Help teaching DCs to ride a bike.

[twowhat?]

DDs went straight from balance bikes to regular bikes at 5. It was so easy I couldn't believe it, and they weren't even really super proficient on their balance bikes (hated going fast, doing turns, etc). If your balance bike is like a Strider where you can put the seat way up, definitely try it. I've gotten on my kids' Strider (haha). And the balance bike will be much less scary as it's lower to the ground and (more importantly) not heavy. The weight of a bigger bike is half of the reason it's scary. It took a LOT to get my kids to actually just try the balance bikes. We watched lots of video. We let them ride the balance bikes indoors

If a balance bike doesn't work out, then agree with PPs to lower the seat, remove the pedals, let her don a sumo wrestling suit if she wants (or just knee and elbow pads) and go for it!

[pastrygirl]

Google the towel method -- it worked amazingly well in a couple of hours!

[maestramommy]

So, what DH did (because this is what his dad did) was he never used training wheels. He put the kids on the bike and with one hand on the back of their seat and one hand on the handlebars then ran with them. He took them to some bike trail that rain in a straight line for a mile. I think he had to do this 2-3 times, and several weeks in between each session, but it seemed to work. All the kids learned to ride sometime before or around age 6. It was hell on his back, but he never used training wheels so he didn't believe in them. I did as a kid, but since I didn't care either way and Dh did, we did it his way.

One thing I will note is that we put the seats rather low on the bike so that at any time they could put their feet on the ground. We had this tiny little bike that looked like it was suitable for clowns, and it looked really funny once they were able to ride it, but it worked

[Snow mom]

My DD sounds an awful lot like OPs DD and like maestramommy just posted, she learned to ride on a comically small bike. Specifically, she learned on a 12" trek mystic at age 5.5. She rode that the first summer and then we moved to a 20" bike the following bike season. The small and light bike was key to getting her comfortable with learning to ride. She had a balance bike from age 2 on but never really took to it and I think she ultimately learned balance from a razor scooter. All they really need to know about balance to learn to ride is that you need to be moving to balance. Learning on a very slight downhill helps keep them moving. DH held on to her shirt lightly while she was learning but once she was willing to ride she was basically able to. She rode three biking seasons before she ever fell so I don't think falling is a foregone thing for a truly cautious child.

DS is a very different child and rides the balance bike well. He learned to ride a 16" bike at age newly four with the same holding shirt and running alongside. He can bail off a crashing bike without going down with it and definitely takes a more reckless approach to biking, although even with him the confidence to ride is a big piece of the puzzle.