How old was your DC when they stopped using training wheels?

[ourbabygirl]

We got DD a balance bike for Christmas, and then got her a small bike recently with training wheels. Just wondering how long kids typically ride w/training wheels before taking them off and/or getting them a bigger bike (hers is the 14" wheels).
DH's friend says it takes a couple years to get them used to riding before taking off the training wheels, so probably around age 6 to take them off (his DD is the same age as ours), but I think it can be done much sooner, within a few months, maybe.

How did it go with your DC?

Thanks! :)

[belovedgandp]

Totally depends on your kid. I've had friends with kids that took off on a bike without training wheels at 4. DS1 showed a little interest right after turning 5, but it went badly and we put the training wheels back on. The next year at just over 6 it clicked. He'd moved to a larger bike with training wheels and we did the smaller frame bike without training wheels to learn to ride and then he switched to the bigger frame.

DS2 is almost 5. He is riding with training wheels with much more confidence this spring. He might make it this summer at 5, but probably not until next year.

[crl]

Ds was six. Other kids on our street were younger.

Catherine

[lalasmama]

DD didn't use a balance bike at all. Last spring, her tires were flat, I took the training wheels off, and let her ride on them flat. It provided just enough balance from the rims, I think, to get her to balance better on her own. So, she was 7y or so. She was definitely older than a lot of kids in the neighborhood, but she's also got motor planning issues (as do I), so I didn't expect her to learn when she was much younger than that.

[KrisM]

It really depends on the kids, I think. For us, DS1 had turned 4 the day before we took them off. DD was 3 years 4 months old. DS2 will be 4 in July and still has them on. I expect he'll be off before 4, because he's zooming around on the balance bike now.

But, I have a friend who has a son who is 8 and is still unwilling to take his off. Her DD is 5 and won't take them off either.

[okinawama]

We got my son a Strider when he was just shy of 2, and he took to it fairly quick. After a while of riding it we began to notice that his balance had improved significantly. My DH thought that he could probably ride a two wheeler on his own, so we tried it. Just as my husband thought, my sons balance had developed enough for him to ride the two wheeler, but it did take him a bit to figure out the pedals. After a few times starting on an incline, he improved quickly. By 2yrs 8 months he was riding the two wheeler complete on his own.

I completely attribute his success to the balance bike. If you have the balance bike, and she enjoys it, I'd encourage the balance bike and go directly do a bike without training wheels.

[stefani]

DS never used training wheels. He got a tricycle at the age of 2, balance bike at the age of 4, and 2 wheeler at the age of 6. Never put on the the training wheels.

DS learned to pedal, then to balance, and then to combine both pedaling and balancing.

The balance bike was probably a 10" (Kinderbike), and his two-wheeler was a 12". 3 months later we got him a 16" bike. I didn't want him to jump from a 10" balance bike to a 16". I think the fact that the two-wheeler was similar in size to the balance bike helped his confidence to just pedal away.

[2crazykids]

We got a Strider bike for our son last summer, right before his 3rd birthday and a month ago today he started riding his two wheeler... so at 3 1/2. He never rode a bike with training wheels... his cousin who is 2 months older has training wheels and you can tell he is completely dependent on them and actually leans when he rides. Balance is the most important part, pedals are easy :)

[baileygirl]

We bought ds1 a Strider bike around the time he was 2. He wasn't really interested in it until he was 3.5 (until then he had only had it on flat areas which I don't think was as fun for him). He started riding a 2 wheeler within weeks of that (on first try).

[kerridean]

DD1- summer before 1st grade and age 6
DD2- summer before pre-K age 4

[Tondi G]

Both of my boys were 6 when we took off the training wheels. With DS2 we probably could have done it sooner ... every time DS got it in his mind that he wanted to ride his bike, he didn't want to wait for us to get tools and remove the TW! He coasted down the block 2 times and the 3rd time he pushed off, got his feet on the pedals and he had it!

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

DD was 4, it was her decision.

[MommyAllison]

DD1 was 5. She'd been riding w/training wheels for a year, and when DS got a baance bike last spring she used it for about 3 weeks. We took the training wheels off at that point and she did great!

DS has had his balance bike for a year, but really got interested in it this spring. He is ready for pedal bike now, and will be 4 soon.

[WatchingThemGrow]

The purpose of the balance bike is to skip the training wheels.

My suggestion is to put the other bike away for now and focus on the balance bike. Get her going around the block confidently on the balance bike, a lot, until she's naturally lifting up her legs and coasting, moving the handlebar all around while she's coasting. THEN get out the other bike, remove the wheels, and hold onto the back of her shirt while you go around the block.

