It seems as though every wedding has a 2 or 3 year old ring bearer and that's just what people expect. Is this a recent (20th century) development? You'd think that something as important as the rings would be entrusted to an adult. (I understand it's usually just symbolic and the best man/maid of honor have the rings, but I imagine the tradition started out with a literal ring bearer)
Wedding customs vary greatly across the globe, I think you need to specify the geographic location where you have observed this specific tradition.