Question to those parent who like the outdoors with young children, do you ever question the situations they end up in?

I have a cracking four year old who loves being outdoors and being adventurous, rock climbing, camping all year round, mountain biking etc etc. You just can’t keep him indoors. He has grown up watching me and my wife race or do outdoor things, even our family holiday last year tied in with a race.

Now as a four year old (4 and 2 months) who was on his balance bike from 1, pedal bike from 3, he is coming on leaps and bounds, have done glentress with him twice and he romps around the green and slowly picks his way through the blue descent. and he will do two hours a time and think nothing of it. He follows instructions, is starting to learn how to pick lines, carry speed and let the bike roll with his feet at 3 and 9. Its great to see and he has such a smile on his face and its him that is asking to do these things rather than us place him in them.

Now i know as a child I also loved the outdoors which resulted in numerous trips to A&E, broken bones etc and i thought nothing of it. But so far this year I have had to replace a cracked bike helmet for my him and he went over the bars yesterday face first into the dirt resulting in picking sand and mud out of mouth and nose, although after 10 mins of all out tears he wanted some races around the bmx track before putting the bikes back on the car.

Its not even as if he hurts himself of the tricky stuff, its just him messing around when it seems to go wrong.

So, question how do other parents balance outdoor fun without bubble wrap, feather duvets and a panic attack.

Do a first aid course and let him get on with it.

^ that

My five year old rides with me and has done since he was 4. Not sure what how we do compares in technicality but the downhill speeds are pretty good and rye ride durations are similar!

He has had one major otb riding some wooden steps. 10 minutes later he was cleaning them successfully.

Sorry meant to add I have been encouraging the whole technique thing from as young as possible…heels down here, weight back there etc. He seems keen to learn. I wouldn’t feed him this if all he wanted was just to pedal round in circles I don’t want to be pushy.

We build up difficulty gently and tell him when he’s getting silly or over brave and encourage where necessary.

Don’t stop!

From a similar start, we are now at the transition stage where our 10 and 12 yr olds are strong and skilled enough to ride “proper” off road together as a family (decent pace around full red routes, technical natural trails in Lakes, good line choice etc). Only a few years until they leave us behind 🙂

One broken finger and one broken helmet so far….. Otherwise all good.

Regardless of injuries, you are doing them a lot of good – eldest’s high school PE teacher immediately noticed he had more fitness and stamina than everyone else.

They’ve also really enjoyed making friends and riding mtbs at kids CX races over winter (they cater for all ages).

Keep at it
Sounds like mine balance bike at 1 off stabilisers at 2.5
Had a and e visit last year aged 5 after spearing himself on something and puncturing through muscle wall of stomach
Has slowed him down a bit but these things happen

Protective gear and bar end plugs!

And first aid course!

Do a first aid course and let him get on with it.

Not often the first response nails it, but this one did 🙂

Mine broke his arm aged 3 after picking up a bit too much speed on a hill. The only difference that’s made to anything is that his arm bends back further than it should, and he’s just discovered that this is a cool trick for freaking people out.

Humans learn by screwing up. You’ll do your children more harm in the long run by wrapping them up in cotton wool. Like the man says, let ’em get on with it.

Covert proud Parent thread.

Accepted.

The biggest crash I have ever seen in the flesh was our 4 year old, one of the family trails at Cannock, I thought she had the hang of her brakes, turns out she wasn’t that confident after all. I said “you’ll be fine” she wasn’t. Sped up, for a bit of a tank slapper on and then it was just legs, arms, bike, dust and me running to catch up.

The ground away brake levers matched with the grazed knuckles, the grazed and dented helmet matched with the scuffed shoulder and the look of disdain I got lasted most of the day. I carried her bike to the bottom, she asked for a Haribo, she got one, and rode the rest of the way to the trail end at Go Ape. I would have insisted on a paramedic and taxi transfer back to the campsite if I had the same crash. She put up with a nap in the trailer as I dragged her and her little sister back up to Tackeroo.
We are camping in the local woods in a hammock when the weather improves at her request and I regularly get my rollerblades back out to take her skating. The two year old is showing all the same signs as her big sister. They both also love dressing up as princesses and fairies and pretending to be cats or dogs.
No matter what, they will scare the living sh1t out of us as they grow up, we may as well just enjoy the ride! OK, within reason.

Oh well, sounds like I need to accept the inevitable a&e trips (I suddenly feel for my poor mum) and stop being a wuss. He was upset when he broke his helmet and I have had to promise that in this house he will never be told off for breaking helmets or wearing tyres and brake pad out.