We did this with DD - balance bike until the day of her 4th bday, then put her on the 2 wheeler (no TW ever) and held her shirt and ran with her for one lap. She took off the second lap on her own.

Same thing with DS, but he got great on the bb very quickly and begged us to "put pedals on his bike" so we got him a lightweight 12" Specialized Hotrock and he took off at 39 months old.

If you say you got a 14" bike, I'm going to guess it was a TRU type bike that's heavy. Those are going to be heavy and much harder to pedal, so you will likely find she'll do much better once she's really strong on the BB and is able to put her feet flat on the ground when sitting on the real bike with no TW. BB and TW oppose one another.

[georgiegirl]

Dd was newly 5.

DS is 2.5 and has a balance bike but doesn't "get" it yet. He has amazing balance, he can ride a 3 wheel scooter ( balanced on 1 leg) very well and can walk across the high balance beam by himself. Not sure why he the balance bike doesn't click for him yet.

[brittone2]

So far no training wheels. DS1 started on a balance bike at 3 and rode it until he was 5. He was short for his age and could have transitioned earlier had we purchased a 14 inch bike I think, but a 16 was still a little bit when he was ready for it, and he wasn't complaining, so we let him continue on the balance bike.

DD started using the balance bike at age 2 and was riding a pedal bike at 3.5. She could have potentially done it earlier, but we received my niece's hand me down bike at that time, and within 5-10 mins DD took off on it.

DS2 is 2 and starting to use the BB.

[mom_hanna]

dd - 3.5
ds - 5

We never used a balance bike.

[edurnemk]

DS had a Strider balance bike for a whole year before getting his regular bike, and we never used the training wheels. He was exactly 4 yo when he got the pedal bike and did fine, he's never fallen off. I thought that was the point of the balance bike? that they wouldn't need the training wheels later?

[khm]

There's a wide range in our neighborhood. No one has balance bikes, but us. My kids were both 4.

One neighbor kid is just sporty, it's totally in his genes and he cannot be stopped! He was just barely three and teeny for his age too, it was a sight. Others were 6. Some technically could by 6, but were scared after an earlier fall, etc.

We did have a balance bike for our youngest, but he never liked it when he was in the right size / age range for it. We could NOT get him interested in it in the least. He did scoot down the driveway with it the week before he went without training wheels (when the silly thing was WAY too small for him). He was four.

My oldest did training wheels until four also.

I taught my two and two neighbor kids. I had them stand on one foot. Told them to notice how they wiggled to keep balance and said they'd have to do the same on the bikes.

I would hold their shoulder / neck area and run with them. My husband (the cyclist in the family) was stunned all 4 times when he came home from work to see these kids biking! He told me each and every one was "not ready". Shrug.

[hillview]

Ds1 was 5

[AnnieW625]

Dd1 is six and still has them. We didn't go the balance bike route with her. I can see the training wheels coming off soon though, she is very close to getting the whole thing. Dd1 showed little interest in bikes until she was about 3/1/2, and by then was ready for a 16" bike so we got her one when she was 4. DD2 is almost 2 and shows a bit more interest so it might be worth it to go the balance bike route with her. Ahe always wants to be doing what DE1 is doing.

[ABO Mama]

4 yrs for DS.

[elephantmeg]

we had to put DS' back on this weekend-he rode briefly without training wheels on DD's small bike but the combo of going a long time without riding, a bike that maybe is a little too big and his overly cautious nature he was either never riding again or we needed to put them back on for a while.

[MelissaTC]

He was almost 5. No balance bike here either.

[Kindra178]

No training wheels ever. DS1 was 5 and 3 months. He started with a balance bike at 3.5. We got him a 16 inch Specialized for his 5th birthday and took the pedals off. A few sessions with the pedals back on and he was off and running. I should add that our season to ride bikes is pretty short here and last summer was crazy hot plus insanely buggy. So we didn't really ride at all summer long.

[jerseygirl07067]

Wow, you all have a lot of kids who learned early! DD 1 learned at 6, DD 2 pretty much has it down (turned 7 this past week) but is very fearful for some reason. She can do it without training wheels, but always wants me to hold on. She recently rode up the driveway totally without me holding on and once she realized I wasn't holding on she freaked out.

I will say my kids are not the most athletic. But I taught them using the same principles I use with my patients. (I'm a physical therapist). I actually put a belt around them so it was easier for me to hold on to them, and gradually loosened it for them to learn the corrective movements. If they went to far me holding onto the belt would prevent them from falling, but as they were learning, I'd let them go farther before catching them.

It only took DD 1 an hour of doing this for a few days in a row to finally get it, and she was totally dependent on training wheels prior. DD 2 the same, if I can just get her over her confidence issues. She has always been a bit fearful of riding a bike, even with the training wheels.

