Post by clairedunphy on Mar 23, 2017 14:32:17 GMT -5
One thing I never stressed about was my kid being ahead of the curve on bike riding. My kids all rode trikes--it helps them learn to pedal. Even daycare has trikes. They have balance bikes too. That eventually, at age 4 or so, wanted to try. It will all work out.
Post by countthestars on Mar 23, 2017 14:57:42 GMT -5
I'm super confused about wanting a kid to learn to ride a bike quickly. Is teaching to ride a bike some sort of 4 month sleep regression hell that I just haven't heard about yet?
All of my kids have used a tricycle initially, then a balance bike and the a real bike. I don't see the tricycle as having anything to do with learning how to ride a 2 wheeler. Around 3 they'd go back and forth between a tricycle and a balance bike. But all I do is open the garage, they can get out whatever they want. I think this is dumb.
I get that it seems like a grandparent overstepping but I don't think it is.
What is a strider bike? What is wrong with tricycles? I'm so confused.
Of course, my 5yo still can't pedal all that well with her tricycle so I suck at this part of parenting.
It's basically a regular bike without pedals. They're meant for really tiny kids (like 2-5ish) to learn how to balance and coast on a bike, but they sit low enough that they can put their feet down. It's supposed to help them learn the skill of balancing, as opposed to relying on training wheels to balance for them. In general, there's been good results with kids learning how to ride a regular pedal bike earlier and more quickly because they understand how to balance the bike, arguably the hardest part of learning.
(This part not directed at you froggy.) I think the responses about our expectations of him learning to ride a bike on a certain time frame are weird. I never mentioned any expectation we have because we don't have any expectations of him. We hope that a strider bike will make learning a little easier and more fun for him. That's it. I'm not trying to be some psycho parent who forces her kid to ride a bike by age 3. Plenty of people use strider bikes with their kids and have good outcomes.
Also, neither DH or I have bikes. The idea that he ought to be riding some sort of bike (tricycle or whatever) by this age hadn't really occurred to me, honestly. We got the strider bike and basically just figured we would work with him on it when he was big enough to use it.
A lot of people are being weird and taking this oddly personally. she never said she's judging kids who can't ride bikes at any age or needs him to ride a bike by x age or else
I mean strider bikes are pretty common and the main goal of them is to get kids to ride bikes early without training wheels so I'm not getting all the vitriol here
I bought my kids a strider bike cheap at a consignment sale. I had no idea until this thread that it was supposed to help them learn how to ride a bike more quickly. I just thought they'd like it. I also didn't realize they were supposed to glide on it instead of just walking with it between their legs. #bikingparentfail
I'm super confused about wanting a kid to learn to ride a bike quickly. Is teaching to ride a bike some sort of 4 month sleep regression hell that I just haven't heard about yet?
I think the idea is that if they learn early, they learn to balance before they know it's something to be nervous/scared about. My oldest didn't have a single hesitation about learning to ride a bike at 3.5 because adding the pedals was just one tiny difference & the idea of balancing was natural instead of scary to him. He's a pretty anxious kid, and I'm pretty certain he would have been an anxious mess trying to learn to ride a bike now, at 6. And his reaction to trying to roller skate solidify my thought on that. I couldn't care less about when other kids learn to ride or when he meets masters other skills...I just felt like I knew my kid, and I needed to take advantage of that care-free attitude that they have when they're really little. And teaching him to ride was super easy and stress-free compared to the frustration and tears that I remembered from my childhood!
isabel, I kind of get what you're saying about being afraid that having the trike might affect the strider, but I don't think that will be an issue. They're two totally different things. If you were talking about a bike with training wheels, that might be different. We let my oldest ride the pedal bike with training wheels for a few days before taking them off, and it was obvious that he was quickly learning to rely on the training wheels to help him balance instead of balancing like he already knew how to do very well. That's not an issue on a trike, though, because they're going to be balanced no matter what. (FWIW, we will teach DS2 to pedal with training wheels again, and then take them off.)
