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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To make DD wear a helmet when on scooter?

58 replies

PurpsandScoots · 04/08/2018 15:51

DD is 3 so she has no opinion.

She’s got a scooter which she likes to ride to Nursery. As is normal with toddlers she’s not exactly steady on it and does sometimes fall off so I’ve been making her wear a basic helmet (you know like the ones you get in Halfords when buying a push bike?)

But I keep getting funny looks and my mum says there’s no need for a helmet on a scooter.

AIBU?

OP posts:

Coco2891 · 04/08/2018 15:52

Show her pictures of people on the internet that haven't worn a helmet

purplemunkey · 04/08/2018 15:55

My DD wears one, same age. She fell over the front after the wheel caught on uneven paving stones the other day and the front ofor the helmet took the force. I was glad she was wearing it. Also, seeing older, more confident kids scooting around at speed I think it's advisable anyway. I wouldn't want to try and persuade her to wear one later down the line after not having to initially. It's a rule for us, if she wants to scoot or cycle a helmet is a must.

purplemunkey · 04/08/2018 15:57

It's pretty normal as far as I can see too so I'm surprised by the funny looks. I've recently moved county and in both my old and new home towns helmets ate the norm rather than the exception.

ILoveMyMonkey · 04/08/2018 15:58

Ds5 has always worn a helmet on his scooter. He doesnt give it any thought and knows if he wants to scoot or cycle then he needs his helmet. YaNbu.

Bottlepanic · 04/08/2018 15:59

Mine always has to wear a helmet apart from in our garden (because she still hasn’t worked out that it doesn’t really go on grass!). Yadnbu.

DinoGreen · 04/08/2018 16:00

DS is 2.5 - he zooms around on his scooter at crazy speeds, he is deffo not going on it without a helmet on. He’s taken a few tumbles and currently has a grazed nose where he came off it last week, the helmet saves him from anything more serious.

Original poster

PurpsandScoots · 04/08/2018 16:04

Thank you everyone!

Helmets aren’t the norm round here but it’s mostly teenagers I see on bikes and skateboards so it might be the age group.

OP posts:

littlepeas · 04/08/2018 16:04

Mine wear helmets and are quite a bit older. When ds1 first got his scooter (about age 2, I think) he came off backwards and hit his head on the edge of the kerb - it took a huge chunk out of his helmet, rather than his head. Helmets are compulsory in our house!

moleeye · 04/08/2018 16:06

DD is 3.5 and has been wearing a helmet since she got it. No helmet, no scooter. This is non negotiable in our house!

Oly5 · 04/08/2018 16:10

Yanbu
I insist on helmets

schooltripwoes · 04/08/2018 16:14

I make mine wear one (they're 6&8), and always have done. Hardly anyone else does around here. I know of more than one child in recent years who has died from falling off a scooter and hitting their head on the kerb.

Queenofthedrivensnow · 04/08/2018 16:16

Yanbu. We have just moved to a new house in a lovely flat, low traffic estate. Bought scooter helmets immediately. We went for the micro scooter helmets - kids look like the mushrooms in supermario. I prefer my children alive/without life changing brain injuries thanks!

Astrid2 · 04/08/2018 16:17

As a Nurse with experience in traumatic head injuries, ALWAYS insist on a helmet. Always. She's 3. Who cares if you get funny looks. Protect your child for as long as you can force her to wear one!

GrainneWail · 04/08/2018 16:23

Helmet must be worn on any toy with wheels in our house, dc are 6&8 and have never had a choice.

Figgygal · 04/08/2018 16:25

I'm clearly in the minority but I've never made my ds wear a helmet with a scooter and it's not the norm round here either

Astrid2 · 04/08/2018 16:27

Who cares if it's not the norm!? How is a scooter different to a bike?

Bloody hell please make your children wear helmets. It's absolutely essential.

sunshineandroses1 · 04/08/2018 16:31

Figgy mine didn’t wear them and neither does my GC. However he isn’t really skooting about fast. We actually used to laugh at a local parent who’s child wore a helmet when he was about two and on the tiniest little trike going at slower than a walking pace. It was ridiculous, the child couldn’t have fallen as the parent hovered around him non stop and he was going so slowly anyway. I know head injuries occur form falls but maybe we’ll have kids in playgrounds wearing them!

387I2 · 04/08/2018 16:32

Your mum is a bit old-fashioned, that's all.

Wanttomakemincepies · 04/08/2018 16:33

My DS8 has always worn one and he knows why. Have seen too many head traumas from not wearing helmets. No helmet=no wheels. Usually a quite laid back parent but helmets and high back booster seat is non negotiable in my house.

Allyg1185 · 04/08/2018 17:04

My ds is 7 and the rule is no helmet no scooter/bike. Hes not happy but I don't care this is one fight I'm happy to have

specialsubject · 04/08/2018 17:32

make her wear it! she is 3 and so has no sense.

and scooting is for parks only, not pavements.

Pinkprincess1978 · 04/08/2018 17:35

My kids have warn a helmet for scooter and bikes from the start. They can still take a nasty tumble from a scooter - maybe less likely at 3 but I think it's easier to introduce st this age where they accept things better than when they are older.

Original poster

PurpsandScoots · 04/08/2018 17:39

scooting is for parks only, not pavements.

Unfortunately the nearest park big enough for scooting is a drive away and I don't drive, but I do stay on a path that has no road running next to it (fence one side then the canal and the other side if all houses) and on quieter roads where she's less likely to get hit by a car I also go out at the quieter times of day so early evening or first thing in the morning. She scoots to Nursery but I stop her just before the Nursery as it's on a busy road and she's not steady enough to scoot there yet.

OP posts:

Iamagenius · 04/08/2018 17:39

My children wear them and so do my nieces ranging in age from 10 down to 3. My father is a cycle instructor and has instilled in all of us the dangers of not cycling with helmet. Brought all the more to the forefront when he was recently knocked off his own bike.

catkind · 04/08/2018 17:40

Sunshine, that's a bit mean of you. Strikes me as a wise move for getting the helmet habit well ingrained before they're old enough to argue.

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