4 year old still can't pedal

[Anonymous]

My 4yr old still can't get the hang of pedaling He had one of those small radio flyer tricycles that he never was able to use despite us trying to show him. He now is too big for it(even though he is smaller for his age.) He has a balance bike and does okay on but never really did learn to balance/glide on it. What kind of bike do you recommend? He gets frustrated as he sees the other 3/4 yr old racing up down the street on their pedal bikes. My husband gets frustrated trying to teach him as he feels he isn't "trying." I'm unsure of it's a coordination issue/strength issue or he simply doesn't want to put forth effort. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

One of my kids was like that. His younger sibling was close behind in age and was eclipsing him in learning to ride a bike and learning to swim. He didn't ride a bike until at least age six. I think it was closer to seven. Later he was diagnosed with hypotonia. I'm not saying your kid has a coordination disorder, but I wouldn't let your husband assume that he's not trying. My son really was trying but just wasn't ready for a bike at the same age as his peers. Do you have a trail bike? We used that a lot and it helped take the pressure off.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is nearly seven and is just now getting the hang of it. she has some developmental delays.

At 4 I think a lot of kids cannot quite get the hang of it.

[Anonymous]

Is he in Preschool? Ask his teacher if he can do it at school. We have several different varieties of trikes at our school and some kids do better with some than others

--prek teacher

[Anonymous]

Are you or your DH clumsy? It's likely inherited if so. Our DS could not pedal until well past 4. OT helped. (Basically personal training for preschoolers.)

[Anonymous]

Mine also learned how to ride a tricycle on the preschool playground.

[Anonymous]

My now 10 Year Old who rides independently to sports practice did not master it until the summer when he turned 8.

He has a bunch of OT issues that were not diagnosed until later.

How is your child with other fine motor and gross motor activities? Do a puzzle and see if they take a piece on the right and put it into a place on the left OR if they switch hands.

You may want to get a scooter as it might be easier to get around (and more fun for everyone)

[Anonymous]

NP here. My 3.5 yo also can't pedal a tricycle, balance bicycle, or bicycle with training wheels. I have been trying different types to see if something seems more natural (and we work with DC on trying), but nothing is clicking.

Is the consensus that you should be able to do this by 3.5/4??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. My 3.5 yo also can't pedal a tricycle, balance bicycle, or bicycle with training wheels. I have been trying different types to see if something seems more natural (and we work with DC on trying), but nothing is clicking.

Is the consensus that you should be able to do this by 3.5/4??

Yes. My developmentally delayed kid did it at 4.5, and will need OT for years.

[Anonymous]

Well I didn't even try with my son until he was a bit past 4 and we bought him a bicycle with training wheels. No idea when he could pedal before that. Have you tried a proper bicycle, adjusted to his height, with training wheels?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. My 3.5 yo also can't pedal a tricycle, balance bicycle, or bicycle with training wheels. I have been trying different types to see if something seems more natural (and we work with DC on trying), but nothing is clicking.

Is the consensus that you should be able to do this by 3.5/4??

Yes. My developmentally delayed kid did it at 4.5, and will need OT for years.

There are a lot of different types of "developmental delays". Some times it is core strength for staying on the bicycle, others the ability to get the motion for both legs to work together for this, for others there are balance issues.


I would say a child who is neuro typical should be able to pedal a trike at age 4

[Anonymous]

First off the ergonomics of tricycles suck and thus make them very difficult to pedal. My son could not pedal a tricycle but learned to ride a bike without training wheels at 3.75. he had used a balance bike since he was 2.25 and had balance 100% down.

Now figuring out how to pedal a bike took some work and I was tempted to throw training wheels on to get him to learn to pedal, but my husband refused and he was right. Our son figured it out and was riding within a week. just keep seat low so both feet can tough the ground while he learns.

[Anonymous]

Most tricycles are AWFUL.

They are NOT developmentally appropriate for kids. The design is not made for little legs to get enough leverage to push on those pedals.

Get him a balance bike where he can learn how to balance before learning how to pedal. It's easier to learn how to balance when you're little and your center of gravity is low. Then he can graduate to a real bike WITHOUT any supporting wheels.

My kids were on two-wheelers by 4 (5 for my son with delays) because they had used balance bikes from the time they were 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. My 3.5 yo also can't pedal a tricycle, balance bicycle, or bicycle with training wheels. I have been trying different types to see if something seems more natural (and we work with DC on trying), but nothing is clicking.

Is the consensus that you should be able to do this by 3.5/4??

Yes. My developmentally delayed kid did it at 4.5, and will need OT for years.

There are a lot of different types of "developmental delays". Some times it is core strength for staying on the bicycle, others the ability to get the motion for both legs to work together for this, for others there are balance issues.


I would say a child who is neuro typical should be able to pedal a trike at age 4

My completely NT 8-year-old still has trouble with riding a bike. She has zero delays and no other motor skills issues. She just sucks at pedaling and riding a bike. Sometimes these things just kick in more slowly for some kids than others without there being a bigger issue at play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. My 3.5 yo also can't pedal a tricycle, balance bicycle, or bicycle with training wheels. I have been trying different types to see if something seems more natural (and we work with DC on trying), but nothing is clicking.

Is the consensus that you should be able to do this by 3.5/4??

Yes. My developmentally delayed kid did it at 4.5, and will need OT for years.

There are a lot of different types of "developmental delays". Some times it is core strength for staying on the bicycle, others the ability to get the motion for both legs to work together for this, for others there are balance issues.


I would say a child who is neuro typical should be able to pedal a trike at age 4

My completely NT 8-year-old still has trouble with riding a bike. She has zero delays and no other motor skills issues. She just sucks at pedaling and riding a bike. Sometimes these things just kick in more slowly for some kids than others without there being a bigger issue at play.

Yes, I would not panic if your 4 year old can't pedal as long as there are no other issues. My DS could not scoot/pedal until past 4. He DID have motor planning issues for which we got OT, but those issues were very apparent in other areas. Plus, it was also clear to me that balance and peddling just needed some time to kick in for him. He is essentially "neurotypical" in that I would be hard pressed to say he's disabled in any way; but just slower to gain physical confidence! He's what you'd call a late bloomer in earlier times. That's not to say that I don't heartily recommend OT for these kids -- mine certainly benefited -- but it's nothing to panic over.