Need advice! 5yo DD wants rollerskates for Christmas......

[skyeskyeskye]

so DD, 5yo (6 in Spring) wants roller skates from Father Christmas. I didn't think she was old enough, but all her friends have them .....

so what sort of roller skates do I buy? I want something that she will be safe in.

and presumably she will need knee pads, wrist protectors etc?!

I have been googling, but going round in circles, so any help would be appreciated.

or else, the ONLY thing that she has asked Father Christmas for, won't be appearing on Christmas Day :(

Ha, my ds wants some too, I keep catching him skating round the house in my street skates! Which are those massive ones, it's quite entertaining!
Back to your original question, I'd look for quad skates rather than in lines.
However I don't know if the ones your wear with shoes would be better than normal skates. So I shall keep an eye on this thread too!

I have just bought some for DD aged 7 (for christmas), I have bought the ones with the hard outer shell, like ski boots, so that they give some protection around the ankle as she is learning and falling!

Yes to knee protectors and wrist protectors, in fact the wrist protectors are the most important I think as they fall onto their hands much of the time. Probably a helmet too.

DD goes (occasionally) to a roller disco evening that is held each week in our local sports venue. She has only been a couple of times, but it's great for her confidence as there is a little area for beginners and as she gets better she goes out into the main 'ring'. They have the wrist protectors there, and knee pads, but no helmets and no-one wears them, but it's indoors so wonder about that bit myself. She very quickly realised how important the wrist protectors are! The skates for hire are the hard outer shelled ones for the younger ones, the bigger kids and adults have fabric ones.

It might be worth seeing if there are any rollerskate events in your local area and take her to them?

What's her balance like? Inline skates require better balance, which is not always the case at nearly 6. And get the kind that extend a bit so that they last longer than one shoe size!

oh and yes to quads, not inline, and no to the ones you put shoes into.

I will find a link to the ones I bought from Smyths.

these and as mentioned by billy they extend to fit several shoe sizes. They come in pink/white too, but i bought this colour as DS can have them when he is old enough

And, I don't think she is too young, there are some much younger than DD at the roller disco (they all have quads, not inline, they seem to be more for sport type skating not rollerskating)

Have a look at Woolworths online

www.woolworths.co.uk/cyber-deals

Hey, we got dsd (5) these for her birthday, m.sportsdirect.com/mt/www.sportsdirect.com/cosmic-skate-and-prot-set30-256001?un_jtt_v_un_PDP=yes&un_jtt_v_un_info=&un_jtt_v_un_pers=&un_jtt_redirect

She loves them but we don't tend to let her out herself with them. There great as tri skates and when she gets more confident she can change them into inline skates. Hope this helps :) xx

Definitely quads and definitely wrist pads. I have long-lasting wrist problems that were mainly caused from injuries skating with no pads. Knee pads while she's getting comfortable with balancing. When she's more confident she probably won't want to wear them anymore as they can be really uncomfortable, I think DS only used his for a fortnight then they ended up dumped under the stairs.

m.sportsdirect.com/mt/www.sportsdirect.com/cosmic-skate-and-prot-set30-256001?un_jtt_v_un_PDP=yes&un_jtt_v_un_info=&un_jtt_v_un_pers=&un_jtt_redirect

Sorry link didn't convert! X

thanks for all the helpful replies, I will have a look at the links.

I didn't have roller skates as a child because where I lived, there was nowhere to be able to use them.

I think that sturdy boots that adjust, quad skates sound the way to go (will also have a look at the tri ones).

any more advice gratefully received.

more advice - get yourself a pair too, and you can go rollerskating together! How fab would that be?!

haha, believe me, I am not built for roller skates

I have ordered some from Smyths. They had a pair reduced to £17.49 but they were out of stock til 6 Dec and I didnt want to take the risk, so I order a different pair which were £24.99, but they were reduced as well, so saved some money.

My cousin is gong to get her the protective gear, so I ordered that as well for £8 and she can wear her bike helmet, so she is all sorted now.

Thanks for all the help :)

Brilliant. She is going to be very happy with those! I am excited about DD opening hers on Christmas Day

Smyths have a good selection ranging from around £20-£35.
Ds 5 asked for skates for his Christmas too, because we picked dd 4 a pair up at a car boot. She can go them no problem, hers are not quads or inline though, they have two wheels at the back but are inline at the front. We got quads for ds.