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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Please tell me there are othyer 8yr olds that cant ride bikes?

30 replies

misdee · 11/02/2008 19:24

I have promised the girls that this half term that i wil lhelp them ride bikes. dd1 can now pedel quite fast after her first day, but isnt confident enough to ride without stabilisers. this means she is using dd2 bike as the bike she has doersnt have stabilisers on it.

is it possible to get her riding in a week without stabilisers?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

needmorecoffee · 11/02/2008 19:25

ds2 is 13 and can't ride a bike. Could never get the hang of it and now refuses to try.
Lower the saddle so she can put her feet flat on the floor and let her pedal.

milou2 · 11/02/2008 19:33

Yes, DS2, 10 yo, can't ride a bike. Ds1, 12yo, learnt years ago.

deaconblue · 11/02/2008 19:35

My niece was 8 when I taught her to ride her bike during a 2 day visit. She was ok at pedaling without my support by the end of day one and on day two I taught her how to push off and stop by herself without falling over. Mind you they were long and back breaking days of running along holding the saddle

littlerach · 11/02/2008 19:36

Yes you can get her riding in a week if she is confident enough.
Dd1 has just learnt - she is lamost 7.
But it took her to be confidet enoughto do it, and dh to run behind her a lot!!

filthymindedvixen · 11/02/2008 19:43

my 10 year old son has only just learned this week!! it took him 2 hours to learnn and now there is no stopping him. he refused point blank to learn at 8.

His brother is 7 and scared stiff. Will not even try.

LIZS · 11/02/2008 19:50

my almost 10 yr old can't properly . He can only just on a slope if balanced to start with. Often won't try

avenanap · 11/02/2008 19:51

My son was 8 when he learned. I told him I'd hold the back, I did for a while and then let go. I think it's sometimes a confidence thing.

filthymindedvixen · 11/02/2008 19:57

LIZS, is it your son who is dyslexic too?

LIZS · 11/02/2008 19:58

fmv He 's dyspraxic (probably ), definitely has core stability and hand/eye motor issues.

filthymindedvixen · 11/02/2008 20:02

ah sorry had a (wrong) memory from another thread. Mine is dyslexic but I wonder about dyspraxa sometimes even though he can run like the wind, swims like an otter, has fabulous balance, climbs, was an early walker etc etc. But he is not very co-ordinated at things which require doing more than one thing at a time - like, er, riding a bike
he also has major confidence issues with things - it's like he is convionced he is going to fail....

cory · 11/02/2008 20:05

Dd (11) can't do it either. She has problems balancing amongst other things.

YouKnowNothingOfTheCrunch · 11/02/2008 20:07

My Ds learnt when he was 8 - all in 2 days. I felt like such a failure for years - now you can't get him off the thing!

There is hope

worley · 11/02/2008 20:28

ds1 is 9 and can just about ride it, he only learnt last summer. i cant trust him to ride on the path though, he is really wobbly so he wont be riding to middle school when he starts this sept.

Blu · 11/02/2008 20:44

The easiest way for a child to learn to ride a bike is:
Take the stabilisers off
Take the pedals off
Lower the seat so they can put feet flat on the ground
get them to use the bike as a balancing bike - scooting and going down a gentle slope , gradually learning to balance.
Once they can go for a bit without putting feet down (in a day, say!) and can steer a bit whilst balancing, oput the pedals back on.
They will zoom away - (unless other issues like dyspraxia etc).

I taught DS and my neices like this. No back breaking stuff.

Stabilisers actually make the child use thier weight when steering in a way which is counter-productive to balancing.

Original poster

misdee · 11/02/2008 20:46

thanks, i feel a bit better now. the older two girls never got the hang of pedelling a trike, so i know they will find buike riding a bit harder. dd1 is very felxiable and dd2 is as well but very clumsey.

OP posts:

Blu · 11/02/2008 20:48

oh, and neices were 8 and 10 when they learned!!

Sidge · 11/02/2008 20:52

Phew, glad my DD isn't the only one.

She is 9 and can't ride her bike. No reason why, she just doesn't want to learn. We've tried a few times and she just pedals once or twice then jumps off.

Hopefully one day she'll want to.

chipkid · 11/02/2008 21:33

we live in the city and so it is difficult to find time and places to cycle often. My ds is 6 and I feel a failure because we haven't spent enough time riding bikes with him. I am now trying to get him cycling but on grass in the garden so it is back breaking stuff!

WideWebWitch · 11/02/2008 21:36

My 10 yo ds can't. We tried to teach him several times and he got in such an ALMIGHTY strop we gave up. During the lesson he said to dh "I'm so cross I'm GOING TO RIDE THIS BIKE AT YOU " and dh repled "hmm, that's a pretty empty threat" since the whole reason he was cross was because he couldn't do it. Oh it was wearing.

We must try again this summmer

DontDreamItBeIt · 11/02/2008 21:38

DD1 was 8. She taugh herself in a week. I'd recommend everything Blu said.
DD1 learnt on her younger sisters smaller bike, having never managed to ride even with stabilisers unless I was also holding her.
She just scooted up and down he pah nonstop until she could pick her feet up.

DD2 did the same thing a few months later.

cat64 · 11/02/2008 21:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

mckenzie · 11/02/2008 21:41

I totally ditto Blu's advice. DS was just six and had been on a bike with stabilisers for ages but everytime we tried without them it was awful. So we took the stabilisers and pedals off, lowered the sadlle and spend about half an hour with him scooting down a gentle slope, gradually taking him higher and higher up the slope and getting him to lift his feet off the floor for long periods. And I kid you not, DH ended up going home after half an hour and getting his tools to put the pedals back on and that same afternoon DS was riding normally and with great confidence. It was a joy to watch.
So maybe we just timed it right but who knows? I've seen other children learn really easily with the scooter bikes too so i personally think there is a lot to support that method.

Good luck.

WingsofanAngel · 11/02/2008 21:47

My ds1 didn't ride his bike properly until last summer when he was coming up for 8.

He has dyslexia and dyspraxia traits.

He attends a chiropractor and since has been doing exercises for his co ordination and balance he has really taken off.
(he has to do things like go up three stairs with his eyes close and back down again,supervised of course)

kindersurprise · 11/02/2008 21:49

Blu is right (as usual) The scooter bikes are how most children here in Germany learn to ride a bike. They tend to start earlier than in UK.

We bought DD a bike without pedals for her 3rd birthday.

After that we just popped the pedals on and off she went.

DS had stabilisers, as we could not be bothered taking the pedals off again. The stabilisers were really crap and he wobbled about a bit. At some point I realised that he was actually balancing fine, he did not really need the stabilisers.

Good luck, and have fun!

gigglewitch · 11/02/2008 21:53

my 7yo DS has stabilisers on -and relies on them. He's not interested in getting them taken off either!
If learning in a week is possible then you should write the "mum's guide" and make a few quid

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