Do I get a safety helmet to my baby or is it ridiculous?

[SleepFreeZone]

Hear me out before you all say I'm being ridiculous.

DS is 10 months old, has been standing for months, is now walking with a push along dog and cruising. Fine. It's early but ok. He falls, a lot. It scares me. I have come off all social media to make sure I have no online distractions (I Mumsnet while he naps). I am with him everyday. I try and make sure that I'm close by when he is practicing however still he falls.

We have thick carpet with thick underlay and floor boards so on the one hand the floor is as good as it can be, but still he bangs his head on the floor around twice a day.

I was looking at those safety helmets you can get babies. These kind of things www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00PRVEBU2/ref=mp_s_a_1_33_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1480596128&sr=8-33&keywords=safety+helmet+baby. Has anyone used one? Are they just a nonsense? Is all this head banging going to damage him long term? I just don't know what to do 😁

Oh, pet. Please don't make your child wear a baby helmet. He'll be fine.

And you can glance at other things sometimes.

Bless

Please don't. And also don't catch and steady him every time he wobbles as kids learn to balance they need to fall as that how you learn how far you can lean etc. I promise you this is normal toddler stuff and he will be fine. One of mine has hydrocephalus and is more delicate and susceptible to an actual head injury and I didn't and wouldn't even out one on him!.
Get back online sit down and have a brew.

Oh god but I hate the thuds so much 😖

It's ridiculous My dd2 started walking at 9 months (now 10 months) and she is always falling over. She's fine, nothing a quick cuddle doesn't solve. You just have to listen for the thump and try to establish what the tiny crazy human has done now.

Ah I remember that phase. I thought about helmets as well Awful noise it makes.

Kids don't howl every time they fall down, they just get back up and keep going. Take your cue from him.

Hahahaha! No.

My toddler Ds is covered in bruises. I sign the accident book at nursery about once a fortnight. It can't be very nice bashing your head all the time but it's just an occupational hazard for the standard toddler.

You can't prevent every bump and please don't blame yourself when he does inevitably. Just dust him down and set him going again. He'll forget it in seconds as should you.

Babies and toddlers have surprisingly hard heads!! My DD SN a 9 month old walker and fell all the time. She also went through a phase of banging her head against the end of her cot but she never cried or leftover a mark! I think a lot of the time the sound it makes is worse than the impact.
She's 19 months old now and still bangs her head against the floor when she throws a real kicking screaming tantrum - again she said never left a mark or hadn't any ill effects from it, it just makes a horrendous thud on the floor!

Honestly don't worry he will be fine.

I was just about to order one when I wrote this. At least no one has made me feel like I'm as crap a parent as I feel. He isn't even a PFB but he is the result of a miraculous conception post three miscarriages so I am more paranoid this time around.

You sound like a lovely parent and this thread has given me a smile - bless you.

Seriously though, don't.

I never bothered with anything like that. My three all survived, as did I before them.

I know it takes nerves of steel to watch them totter about, crash into things and tumble, but it is a phase they quickly grow through.

No, no, no. They need those little bumps and bruises to understand how to control their bodies. It's awful when they hurt themselves but it's all part of the process. A helmet will just get in their way.

He'll be fine. Ds2 was an early walker and has at least one bruise a week on his head since he started walking. It's all part of the learning curve for them!

NO

Falling while they're walking, as opposed to falling off something, they don't have far to fall, and not the same weight as an adult - it really isn't the same as if you did it to yourself.

It might be worth just watching him to see if there's anything about the way he's walking which makes him more likely to fall and hit his head rather than just onto his hands and knees, I guess.

Yes, ridiculous! Sorry.

Try not to hover too much or act anxious about him falling. That will do a lot more harm than a few bumps to the head. Let him see from your reaction that a little knock is no big deal or you're going to make him overly cautious as he gets bigger.

He is on his tiptoes a lot and he seems to fall when he is performing a manoeuvre or grabbing at something that then 'gives'.

I have stone floors all over. Kids have survived. He'll be fine!

We have a very minimalist house so there is lots of wide open space to try and help with the head hitting but if course he just hits the flor instead of the coffee table 😁

I assumed you mean while he was on a cycle and came here to lecture you about even considering otherwise.

Don't do this.

And each time he wobbles he's learning how to move. I can see why you are paranoid
It's easy to forget how much falling over they do isn't it?.

Honestly, the only person I know who did this was the most ridiculously neurotic parent I've ever met, and it shows in her child, who's sadly a very nervous, timid and anxious little boy. He'll be fine. They're a lot more robust than you realise.

This is him btw.

Ok you've successfully talked me down until the next time

The falling and crashing around is normal development and they are designed for it.

A helmet would make it worse, because it would add bulk to the head affecting balance, and it's not consistently there.

DS headbutted floors in his early days of tantrums. He quickly learned that carpet allowed full welly, wood required a gentle whack, and tiles were best to stop an inch from the ground and delicately tap the final inch