How old were your kids

We decided the twins were old enough to have their training wheels off. When we did it with Joel, he took off in about 2 minutes. The twins are not getting their balance and just can't do it. I have seen little kids much smaller than them riding around with just 2 wheels. So, how old were your kids when you took off the training wheels?

 

Jonathan decided last Feb. that he wanted to ride a 2 wheeler--in 30 min. he was done learning. Marcus is still using his training wheels--although I am hoping he will give them up this summer--he knows he can't get a new bike until he is done with training wheels.

 

With Logan, he was about 5. He was riding his bike around and around in front of our house and his training wheels were slowly bending up until he wasn't even using them, so he made it easy for us to take them off. The girls were about the same age, but Caitlin picked up on it faster than Sarah. They don't ride their bikes much and I think Sarah still doesn't feel that comfortable on a bike. She'd rather ride her scooter. I know that kind of coordination can really vary with kids and their self-confidence really plays into it as well.

 

My daughter turned 7 in March, and we took her training wheels off at the end of April. She had asked us to do it last fall, but we never got around to it. She is getting better at it, but I think the style of her bike makes it difficult (it has the handle bars that go up high and wide and the banana style of seat). We will get her a larger bike soon, and I expect she will find it much easier to ride (since fewer pedal revelutions will make the bike go faster).

I have seen kids in our neighbourhood riding two wheelers before they are 4, and others that are over 7 and still have the training wheels on.

Every kid is different.

T

 

It was last summer so I guess Berkley was about 6.

 

Jackson learned shortly after turning 6. We live in a hilly neighborhood with no sidewalks and our driveway is steep, so we had to make a concerted effort to take him to a school parking lot and work with him until he got it.

Hayden and Brady have training wheel bikes at my parents' house (they have a wide, flat driveway). They pedal far better than Jackson ever did, so I have a feeling they'll learn how to ride this summer (also age 6).

 

For Ethan it was the summer before kindergarten - he rode his bike a lot that summer, and by August we just took off the training wheels and he was riding a two -wheeler within 10 minutes. Isaac learned last summer, at six and a half.

 

We just tried 2 weeks ago, just because jessica saw her little friend doing it (her friend did it in a couple of hours), anyways after a couple of days of not so much luck haha, we now have the training wheels back on.

maybe wait until next year with your boys, no rush!!

 

My DD is 6.5 and has no interest in riding her bike let alone riding without training wheels, we tried last summer with lots and lots of whinning.

 

We never had bikes with training wheels, we went from trikes to bikes that are big, they don't make training wheels for them, but it was the summer before they turned 6 that they learned.

 

Tabitha was just turned 6 and the twins were 4, they all learned around the same time. They had all been riding scooters for some time, and had gotton the balence aspect down, and petaling with training wheels, so all they had to do was put it together. It took a couple of hours, and they were all doing easy circles around the diveway the same day.

Logan rides with ease with training wheels, and we're going to try to concur taking them off this summer. Maybe in a weekend or two I'll start loosening them. We never did that with the older three - they had them on tight, then not at all - but I'm thinking that it will be better for Logan to do it gradually.

Good luck! They'll do it eventually. Really, there is no rush.

 

DD just learned this spring, so a couple of months shy of 8.

 

I think it was 6 for the girls too.

 

Zach was not quite 6 when he asked to have his training wheels off and he learned in 20 min.

Ethan asked last fall at 5.5, we worked and worked on it and ended up putting them back on. We just took them off again a couple of weeks ago and now he's riding, but hasn't figured out turns yet.

Cassie got hers off about a month ago and after a couple of sessions was able to ride.

They are both still working on the turns, but are very proud that their training wheels are off.

 

My girls were 4, just starting kindergarten. They said they were ready for the training wheels to come off, and we figured we were going to be spending the afternoon running behind bikes, but first one then the other, got on and peddled away. They didn't need us at all!

But there's a pretty wide age range for kids to learn. I know a couple of second graders that haven't mastered it yet. A lot has to do with how much time they put into riding, and what kinds of surfaces they ride on. You are supposed to move the training wheels up so that they both don't touch the ground at the same time, which helps the kids learn to balance a little bit. That seemed to be the thing that worked for my girls.

 

Well, my twins aren't very old, (11 months) but my DD, who is now 6, learned in about 30 min. at 4 years old. My son, now 8, learned at 5. And my 3 year old is on the verge of getting it. Oh, and my 4 year old son learned about two months ago.

~Kate

 

Annie is about a month shy of 5 1/2 and she learned in about 30 minutes a few weeks ago. Now there's no stopping her!

 

Alexandra was 6.5 and Ashley and Alicia had just turned 4. Alexandra was very hesitant to ride without the training wheels. Ashley & Alicia are not scared of anything, which isn't always a good thing, so they didn't use training wheels for long.

 

With no training wheels? Mine were all over the place. Sean was 8 (yes, a late bloomer). Brian was 4 1/2 and so was Craig, but Craig had a nasty fall and didn't ride his bike for a year after that so he was closer to 6 by the time he got his confidence back.

 

Claire was 5, and Izzy was a 3 (she had to so she could ride with her big sister). Will is 4 and nowhere near ready! In fact, he just mastered pedaling.

 

The boys turned 6 in March and we are planning on taking those training wheels of this summer!!!!! It is a good age for them and I know that they really want to ride like the bigger kids in the neighborhood. We'll see how it goes- we'll be using the elbow and knee pads though!!!!! Good luck!

Tracy
Mom to Griffin & Alex :itwins_boys:
03/14/02 34wks

 

I think this is one of those things where the "normal" age is all over the map. Our five children learned at different ages; our eldest daughter was 6.5, our second daughter was 5.5, our first son was just 3 (I could not believe it! he taught himself right after we moved to Cincinnati and had a nice long flat driveway- it was either the week before his third birthday or the week after it); our twins were 5.5.

I think there is a lot more to mastering a 2 wheeler than simple physical competence; as Kim mentioned, there is a big confidence component, and a child who is quite ready, physically, might take a little longer if he's had a couple of scary spills or near-spills which shake his confidence.

I think your boys are right on track!

 

We are not ready yeat at 5. They just don't have too many places to try to practice.

 

All of ours learned the summer before kindergarten. We didn't do training wheels and they seemed to learn faster. They love to ride bikes and they are all great about helmets, even our 13 year old. I hope it continues or he will be walking. I even drive by the park and the pool where I know he is with friends so I can check up on him. Am I a loser mom or what? LOL