WWYD? (bike)

Princess_Lily

DS isn't exactly the most coordinated kid. He's a little uneasy on a "big boy" bike - the ones with the training wheels - but is quite confident and fast on a 3-wheeler.

We got him a big boy bike for Christmas last year, that he refuses to use. He still wants to ride his 3-wheel.

Which would you let him ride? I say the 3-wheeler until he is ready on his own.

Wdyt?

hopecounts

At almost 6 I would look into working on getting him comfortable with the big boy bike for social reasons a 3 wheeler is going to make him a 'baby' really soon. 

I would go for desensitizing him, get him to 'practice' sitting on it for just a minute, doesn't have to ride just sit for a minute then build up to about 5 and then he can practice peddling for just a minute and build up until he is comfortable. 
Use rewards and/or first:then to get him to buy in. 

MirandaHobbes

DS turns 7 in a couple months and we're also still stuck in limbo. Last year we gave up trying to get him to ride his 14" bike with training wheels, and so the past summer he had no bike at all because he was way too big for the 14". I kept meaning to get a 16", but I waiting too long and now the season is over. We did get him this Razor trike:  https://www.creativekidstuff.org/store/ck/item/58294/razor-flashrider-360-caster-trike?source=4-3128-19

It's a cool concept (easy to ride, it's on castors so you can flip around easily, and it shoots sparks when you pull the break- it also looks "cooler" than your typical trike). DS still wasn't impressed. We used the tagalong most of the summer.

I know we need to get on the bike situation soon, and I'm trying to talk DH into this bike: https://www.rei.com/product/851112/electra-mini-rod-1-16-bike-2014

DS saw it at REI and hopped on it immediately. The seat sits lower to the ground so it's supposed to be easier to learn how to ride. It's more like a "cruiser."

ali0608

I haven't been on this board in forever, but I hope you don't mind me giving advice.

My DS is now 5 and started on a balance bike.  I'm not sure if they make ones that are bigger for bigger kids, but you can look into it.  It has NO pedals at all.  When people would see him in our neighborhood, they never noticed that he was using his feet and it didn't have pedals.

If you don't think that would work, I would try to encourage both.  When my DS started on a two wheel bike, he still wanted to ride his balance bike everywhere since it was faster for him.  However, we did make it practice on the other.  Once he got faster on his pedal bike, he transitioned over.  It would be hard to give up the "fast" ride for something that it slower for you. 

I hope I helped a little bit!!!

thefuturemrskudla

Ali068, did your son go from the balance bike to a 2 wheel without training wheels?

ali0608

Yes he did. He learned balance from the balance bike. Best investment for us. I've heard of other kids that didn't do as well on it.

lite-bright

I would keep encouraging practice on the two-wheeled bike, and/or a balance bike. 

DD1 just learned this past summer, at 6.5, to ride her two-wheeled bike. She started on a balance bike for a couple of years and I think that really helped -- even with things like learning to fall/let the bike go without actually hitting the ground herself, if that makes sense. The first pedal bike we got her, last Christmas, was too big and heavy for her to manage, and it wasn't until late this summer that I found a right-sized bike on CL. She insisted that we put the training wheels on it, and as much as I didn't want to, she rode it that way for a few months and it was kind of painful to watch because she'd list SO far to the side and didn't really seem to be progressing. 

DH told her that the training wheels would "expire" at a certain date and would take them off at times for her to practice, so we didn't just leave it entirely up to her without pushing. And one day it just came together for her. I know she's a late rider as it is, so I felt like it was important to keep nudging. She had also started noticing that even kids smaller/younger than her were riding pedal bikes, and I think that was a motivating factor as well. 

Hiccup15

I would probably let him ride the 3 wheeler after he rode the other bike first. I would say something along the lines of after you ride your bike to that tree (or however far you want him to go) you can ride the 3 wheeler. That way he gets to practice. 

I just bought DS1 a balance bike. He has a lot of issues with balance and would fall even with the training wheels so I'm hoping he can use the balance bike in the spring for a few months then I can just pass it down to DS2. 

hopanka

DS just learned this past summer at 9yo after years of trying, avoiding and getting discouraged. He's never been the best with balance or gross motor skills and I didn't want to push too hard because I knew it was not his strongest suit and his body just needed to mature a bit more. That said, we just took the bike outside last summer with his cousins who had already known how to and my uncle taught him within half a day. It was probably a function of him being ready to learn, an unbiased, a matter-of-fact approach of my uncle to teach and DS's cousins knowing something he didn't that gave him the push to learn.

A friend of mine got the balance bike for her ASD boy and his transition to the regular bike was much smoother. She says it was because he had already mastered the balance portion of riding a bike thanks to the balance bike, so the rest came easy for him. He learned at 6yo after riding on the balance bike since 4yo.

Princess_Lily

There is a local park in town that is very quiet, no jungle gym, etc. just a nice trail.  No one really goes there, because, well, there isn't much to do.

I had this idea today, thatI could take him there, practicing a few days a week, to build his confidence without any distractions or dangers from the neighborhood (lots of fast cars, and many friends)   If he cooperates, after, I'll take him to the other side that has the jungle gym and swings.