Good luck!

[KrisM]

It really depends on the kids, I think. For us, DS1 had turned 4 the day before we took them off. DD was 3 years 4 months old. DS2 will be 4 in July and still has them on. I expect he'll be off before 4, because he's zooming around on the balance bike now.

But, I have a friend who has a son who is 8 and is still unwilling to take his off. Her DD is 5 and won't take them off either.


I thought I'd update. DS2 is off training wheels today! He's doing great. He's 10 weeks short of turning 4.

[citymama]

I'm embarrassed to say DD1 never rode on a bike till 5, and she started without training wheels and learned the very first time she rode it! Go figure. I attribute it 100% to riding her Razor scooter and figuring out balance through scootering.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I thought I'd update. DS2 is off training wheels today! He's doing great. He's 10 weeks short of turning 4.
Woo hoo!! how fun!

[lmintzer]

My older DS was 6 (at the end of K). We had a half-day of school, so I thought I'd try. I took the wheels off, and he got it within a half-hour. He's athletic and coordinated, so I wasn't too surprised.

My younger DS is 8.5. We took the wheels off this Spring, and he was fearful and barely wanted to try. I think he could do it, but he just isn't that interested. Kids are so funny: he plays beautiful, fairly difficult 2-handed piano pieces, but he doesn't tie shoes or ride a bike. I figure those are two projects for this summer.

Anyone else with a kiddo who is just not interested? I do have to admit that we don't bike a lot, so that's probably part of it.

[hellokitty]

It totally depends on each kid. For us, we are very lucky that the pediatric PT program here has a free, "learn how to ride a bike in a day" workshop 1x a yr. We signed up DS1 and DS2 when they were four and five. We had been trying to teach them to ride w/o training wheels for a while, but it was not clicking. Amazingly, the PT staff had both boys riding w/o training wheels in less than 20 min! We are lucky the program was free, but I would PAY $, if needed, since I still personally remember how traumatic it was when my dad tried to teach me to ride w/o training wheels (he is the most impatient person on the planet). Call your local bike shop and pediatric therapy place and ask if they know about a program like this. We live in a dink town, so I'm surprised they do it, but they get some sponsorship from the local bike shop and other businesses for the program and it fills up FAST (have to sign up for a time slot).

[lmintzer]

That's a good idea. I will check around. However, if I can't find anything, I won't push him. If we try a few more times and he's not ready, than training wheels can go back on (and we can work on the shoes, lol). : )

[brittone2]

It totally depends on each kid. For us, we are very lucky that the pediatric PT program here has a free, "learn how to ride a bike in a day" workshop 1x a yr. We signed up DS1 and DS2 when they were four and five. We had been trying to teach them to ride w/o training wheels for a while, but it was not clicking. Amazingly, the PT staff had both boys riding w/o training wheels in less than 20 min! We are lucky the program was free, but I would PAY $, if needed, since I still personally remember how traumatic it was when my dad tried to teach me to ride w/o training wheels (he is the most impatient person on the planet). Call your local bike shop and pediatric therapy place and ask if they know about a program like this. We live in a dink town, so I'm surprised they do it, but they get some sponsorship from the local bike shop and other businesses for the program and it fills up FAST (have to sign up for a time slot).
Yes, one of the practices I worked at periodically held these workshops. It is also great for kids that are starting to feel sensitive that their peers are riding without training wheels, because there will be other kids their age in the class.

[justlearning]

DS1 learned with training wheels, never had a balance bike, and could ride without training wheels at age 5.

DS2 had a balance bike, we never put training wheels on his bike, let him try riding it at age 4 and he was off riding perfectly within 20 minutes.

If you DD has a balance bike, I highly recommend not putting training wheels on her bike.

[HIU8]

DS is 7. He has motor planning issues. He still has training wheels on his bike, b/c he is scared. HOWEVER, DH raised them up as high as they could go. Technically they don't touch the ground when DS rides (so he isn't using them, but he doens't realize that).

DD will be 5 in a month. She is about ready to lose the training wheels.

[kijip]

T was 8. Yes, 8. Part of this was gross motor skill issues (HFA) and part I attribute to getting him hooked on those training wheels. For older kids not riding yet, I suggest a scooter. He got a razor scooter for Christmas and that did the trick finally. I think he liked the control of learning that constant leaning/balancing while standing up. He can ride both the scooter and his bike really well.

Because of his delay, we got F a Strider balance bike and plan to never use training wheels. We'll see how it goes. F is 3 now. He likes his bike, thinking we will move him to a bike with petals sometime late this summer.