Take her somewhere safe to practise. No riding near the road until she is adept with the brakes and turning.
Take the pedals off and have her push with her feet (both feet at the same time). It's a much faster way of getting a feel for the balance, before having to master pedals.
The no coasting is probably a safety feature. Bike shop is your best bet to check it out.
She's going to get hurt. It sucks, but they get over it faster than you expect.
That's my son, Full speed and reckless abandon. But he is my second so my attitude was more "have at it".
I think the worrying thing is largely personality and maybe a touch genetic if you're an anxious person. They're going to crash, they're going to get scraped up and cry. It's a wonderful learning lesson and they're going to be ok. That's when you get to teach them about failure and getting back on the saddle. Do your best to keep her from getting too hurt (you're definitely doing fine here) and then just let a little life happen.
1- Going over the handlebars only really happens when you're overbraking the FRONT wheel (or hit something going down a steep downhill). Without a front brake, it shouldn't really be a problem. But that leads to...
2- The quick stop thing is weird, you need to figure out what is causing that. Is it the front or the back wheel that is stopping the bike? It's PROBABLY some evolvement of the coaster brake and is only on the rear wheel, but most bikes will NOT act this way, so eventually she will have to learn to actively brake to control her speed.
3- My youngest is the same way. I usually ride with her since otherwise I couldn't keep up. I try to shepherd her onto bike paths and neighborhood streets, but the worries that she might ride right onto a busy road before I can stop her don't go away. Can't really help you there other than to say that, statistically, it's unlikely. Most of US survived childhood, despite a LOT more sketchy stuff, right?
Note--due to her fast/aggressive riding style, it was pretty clear that underpowered coaster brakes were a risk factor. I also worried about her going over the handlebars with a front brake. I ended up buying a Guardian bike, an oddball design with a lever-operated rear brake which then mechanically engages the front for extra stopping power. That lets her safely ride down hills or slow down quickly, with no risk of locking the front and going over. I do intend to convert the front to lever-operated when she's older, then it will be a standard 2-brake bike. I think that kids NEED to learn how to brake, and coaster brakes are a terrible feature for beginning bikers.
4- See above. Control what you can, but the balance of letting them grow up and try things vs. protecting them from danger will always be there, and you just need to use your best judgement.
I’d suggest a push bike first (the ones with no pedals). That is good for maybe one year. Then go right to something without training wheels. The braking automatically thing is weird.
Take her somewhere safe to practise. No riding near the road until she is adept with the brakes and turning. Take the pedals off and have her push with her feet (both feet at the same time). It's a much faster way of getting a feel for the balance, before having to master pedals. The no coasting is probably a safety feature. Bike shop is your best bet to check it out. She's going to get hurt. It sucks, but they get over it faster than you expect.
That's my son, Full speed and reckless abandon. But he is my second so my attitude was more "have at it". I think the worrying thing is largely personality and maybe a touch genetic if you're an anxious person. They're going to crash, they're going to get scraped up and cry. It's a wonderful learning lesson and they're going to be ok. That's when you get to teach them about failure and getting back on the saddle. Do your best to keep her from getting too hurt (you're definitely doing fine here) and then just let a little life happen.
1- Going over the handlebars only really happens when you're overbraking the FRONT wheel (or hit something going down a steep downhill). Without a front brake, it shouldn't really be a problem. But that leads to... 2- The quick stop thing is weird, you need to figure out what is causing that. Is it the front or the back wheel that is stopping the bike? It's PROBABLY some evolvement of the coaster brake and is only on the rear wheel, but most bikes will NOT act this way, so eventually she will have to learn to actively brake to control her speed. 3- My youngest is the same way. I usually ride with her since otherwise I couldn't keep up. I try to shepherd her onto bike paths and neighborhood streets, but the worries that she might ride right onto a busy road before I can stop her don't go away. Can't really help you there other than to say that, statistically, it's unlikely. Most of US survived childhood, despite a LOT more sketchy stuff, right? Note--due to her fast/aggressive riding style, it was pretty clear that underpowered coaster brakes were a risk factor. I also worried about her going over the handlebars with a front brake. I ended up buying a Guardian bike, an oddball design with a lever-operated rear brake which then mechanically engages the front for extra stopping power. That lets her safely ride down hills or slow down quickly, with no risk of locking the front and going over. I do intend to convert the front to lever-operated when she's older, then it will be a standard 2-brake bike. I think that kids NEED to learn how to brake, and coaster brakes are a terrible feature for beginning bikers. 4- See above. Control what you can, but the balance of letting them grow up and try things vs. protecting them from danger will always be there, and you just need to use your best judgement.
I’d suggest a push bike first (the ones with no pedals). That is good for maybe one year. Then go right to something without training wheels. The braking automatically thing is weird.
No training wheels - get a scoot. Neither of my girls had training wheels - just got scoots and transitioned easily to pedal bikes.
Try to stay under 400cc and look for something with ABS