Pinigis 

My son is now 5 weeks old and topped the 8 lb. mark, so it is time to get him his own folding bike. I may have jumpped the gun a bit, but this one was too cute to pass up.

Still Pedaling

That's awesome. When he's ready, he'll have a blast with that. I never thought that there would be a folding bike for toddlers. Makes me wish I was a kid --maybe not.

Pinigis 

My 15-year-old daughter, 8-year-old son, and new baby all have folding bikes now. Does anyone know were to get one for a 4-year-old?

cplager

What about the Fox with the seat all the way down??

noglider 

Don't wait too long to teach him to ride on two wheels. And skip training wheels. Many three and four year olds can balance on two wheels. Balance first, pedal later. Training wheels make you learn in reverse order.

BassNotBass

+1. When my grand daughter hit the age of 7 I finally decided to go behind her parent's back and teach her to ride a bike. I bought her a bike and took the pedals off. Later in the day she was able to balance and turn. The pedals went back on and from that point forward she was able to ride.

wahoonc

Ayup! Made the mistake of training wheels with my son. Took him until age 7 to really get comfortable on a bike. DD was cruising the hood at age 4

Aaron

Pinigis 

Finally! At 15 months little Niko is ready to ride his first folding bike. He can't quite reach the pedals yet, but he likes to drift down the gentle slope of the street and steer his way. I had him in the kid carrier for a while as we pedaled along Lake Huron last month, but now he wants to ride on his own.

fietsbob

A pedal less balance bike is the next step..

Pinigis 

Yes, we just weaned the 5-year-old off the training wheels, so I am planning to skip the training wheels and go for the balance bike and then a pedal bike.

fietsbob

Yes, once the balance motor skill is learned , then the pedals are easier to add..

Pinigis 

I just found this folding balance bike. I need one of these!

Darth Lefty 

I saw those folding trikes at Wal-Mart and can't figure them out. They don't fold enough that the folding action is useful.

Pinigis 

You are correct, the folding action is completely useless on this little trike, but that was not the point. The point was to get my little boy a bike that folds like everyone else in the family. I don't think that he really cares if it folds, but it made me smile.

blakcloud

Paul, I like your thinking!

fourknees

+1
get a nice strider type balance bike too. They are lighter and easier for the kid than taking pedals off a small bike IMO. I regret not purchasing for my oldest. My other daughter just started pedaling now and doesn't turn 4 for 3 more months!
I consider getting both kids pedaling a big accomplishment and lifelong skill for them.

bhkyte

I did use training wheels ( uk equals stabilisers), for my children. I wished I did it differently, but I tried a few things that helped.
Yes take pedals off.
Hold the child not the bike.
Stabilisers can be used as a training tool.
My sons wheels squeaked so he could be encouraged to use this as feedback to keeping it balanced.
Ie can you ride for x seconds without it squeaking?

Then can you lean it on the left wheel when turning left.

I progressively bent the stabilisers up so they gave less support . When he had creaked non stabilisers on sisters bike I ceremoniously broke them off ( they weoren't safe to pass on)

Untill recently training bikes were a luxury item in uk. Now they are reasonably priced.

Finally I recommend training in a grassy park. Fwar on avoiding obstales can make a laege difference. My daughter would have progressed quicker having hedgers, walls and roadsides removed . I took a while before riding in a field translated to rigding on a pavement or cyclepath.
Enjoy the journey.

alfamelba

I was grateful of the advice earlier in this thread to get my daughter finally cycling at the age of 15 last year!

She had started with a trike and progressed to a bike with stabilisers (training wheels) but had never been able to ride without. She has a mild form of autism and has confidence and balance issues anyway. She had agreed to remove them when her sister (4 years her junior) progressed to riding without them but could not cope without and then abandoned riding the bike entirely as other kids were teasing her.

When I saw the advice in this thread I tried to get her to try a bike with the pedals removed, but she refused as other kids in the street would see her. When we went on holiday for two weeks last summer, I took the pedals off the old Proteam folder we keep at the caravan and set her the challenge of learning to ride in the holiday with the promise of buying her a new bike if she succeeded. Within 3 days she could balance and by the end of the first week she could pedal as well.

She got a bike (a traditionally styled ladies hybrid) as promised though she has not used it as much as I had hoped - she still lacks confidence but at least she knows she can use it if she wants. Just shows you should never give up!

corinnem

Wow its great I like this toddler bike very much my son will definately like it. I have two kids one is 2 monhts old and another is 3.5 years old. I am using hug a bub baby carrier for small one and thinking of buying bike like this for another one.

Pinigis 

The little folding tricycle is probably too small for a 3.5 year old.