How to teach your child to ride a balance bike?
- Size Matters!
When you start your balance bike search, you need to keep in mind your child’s height, weight, and age. Some bikes run taller or shorter than other models; some are lighter, and some are heavier; some are simpler, and some are more complex. Your child’s size and stage of development will help you choose the best option for your child as he or she is, and also as he or she is likely to be in six months or a year.
Once you choose a bike and receive it, you need to fine-tune the bike to make it fit your child’s individual needs. First and foremost, you will need to adjust the seat height. Set the height so that your child’s feet rest flatly on the ground and their knees are slightly bent when they are sitting on the seat. Most seats are adjustable in one-inch increments, and starting at the setting one inch below your child’s inseam makes final adjustments easier.
The handle bar needs adjustment in respect to the seat height, as well. This makes turning and manoeuvring the bike much easier for your child. If the seat is at its lowest possible setting, for instance, the handlebars should also be in their lowest possible setting. Likewise, if the seat is in the highest position, the handlebars should be as well. This keeps the distance between the seat and the handlebars regular and prevents strain on your son or daughter’s arms and back.
Remember: Children grow quickly, so you will probably have to repeat this process every few months.
- Don’t Be Pushy!
Some children will be cautious and want to walk with the bike first, trusting their feet more than the bike. Others will want to hop on and go as soon as they get geared up with their new helmet and pads. Either way, your child needs to learn at his or her own pace to ride and to enjoy riding for the healthy fun it is. Don’t push your child to glide or even to sit on the seat before they are ready. If you do, they might lose interest in what can be an extremely beneficial and enjoyable activity and it could take them even longer to learn, if they ever decide to. Encourage them to use their new bike and praise them for any time they spend on it, even if it doesn’t seem like they are making progress.
This unconditional encouragement will foster a love for bike-riding, and it will show them that it’s okay to go slowly and safely. If they ask for help, be there to help them, but let them figure it out themselves if they want to. If your child is the “do-it-myself” type, “letting” them watch videos of other children riding balance bikes may help them learn techniques and give them the confidence to progress in their riding.
- Do NOT Hold Up the Bike!
As parents, we want to do all that we can to make sure that our child is safe, and it is sometimes hard to accept that this means letting them fall down, or at least start to topple, when they are learning to ride a bike. It applies as much to balance bikes as it does to pedal bikes. The main reason for purchasing a balance bike for your son or daughter is to help them transition more easily to a pedal bike, without the need or desire for training wheels, and holding up a balance bike has the same negative effects as using training wheels on a pedal bike. If you hold up the bike, they cannot learn to balance the bike themselves, and this will result in more falls, not fewer.
If your child does want extra support, keep a hand on their back or the side of their chest as you walk behind or beside them. Encourage them to use their feet to steady themselves when they feel unsteady, so that they will begin to trust the bike. Once they trust the bike itself, they will be able to start gliding and learning to turn. Younger children usually take longer and need more support to get to this point, but it is perfectly normal for older children as well. It all comes back to letting your child learn and transition between learning stages at their own pace. Before you know it, they’ll be riding like a pro, and having a blast while they do it!