I bought my kids a strider bike cheap at a consignment sale. I had no idea until this thread that it was supposed to help them learn how to ride a bike more quickly. I just thought they'd like it. I also didn't realize they were supposed to glide on it instead of just walking with it between their legs. #bikingparentfail
They'll pick it up quickly on their own! I never taught my boys how to do it. They just naturally go from walking to walking faster, to picking their feet up because they're going too fast. It's hilarious to watch a two year old flying down the sidewalks! LOL
And I don't really think they're to help kids ride more quickly, just more easily...which is often sooner.
We have been hiding his trike away this past couple of weeks though, maybe some would judge that but he can ride either now and would generally choose the trike because it's easier.
I'm really not trying to be petty here and I won't be. We're going to let him use the tricycle. But this is my concern with it. Obviously it's all anecdotal, but H and I have heard good things about the strider and have friends whose kids have learned to ride a bike really quickly because of it. I don't want him to get used to the trike and refuse to use the strider.
I do recognize that this is a pick your battles kind of thing.
Havent read all of the responses but this gives me pause. Who cares is your son ends up loving his trike and not the strider? We have three much older kids and every ride on thing you can imagine. One loved the Kettler trike and is an amazing biker now, one loved the strider and STILL won't ride a bike at almost 9. My youngest? He's having none of it and prefers to be pushed in or on things. I truly have never given this any thought and don't understand the brainpower going into this. Let's say, for arguments sake, that your son does indeed prefer the trike and won't touch the strider...ever! Who cares? Am I missing something? Why is this even a concern?
I'm finding it hard to understand worrying about learning to ride a bike with a 3 year old. He'll learn eventually. There isn't a schedule or an age requirement so if doing something he enjoys pushes him back a few months, who cares?
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Yeah come on isabel what's with this schedule and timeline of perfection? It's clear no child will ever measure up to your impossible standards. Why are you trying to steal his childhood?
Oh does anybody remember the good old days when being a kid was so carefree? You'd ride a bike when you felt like it, if you had one and knew how and if you didn't that was totally fine too, and if you happened upon a swing in a neighbors yard you and your friends would happily play upon it without permission for hours on end with nary a worry! Oh how you'd laugh and swing and laugh and then either ride your bike home or not depending on how your parents were about bikes
Striders are just another stroke of marketing genius, like Pull Up diapers, and 'pre walker' shoes. Someone figured out how to fleece parents for more money during transitional phases.
Post by lilmissladybug on Mar 24, 2017 0:04:18 GMT -5
I had no idea what a strider bike was until I googled it. I don't think it's a big deal to use both. DS used DDs radio flyer trike and since he has short legs he couldn't peddle it. We bought him a 12" bike with training wheels when he was 3 and by 3-1/2 he wanted them off. He didn't have any problem balancing his bike.
On the flip side, DD was terrified of riding a bike until she was 6. But she's scared of everything. DS was riding a bike without training wheels while DD still had training wheels and she's 3yrs older.
Yeah come on isabel what's with this schedule and timeline of perfection? It's clear no child will ever measure up to your impossible standards. Why are you trying to steal his childhood?
Oh does anybody remember the good old days when being a kid was so carefree? You'd ride a bike when you felt like it, if you had one and knew how and if you didn't that was totally fine too, and if you happened upon a swing in a neighbors yard you and your friends would happily play upon it without permission for hours on end with nary a worry! Oh how you'd laugh and swing and laugh and then either ride your bike home or not depending on how your parents were about bikes
Being a kid these days is just not the same.
This is a weird post and I'm trying to decide if it's sarcasm.
Yeah come on isabel what's with this schedule and timeline of perfection? It's clear no child will ever measure up to your impossible standards. Why are you trying to steal his childhood?
Oh does anybody remember the good old days when being a kid was so carefree? You'd ride a bike when you felt like it, if you had one and knew how and if you didn't that was totally fine too, and if you happened upon a swing in a neighbors yard you and your friends would happily play upon it without permission for hours on end with nary a worry! Oh how you'd laugh and swing and laugh and then either ride your bike home or not depending on how your parents were about bikes
Being a kid these days is just not the same.
This is a weird post and I'm trying to decide if it's sarcasm.
its a joke
because of the weird post about the swing the other day ... when someone came into the thread and said it was sad that kids can't even enjoy using swings they find these days ... that because of trump they should be allowed to use swings without permission