What to do?

[giant rock]

I often take my 3yr old son out for a ride on the bike and he usually sits in a baby seat on the back of the bike. Lately when I am trying to get him into the seat he starts to scream and becomes histerical. Once you start riding he is fine but hangs on for grim death and no he has not come of the bike. Not sure what I should do and what other option that I may have to consider thinking about trying to put him in the seat this afternoon and give it another go...... HELP

 

[monc]

DISCLAIMER: I don't have kids, so am probably talking out of my ar$e

I guess the first thing to do is work out why he's not happy. Is he able to tell you?

Is he being squashed? - 3yo sounds big for a child bike seat, but I have no real experience. Friends with similar aged kids have them either in a trailer or a tag-along instead (even on tame singletrack).

It's a bit harder if he's scared for some reason.

Sorry, that probably wasn't much help

 

[giant rock]

Unfortunatly he can't tell me what the problem is. Was not sure on what age that kids can start on a half wheeler and other thing was that I have heard that the trailers can be dangerous as their are not that many cycle paths here in my area..

 

[sunny]

Could be just a phase. Kids seem to like something one week and loathe it the next. If he's okay once he's in there then it probably isn't too much of an issue for him. I'm not saying to ignore it, but I remember mine going through a phase of not letting me get the seatbelt on them in the car, but being okay once I got them in. Fortunately I never had a problem with them on the back of the bike - they generally just fell asleep.

 

[Pebble]

Maybe he has just become more aware or had a bit of a fright? Did you go over any harsh bumps that he might not enjoy? Kind of like when kids suddenly become scared of dogs if one happens to jump on them or frighten them in some way.

No idea what you could do though. Bribery?
Or how about asking if he wants to sit on a special cushion? Maybe he's finding it a bit uncomfortable. I know mine used to slip down in the seat all the time.
If it's one with the handlebar things he can hold on to then you could try attaching some toys to them?

Anyhow that's all I could think of, just some way to convince him that it's ok to go in it, or try figure out why he doesn't want to. With the bribery maybe ride to a shop close by and buy an ice cream, next time he doesn't get one unless he goes in without complaining

Yes I was one of those people without kids that said "oh I'm never gonna do that when I have kids" etc etc. How things change, and especially once number two comes along.

 

[Hamsta]

First post in the girls only section

I don't have kids, but my girlfriend is an ex-teacher. With the little ones, she would gradually introduce them in stages to new stimuli, such as a Rabbit or Dog etc, rather than creating a sensory overload. ie. show them pictures of a Rabbit or Dog and some of their basic characteristics, read a story about a Rabbit or Dog and so forth before introducing them to the real thing.

Could you create a positive association, such as giving him his favourite toy to play with etc in close proximity to the bike laying on the ground in your yard without actually riding. Then gradually increase his exposure to the point where you are actually riding for a short distance. Get him familiar with the bike, the sounds it makes etc then build from there.

Hope this is food for thought.

 

[giant rock]

He has been coming on rides with me or around 6 mths now and all of a sudden he is screaming and becoming histerical. He is 3yrs old and he weighs 16kilos and I tell you, you can feel the weight when he is in the back. Wasn't sure if he is ready for a tag along or what yet. He doesn't pedal but thought that the tag along may help him get use to the idea of pedaling

 

[mtbdh_girl]

I do know of a number of 3yo's in our area who ride on the tag alongs. Similarly I know a number who did not start on the tag along till they were 5 (and 1 who started at 7 but thats a whole other story I would say that being ready for a tag along is entirely up to your judgement. If he can confidently hang on and stay balanced even if he's not pedalling then this would be a good indicator.

I dont kow what your circumstances are, and whether it's an option but when our daughter was three she had a little bike wich we took the training wheels off. We put on gloves, knee guards and elbow guards and rolled her down a grassy slope a number of times, first with her feet off the pedals but then she started finding the pedals herself and it was not long before she was riding confidently by herself. Yes she fell a number of times at first, but because she was padded up she never hurt herself meaning she didn't get scared. She got a small mountain bike at 4yo and was riding basic single track straight away. Simalarly we went riding recently with a a few families at some trails here in Melbourne. 10 kids ranging in age 10 down to 3 and half. The trails were single track we rode about 12km and the youngest 3 kids were all on 16inch bmx's. They were fine too- we didn't go really fast but even so they kept up easily.

