out yourself. :)

M.

Don't beat yourself up! Training wheels make it hard for some kids to learn to ride without them. I was 7 before I was brave enough to try, and then my parents had to teach me on the grass because I was afraid of falling on the pavement. It's SUPER easy to remove training wheels. I just took them off a bike myself and all you do is remove 1 screw on each side!!! I don't think I even used a tool. If you son is scared without them, my suggestion, as a pediatric PT, is to help him with his balance with a Razor scooter. The balalnce/glide bikes are really the way to go with bike training, but they are more for 2-5 year-olds, so he may be too tall for one. The Razor scooters you can buy at Walmart work on the same kind of balance as bike riding and might help his confidence. Have fun!

Please follow my advice, it is good that you encourage him to try, but don't push it. My older was doing well until I start putting pressure (I didn't want other kids make fun of her) and all I did was for her to HATE the bicycle, she didn't want to even touch it after that and she finally learn until close 9.
When I was a kid I didn't have a bicycle, so I took my uncle ones which was super big for me, nobody teach me (maybe because I was like my mother, very stubborn) I learn on my own by holding to the wall with one hand, ohh men if I learn the hard/painful way, lol. But I wanted to learn and I did it.
When your son wants he will too.

A.-
I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's very simple to take the wheels off. If you can make a mix cake you can take the training wheels off.

My son was about your son's age when I did it for him. He was very excited until he kept crashing then he begged, begged, begged, whined, whined, whined, pleaded, pleaded, pleaded that I put them back on. Mind you, this was after a whopping 10 minutes of them being off. About a 1/2 hour after that he was riding around like a maniac. He had balance issues when starting until he was almost 9 years old. So, if you don't think he's ready don't worry. If you are comfortable, it's really easy to take them off. Just know if he doesn't think he's ready, but you do, it could be a challenge.
I'm sure he'll do just fine.
S.

Is he asking you to take them off? If he is asking, he is at least mentally ready. You can always take the bike to a repair shop and they will do it for you for a fee.

My son is 5 and I took the wheels off last week and tried to teach him how to ride without them. It hasn't worked yet. My son refuses to get on the bike now, which means he isn't riding at all. So, last night, my hubby put the training wheels back on and my son is enjoying his bike again. My hubby says to wait and he'll tell us when he is ready to take off the wheels. So, I'm going to wait and see, but still encourage him to ride without them.

M

This was the joke in my family.."she can drive a tractor but she can't ride a bike." Literally I knew how to drive a tractor (not a play one, a real tractor) before I could ride a bike. I just didn't have great balance. I think I finially did it, all by myself when I was 10. LOL =)