Teaching my daughter to ride a bike - help!

[Elsia]

screams into pillow

She’s a wee superstar. She is absolutely bloody desperate to ride a bike without stabilisers. Desperate. We tired for a couple of months before Christmas but haven’t been out recently because of the weather.

Today she has been working on it all day. I’m so immensely proud of her dedication and the fact that she continues to persevere. She struggles with her balance a lot and we’ve been practicing with her sisters balance bike etc.

She was really making progress today. Her balance is just about there. I hold the bike and run to get her started and she finds her balance more and more quickly every time. But every single time I let her go, her foot comes down. She just can’t keep it on the pedal.

It’s a confidence thing. She keeps getting so cross with herself and she’s so desperate to do it but she’s just too scared when it comes down to it.

There must be something I can do to help her (other than supergluing her damn feet to the pedals)’

Thanks everyone. I’ll certainly be trying some of these techniques. I didn’t realise they did courses!

I taught both of mine, they were both 4 when they learnt. I found somewhere flat and tarmac so it was smooth and I held the seat and ran with them (back breaking) and got them first to focus on stopping and starting, breaking then footdown so they would be confident when i did let go. After that i kept hold of the seat until I could tell I wasn't making many adjustments and then eventually I was just running with my hand at the back but not doing anything. Little and often we went out, didn't take that long. I remember my daughter asking ' Are you still holding it mummy' as she pedalled off with me calling to remind her that if she wanted to stop to slow down with her brakes and then put her foot down. I tòok a video of the first time i let go and she pedalled off, one of my proudest parenting moments so far

I’m finding if I hold her bike (or her) she leans into me and it’s not helping her learn to balance

We got a long handle that you attach to the bike and you hold it. Only way both mine could learn. Absolutely brilliant.

I used this video to teach my child. After three goes she got it properly. First time she got pedalling and balancing. Second time she cracked starting off and third time she mastered breaking.

Easier than a handle is a sturdy cotton scarf.

Drape it behind her neck then backwards under her armpits and pull it out behind her like handles. You can pull up slightly to support as she gets her balance then let it out and release the pressure as she gets more confident. Eventually you'll be able to pull it away completely as she cycles off

I used the Isla bikes method as posted in the video above. Stabilisers definitely make things worse so get rid of those !

The council courses in my area are free
However, like everything Covid has put a stop to them.
Something they said which I didn't mention was as parents we hold the bike/child but if they can't balance, they won't be able to do it hence using the method they did. I guess it's like learning to swim, the child has to learn to float first.

@Elsia I do remember my DD doing that, she will get there I'm sure x

My DD was the same, just lacked confidence and would to totally freak out if she thought I had let go.
We fitted a ‘Balance Buddy’ handle to the bike. Saved my back!
Over a few days I slowly loosened my grip as she got her balance then one day I just let go and she didn’t notice. She rode up and down a few times before I told her. Took the handle off and she was away!
She just needed that boost and self belief.

My DD was exactly the same last year, lacking confidence, putting her foot down every time I let go and leaning into me. She’d been riding a balance bike for ages with no issues so was definitely just confidence with her.
She sat watching some other children riding and after a bit said if they can do it so can I. She sat on her bike and something must’ve just clicked for her, she pushed off and just started pedalling.
She was quite wobbly the first few times but got it in about 20 minutes.

As a PP mentioned @Elsia, courses and clubs are all closed because of lockdown currently, but grassroots outdoor sport is allowed from 29th March so you might find things opening up again after that. We're planning to restart our club after the Easter holidays, assuming nothing changes, and I imagine it will be the same in lots of places.
There's sometimes something to be said for having someone else do the teaching. It's not necessarily because the parents don't have the knowledge or skills to do it, but some children do respond better to being taught by someone else. It's the same kind of thing as when your child gets offered a food that they won't touch at your house by a friend's parent and they wolf it down. Or the way a child who throws a tantrum if their asked to pick up their toys at home leaps to attention when a teacher says "tidy up time!" A different setting and being with other children who are all doing the same thing is a game changer for some children. You may well be all sorted by the time things open up again of course, but if not it might be worth looking for some help.

With DS, we took his pedals off and lowered the seat so it was like a balance bike. We used this for several weeks until he had got his balance as he was pretty much starting from scratch, and would also only try for a short time each day - your DD sounds much more competent already. Then when he was ready (a week after I said he was) we put the pedals back on and took him out. I used a scarf under his arms to hold onto. He could already pedal (with stabilisers) and to our surprise, got it straight away so I let go of the scarf... She will get there really quickly once she's mastered balancing.

If the above didn't work, my next plan was a cycling course, but we didn't need it in the end.