Maybe this is something to keep in mind for the near future?

 

[Pebble]

Well I imagine your son probably has some sort of bike of his own?

Even though your question was more about him going on rides with you rather than teaching him to ride for himself, here's my story - since they are all different!

My son started riding without trainers from about 4.5 onwards, but I used to spend just about every afternoon out the back on the bike with the kids.
My daughter who has just turned 4 doesn't have enough confidence on her bike yet. When she was around 2 and up until relatively recently she had a "FirstBike" kind of bike (no pedals etc), it was actually a "JD Bug" off Ebay which is very similar to the FirstBike but much cheaper, anyway it was great, made of Al and very light, and it meant she could accompany me and my son on rides around the block etc. Unfortunately even though it does develop their balance etc they then still have to get used to the normal and much heavier pedal bike!!
My Son had a "jd bug" as well, we actually brought him a normal bike which he refused to pedal, so we had to look at alternatives. He was on the JD bug for a fair while and then I then got him onto the 12" bike with trainers just to get used to the handling and pedalling. I then taught him to ride it since he was getting good at the pedalling thing and was going fast enough to keep the balance without the slightly raised trainers touching the ground. After he built up some confidence we moved him onto a bike one size up which was a better fit by that age.

I did buy some knee / elbow pads for my son while he was learning too, I think they're a great confidence booster for them. Mind you they looked too big on his skinny legs and arms we ended up not using them that much.

 

[Megs:)]

I think this thread is going in a good direction - that is, maybe he is ready to ride on his own and has had enough of being carried like a baby. Maybe it is his way of letting you know, even if he doesn't know himself.

My youngest daughter rode without training wheels once she had just turned three and I know a kid who was really competent at it (even did jumps) when he was still 2.

My best method (being the third kid I reckon she learned the easiest because we knew how to teach her!) was to start them on a 12" wheel bike with training wheels and back pedal brake. Start on a level surface with minimal rolling resistance (our wooden deck was perfect). All our kids did this once they had turned two and it taught them to pedal, turn and stop, (although I know teaching them to turn without leaning is a bit counterproductive, but at least the training wheels give them confidence and ability to go and stop and they love the freedom of getting around on the bike).

Then once they can do that put the seat down as low as it goes and take off both the training wheels and the pedals - if the cranks come off easily, then those can come off too. This transforms it to a kick along bike like the First bike, but the good thing about it is that it handles just like it will once the pedals have been put back on so they can progress without ever having to get used to a different bike. I agree with above posts that a slight downhill grassy slope is best. Other than that, just kicking it along is easy and within a week or two, my daughter was ready to put the pedals back on and she was away. During that year when she was 3 she moved up to a 16" wheel bike and before she was 5 she was doing some pretty hard core mtb on a 20" wheel Giant mtx250. Now at 7, she doesn't really slow us down much at all and happily rides stuff like the Scott24hr course at Stromlo.

My point is that the longer you carry them on the back of your bike or even a trail-along bike, the longer it will take before you can all truly mtb together properly. Also, getting them riding early will be great for their skills as they have a lot less fear than older kids. For our youngest, she is 7, nearly 8 and has been riding well on her own for almost 5 years while some of her school friends still have training wheels (and possibly frustrated parents who still can't take the family riding for a fun day out!)

Bottom line is that 3 years old is not too young.

 

[mtbdh_girl]

Hey Megs

It is great to hear there are other 7yo GIRLS out there who hit up the off road trails! My daughter is also now 7 and rides a Giant mtx 250! She rode most of the Commonwealth games track out at Lysterfield when she was 6.
We know plenty of boys who do ride well at that age but no girls. My daughter also races bmx - she started that at 5, but while she is very serious about BMX at the moment (she is aiming for this years Worlds in Adelaide ) I think she will head down the MTB route once she gets older.