Heelys

[dinkydoodah]

DD aged 9 has asked for Heelys for Christmas. I have no idea where to get these from. Will I need to get online? What is the sizing like? One wheel or two? Are they any good? TIA

Hi dinky. I pre ordered some for my dd1 from sports direct. They arent going to be dispatched until 20 dec though. I think they were about £40

As a Podiatrist I blardy hate them.
They force the wearer to adopt an equinus gait (like a stamping, walking on your toes)

My DC have never worn them , I think they're really dangerous too.

But..... someone will come on and say "Oh but they are such fun "

And children on Heeleys in supermarkets .....grrr

Occipital injury risk high

Dinnae bother

My DS had a pair we got them on line.

The sizing was pretty standard, he had the 2 wheels but he was 6 when he got them and soon only needed the single wheel.

Because we got the official Heelys you can pop the wheels in and out (they come with a little tool to help you do it) so he was able to use 2 wheels for learning and then just the one. It also meant you could take both out and use them as normal shoes if you wanted.

DS didn't have a single accident in them and was able to walk quite normally in them once he had got used to them.

I suppose you could argue that they are dangerous but then you would also have to say that scooters, bikes, roller boots, roller blades etc are also too dangerous for children.

DS has out grown his now and even though he wore them constantly for a year they are still in perfect condition and so he has decided to give them away in a gift package we are doing for a woman's refuge. I hope they have a child that can get as much joy out of them as DS did.

Heeleys are different from skates (roller and blade) because the design of them means that they are meant to go from shoe-to-Heeley.
Skates you don't walk in .

Normal walking involves your heel hitting the ground and all your bodyweight on that heel. Then your weight goes up the outer side (lateral) across the ball of your foot and onto your big toe.
Every step.

So when a Heeley wearer puts their foot down to walk rather than wheel- it's onto the forefoot.

Scooters, bikes etc. Yes a risk.
But Heeleys a different risk.
A child was killed crossing the road in Heeleys. They panicked and tried to run.

70 your post made perfect sense about the possible risk to the foot through using Heeleys and then you ruined it all with the bit about the poor child that lost their life whilst wearing Heeleys.

Obviously the risk of damage to the feet must be considered but this does not make something dangerous.

I suspect high heels would be considered dangerous under this pov as well.

The sad loss of a child's life is a horrible thing to bring into this kind of discussion. Should I be listing how many children have died whilst on bikes, or whilst in cars etc and using that as a reason why children shouldn't have/use them.

I know.
But I wouldn't put my child at risk in Heeleys.

At least on a bike or scooter, the driver could see they were on a bike /scooter.
But if you expect a child in shoes to cross a road - not realising they are Heeleys- then.... that's what happened.
The child thought they could get across safely.

Dinky Sorry I won't side track your thread anymore with this silliness. I hope my post was helpful in some way. Feel free to PM me if you want to know where I got my DS's from they were delivered very quickly when we got them and we lived on the Shetland Isles then so should be with you in plenty of time for Christmas if you decided to get them.

Final thing... 70, that accident was actually nothing to do with the Heeleys and everything to do with a child sadly not crossing a road safely and it breaks my heart that so many children are killed because they are not taught the importance of crossing the road safely.

dinky your child your choice.
I'm sure 1000000s of children wear Heeleys every day and have brilliant fun on them.

But personally I wouldn't.
That's my choice as a Mum. And a Podiatrist.

But you have your own choice.

nothing to do with the Heeleys.

Well if I had to cross a road on a pair of Converse trainers or a pair of Converse trainers with wheels under my feet, I know what's safer.

And if a car suddenly appeared and I had to think "Damn I'd better move"
I know what I'd rather have on my feet.

I'm leaving this thread now,

Oh dear, very sad to hear about a child being killed in Heelys. I understand that there are risks with any physical activity and I imagine if dd gets some I will only allow her to wear them in 'safe' locations. The road incident will now make me think twice about where she wears them though. Thanks for the advice everyone , much appreciated.
Are there any high street stockists as I think she would need to try them on first rather than order on internet.