My dd learned at 4. She's proficient at 5. She never used the balance bike we bought for her. Ds at 2 loves the balance bike, so we'll see!

Kids use scooters as crutch these days. The longer you to start bike riding wait, the harder it is.

Also, do kids even bike all around the neighborhood anymore? The helicopter moms don't seem to let elementary school kids just go off and bike to friends houses anymore.

My son learned a week after he turned 8.

My first was 6 and my second was almost 5. Balance bikes rock!

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are less fearful than others. if your son is older than 4, don't hold back, just let him try. Get a bike that is adjustable so the seats go higher. Don't forget a helmet.

We started with a balance bike. If you see how some kids ride the balance bike down a steep hill, you might get scared. Balance bike allow them to practice using their feet to balance. I'm sure if you skip balance bike, it will be ok. Your son will pick up sooner or later. I would not get it just because everyone else is getting it.

Sometimes children become fearful because grandparents make comments like "honey, you could fall immediately" "you're not ready to ride without the training wheels" "Aren't you afraid to ride your bike?"

So glad to see there are other kids on the older side who are slow to bike ride. My 8.5 year old can "ride", but he can't start or stop on his own. He has no desire to get better, which is so odd to me since I remember biking non-stop as a kid.

My daughter at 8 was terrified for daddy to take off her training wheels, but took off like a pro when he finally had her try it. Her younger cautious sister (now 8) still does not want to try, when we suggest a spin around the nearby school parking lot she insists on taking her scooter instead...

7 year old special needs son went from riding a big wheel (3 wheel thing preschoolers ride) to a regular bike with no training wheels in one week. We started with a balance bike. He rode that for 3 days and when he could balance as he rode down a long but not steep slope we switched to his "real" bike with pedals (purchased at a bike store so we knew it fit him). After a couple of days he was doing it without any help...in the beginning I had to hold the back of his seat while he started.

If you already have a regular bike just take the pedals off and lower the seat so he can try it as a balance bike. It is a super easy way to learn. Watch some youtube videos.

Anonymous wrote:My son w a bunch of OT issues tried at 5 - 7 without success.

Age 8 nailed it. Age 9 - rides with his baseball backpack to practice.

What ever the age - try and get a bike that fits. We started with a crappy hand me down that was really hard to petal (no fun). Next had a bike that was too big - too hard. When we got the right size it made all the difference.

Same here except I've got 2 kids with some issues and one was highly motivated to learn and the other was not. At age 9, the non-motivated one finally got it. I've also got a 3rd kid that picked it up with no problem at about age 7. She probably could have done it earlier but we were wrapped up with other stuff and couldn't work with her on it.

As with reading and potty training, some kids are ready earlier than others. Our kids (even our NT kid) didn't walk until they were 15-18 months so there was no way they were going to be on even a balance bike at that age!

Yesss to balance bikes. Wish they were around when I was a kid. We probably started on the later end for DS, he was 4.5 and big for his age, so we had to find a 16 inch balance bike. A few months in it and he went straight to the regular bike in a day. We'll be starting our 2 year old very soon on a balance bike.

Son with mild physical delays basically got it at 6, though at 8 he still is pretty slow. It took several months, on and off. You can get sticks that clamp on the back of the bike so you can hold a little.

My son w a bunch of OT issues tried at 5 - 7 without success.

Age 8 nailed it. Age 9 - rides with his baseball backpack to practice.

What ever the age - try and get a bike that fits. We started with a crappy hand me down that was really hard to petal (no fun). Next had a bike that was too big - too hard. When we got the right size it made all the difference.