Time to give up training wheels

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 04:29:15 GMT misc.kids
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Ignoramus31268...

How would one decide what is the appropriate moment to give up
training wheels on bicycles?

cara...

Our daughter mastered a bike without training wheels soon after she got
one of those 2 wheel razor scooters - she got really comfortable on the
scooter, figured out her center of balance, and when we first tried the
bike without trainers she was off and gone in one push (age 5).

JennP...

You know, you are the second person I've heard say this. A friend of mine
got her kids the Razors pretty young and they've been on two wheel bikes for
quite a while now and they are 5.5.

Ds got a Razor for Christmas and has become so much more confident on it. It
will be interesting to see what happens. He has no interest in trying
without the training wheels though. I brought it up casually and got an
emphatic, "NO!". I think he's not ready. ;)

cara...

We got her the scooter for christmas and I was worried she wouldn't even
be able to manage that since its easy to tip and lose balance. Took a
few days, but soon she was totally comfortable on it - she's not super
adventurous, so I was surprised that she wanted to try her bike without
training wheels, but she did great on the first try. She still prefers
to ride the scooter, though. I think they get a better feeling of how
to re-center body weight on a scooter to maintain balance, where its
easy to put a foot down or jump off....once they have that concept
figured out, riding a bike is pretty much the same with minor
modifications. I'm sure he'll be off and riding soon, when he feels ready!

You could find a grassy flat field and try no trainers, sometimes kids
feel more comfortable with the idea of falling onto grass rather than
cement, although its a bit harder to pedal on grass.

Jeanne...

We found out (the hard way) that training wheels shouldn't be used for a
long period of time but if used the child has to decide whether or not
to give up the training wheels.

I was talking with an older parent at a bicycling weekend. I had
dispaired that DD (6 at the time) would never give up training wheels.
He told me that was the first weekend that his 9 year old daughter rode
without training wheels. When she arrived at the hotel and saw all the
other children riding on two wheels, she asked her father to take off
the training wheels and then went off with the kids.

I was stunned because she looked very comfortable on two wheels. He
said that he made a lot of mistakes with his first two children and
decided to just be calmer and more laid back with this child. One way
was to let her decide the pace of her childhood.

This seemed like a good idea to me and DH (and DD). So, at 8, DD still
has training wheels on her bike. She mentioned to me last month that
she wants to ride without them this summer.

PattyMomVA...

This is exactly what happened with both my kids 3 weeks ago. DS-5 and DD-8
were both riding their bikes with training wheels because they hadn't
consented to removing them. (They both also rode their Razor scooters.)
Anyway, one of DS's training wheels cracked, so DH took them off. DD
decided she wanted hers to come off too. Within about 10 minutes, the two
of them were riding around our cul-de-sac like they'd been doing it forever.
It was great to see. They now ride whenever they get the chance.

It could happen anytime, Jeanne! :-)

-Patty, mom of 1+2

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