Teaching Your Little One To Ride A Bike

If you are thinking about beginning to teach your child to ride a bike, then don’t oversimplify it. I know there are articles online that tell you, that it's easy to teach a kid to ride in thirty minutes or less. It's a nice idea and certainly simplifies this part of parenting, but it's also ridiculous. I am sure these parents have had their kids on stabilizers for years, take them off, give them a push and away the kid goes. But if you do that, then you are going to find it takes your child a lot longer to learn. That's why my first advice is this

Forget About Stabilizers

Hey, I know that for some parents stabilizers are going to prove incredibly useful. Some children find it difficult to get the balance right away and immediately fall off a normal bike. But, most parents will find their kids don't need them. If your little one is very small and learning to ride you would be better off buying a trike then a bike with stabilizers. These are sturdier and a lot safer for little ones than a bike that’s too big with stabilizers stuck on the sides.

Balancing Is Better

If you have a toddler you want to forget about stabilizers completely and instead, buy a balance bike. You can find more info from http://balancebikespot.com/. These work a treat when teaching your kid how to ride. The balance bike doesn't have any pedals. Instead, your child will push themselves along. This teaches them about balancing and steering, two vital parts of learning to ride. Once they get a little bigger, you can move them on a proper bike. This way your child has never used stabilizers. A big problem with stabilizers is that a child will grow accustomed to them and then have difficulty riding without them.

Don't Rush It

You should leave your child using a balance bike for as long as they still need it. But eventually, you'll know it's time to move them on to a bigger challenge. Your child's first proper bike. Don't expect them to be able to ride straight away even if they have been using a balance bike for some time. Certainly, don't expect it to take a half hour or even one afternoon. It might be a couple of days before they can fly solo, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Teaching Them To Ride

If you want the learning curve to be as short as possible, watch out how you guide them. Do not steady them completely. Instead apply a light hold on their back without bending down fully to support them. Do not hold the handlebars ever otherwise it will take longer. As the ride continues, gradually lower your hold until the child is flying solo, but do not tell them they are cycling by themselves. Let them work it out for themselves otherwise the shock will cause them to fall immediately off!

Once you have completed this step, you can be proud in knowing you taught your child how to ride a bike. Get ready to be pestered about being taken on bike rides in the weeks to come. Good luck!

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