Learning How To Ride a Bike - Using the Balance Bike Method

Sunday was amazing.  No, seriously, amazing in that little-steps-that-mean-big-things parenting kind of a way amazing.

We have these two kids who have refused to learn how to ride a bike.  Okay, calling spades the spades they are, those kids are Caleb and Noah.  Cause really, it wasn't like you thought it was Eli, right?

Part of it was our own fault.  Two years ago, when it was really "time" to learn, I ended up on bedrest.

And then we had a preemie.

And then a newborn followed by an infant followed, well, by just life.  And in all of that, the big kids never learned how to ride bikes.  They are now tall enough that they don't even seem to make bikes with training wheels for kids their sizes anymore.  We were in trouble.

Then again, up until now, the kids have been content to just use their scooters.  Us?  Not so much.

Every time we would suggest it, we would get whining and crying and massive protestations.  Massive.  "THE NEIGHBORS HAVE THEIR WINDOWS OPEN, STOP IT!" protestations.  No fun at all.

Brian was researching new bikes the other day because, well, because our kids now look like circus clowns on their old, teeny bikes.

And in doing so, he came across a bike called the balance bike.

The whole philosophy is that kids first just need to learn how to balance.  Forget the pedaling.  The idea is to learn how to balance your body.  You add in the pedaling later.  And so that particular bike has no pedals.

Perhaps we had been going about it all wrong.   We had started with training wheels.  We then took off one.  And then two.  And the promptly had crying, whining "I can't" kids who refused to do any more.

So we started over Sunday.  But we didn't buy a balance bike.  We did it on our own.  Instead of focusing on removing the training wheels (which we did leave off, we took off the pedals.)

As we thought about it we realized that Caleb had kind of been trying to do that on his own, but the pedals kept getting in the way and frustrating him.

[And no, he is not Anakin Skywalker.  I have no idea why he is wearing one glove.]

You have the child get on the bike and just walk it around, toe to toe, wobbling back and forth from foot to foot.  Getting a sense of their center of balance.

After awhile, it helps here to have a small hill, you encourage them to pick up their feet for a few seconds at a time and let the bike roll.

And before you know if you have this.



Within an hour.  An hour.  Years of fighting about it.  And in an hour it was done.

It worked for Noah too.  Our kids are now riding bikes.  Full out up and down the hill, pedaling, riding bikes.

And yes, we are just a little bit giddy about it.