Right back to looking at family ski lessons since glenshee in a white out during a severe weather warning a few weeks back hasn’t stopped his appetite for snow sports.

Pictonroad, proud dad – yes.

Slightly nervous and feeling judged dad when standing in the kiddy pool at the local leisure centre this morning and you notice your son has a slightly mottled bruised look about him and after noticing the graze / bruise on his hand he erupts in tears about it hurting.

“He was upset when he broke his helmet and I have had to promise that in this house he will never be told off for breaking helmets or wearing tyres and brake pad out.” BEST rule EVER! 😆

Keep going, at that age they bounce well! 😈

Get a season ticket to the Sick Kids Hospital and make full use of it.

One of mine managed to sledge under a park bench once. It was and remains the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen. He set off from the top of the hill sitting on the sledge, he realised that he was heading for the middle of the bench but rather than bail off the side he lay down flat and absolutely nailed it.

Two days later the younger one sledge into a bin and broke his leg. But hey ho – did you know that it’s possible to run up stairs in a full leg cast? you do now. 😀

Akegata – Member

Its not even as if he hurts himself of the tricky stuff, its just him messing around when it seems to go wrong.

Then he is a fully fledged mountain biker

Don’t concentrate on the what if and the hazards – the benefits are massive.

I like to think that (at least two) of mine will be bike riders for life, all three are happy in boats and up mountains, and all of them engage with and enjoy wild places and adventures. Massive physical, social and mental benefits for life.

I think you would get a much different answer on mumsnet 😉

Agree with the outdoor first aid course – see latest mag for ideas – and then let him just do it.

Is he too young for any local clubs for him to ride with? Kids often take advice better from a non-parent….. 🙄

We clearly lived too far from A&E growing up.

All I remember is being made to take baths in Detol and being given painkillers ground up into spoonfulls of jam 😮 !

I have similar thought with my 4 year old daughter. We counted 32 bruises on her legs from bmx’ing. Even her teacher asked us about them. She likes having them and shows them off to people. I have watched her have some horrific crashes and after a few tears she always wants to carry on.

One of the funniest things I ever saw was in a local park. A boy of about 4 was wizzing down a hill, clearly out of control with a panic stricken dad running behind. They were heading for the unfenced lake. A few minutes later they passed us again, the boy soaking wet and the dad carrying the bike, staring ahead muttering “your mum’s going to kill me”. 😀

I’m sure it’s now a good story that is regularly dusted off and gets better every time!

your son has a slightly mottled bruised look about him

Indeed!

My 4 year old has been riding a pedal bike since he was 1 (well this is a covert proud parent thread) and has been nailing runs like the Laggan Orange since he was 3, he loves jump parks and getting big air.

Luckily he is our fourth dc so I am well used to it… 😀

Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s the bubble wrap, feather duvets and a panic attacks that cause the problems.

Speak to Richpips
He seems to manage pretty well with young Tom, and now Skye is back in the saddle, he’s even more to look out for!!

Yonks ago Mrs sog took fastyoung git to the Docs for something ordinary. He’d have been about two or three. The Doc had a Learner with him, who he’d introduced already. He said ‘Do you mind if we go through the child-checking stuff?’ ‘Go ahead’. Doc gently inspected chest and legs, said to Learner ‘Ah, about the right number of bruises for a boy this age’.

Don’t wrap them in coton wool.

My son is into diving, will be training 5 times a week from next week. This weekend he managed to knee himself in the face whilst trying to do 2½ somersaults, I think he’s quite proud off the resulting bruise.

Got my daughter into rock climbing this year. When I say I have little experience, I mean absolutely none.

So imagine her mums face when we progress from bouldering on mats at about 10ft max height to the recent scaling the 25m wall at Sunderland & Kendal walls. Oh did I also mention we both got crash courses in rope tying and belaying 1st (Make a head, strangle him and poke him in the eye).

Its been a steep learning curve and tbh I try to keep her mum as far away from it as possible (Scared parents make children nervous). Culminating in us/her competing for the national championships at Ratho next month 🙂

My son, just turned 16, has had two trips to A&E, one from nutting a tree when he lost control on a downhill and a spell in a fracture clinic in France from a failed ski jump. He also crashed his bike when sprinting to show off to some mates, which broke his front wheel. I’m pleased to say that the experiences have made him considerably more cautious when descending. He can whup me up a short sprinty hill but I’m still faster dowhill thanks to 22 years as a mountain biker and 12 as a motorbiker.

They have to learn by experience.