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Parenting

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Original poster

do you make your child wear a helmet on a scooter??

55 replies

brimfull · 12/07/2006 13:47

ds is 3 and quite fast on a 2wheeled scooter.Have just been told off by complete stranger that I should make him wear a helmet.
What next do they need one for running aswell?

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UniS · 18/02/2014 08:59

yes. but I make him wear gloves too and IMHO the gloves are more important.
A major head injury is severe but unlikely, grazed hands is a more minor but painfully and very likely injury.

UniS · 18/02/2014 09:02

Cycle helmets only protect if they are worn correctly. they should cover the majority of the forehead. Children fiddle with straps. Straps stretch. please check your child's helmet is fitting well and worn correctly. It may have been fine last they wore it but if its not right next time it won't protect them so well should they hit their head.

CheesyBadger · 18/02/2014 09:07

Dd wears a helmet as she goes really fast and I often think she could quite easily veer off into the road. It isn't that I think she would do herself massive damage on the path, although she could really, it is the proximity of cars.

I don't see why a stranger is butting in though, completely your choice. My friends often say they feel guilty when they see dd with a helmet on, but it is something I have always done with her, which she has no issue with, and I feel better about her speed. Se doesn't have elbow bed knee pads, just a helmet.

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PoloMintCity · 18/02/2014 09:08

DS wears a helmet for bike and scooter riding. DH always thought I was being a bit PFB and paranoid about acquired brain injuries until the day he saw a little girls scooter slip out from under her and her land with a resounding thump to the back of her head on the concrete she was playing on...he never questions it now!

CheesyBadger · 18/02/2014 09:14

I stand corrected about the massive damage that could occur - I think I was a but pfb which led to the compulsory use of it, but a glad I was as dd just wears it now

JiltedJohnsJulie · 18/02/2014 09:15

Yes we do. DS has injured himself twice and both times he would have been ok if he'd been wearing one. Last time he missed 3 days of school. DN lost her front tooth, again her parents said she would probably have been ok if she had been wearing one.

Homebird8 · 18/02/2014 09:19

Yes, after a concussion following a scooter accident involving head meets pavement scenario. Concussions can be cumulative and a second one, caused in a different way, has resulting in tremors in DS1 which are still ongoing over two months later. Helmets or no wheels.

Cakesnbeer · 18/02/2014 09:22

Close relative works with head injuries - Helmets all the way here. Very pleased I was too when my 3 yr old flew down hill and into a stone wall cracking the helmet and taking a chunk out of it. It saved his head that day, his face too actually.

There is a boy up the road with brain injuries after crashing his bike as a 5/6 year old when a dog scared him. I even started wearing one after these experiences and I used to be a huge refusenik.

Artandco · 18/02/2014 09:28

Yes our wear on bikes and scooters. We have already replaced 4 year olds helmet twice. Once he fell of scooter and it cracked with a stone embedded in it ( would have been head), another time he crashed into a tree on bike and bashed helmet out of shape badly ( and broke arm!)... Although he seems to be a walking hazard tbh

I know a few people who have been knocked of bikes and in intensive care and only survived due to helmet. A child down the road a few years ago was knocked of scooter also by car reversing out of driveway and was ok because of it

FTRsGotAShinyNewNN · 18/02/2014 09:31

My 5 year old wears a helmet for bike riding and scooting

vvviola · 18/02/2014 09:34

Yes. No helmet, no scooter.

She's 2.5, barely going faster than a snail, but in our house helmets are compulsory.

It's mainly to form habits - so that when she is going faster or riding a bike there's no question but she will be wearing one.

dyslexicdespot · 18/02/2014 09:45

DS is too young for a scooter, but when he is old enough we will have 'no helmet, no scooter' policy.

Please read these links if you think they are unnecessary:

www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=8097

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/non-traumatic_emergencies/for_parents_bicycle_in-line_skating_skateboard_safety_85,P00818/

www.headway.org.uk/key-facts-and-statistics.aspx

HappyAsEyeAm · 18/02/2014 10:03

Yes. DS1 is 6yo, and he had a maxi micro 3 wheel scooter for hi 6th birthday. Before that, he had a mini micro. As part of his present, we gave him a helmet, and he was also given a bell and a light. We said that now he had a super fast scooter, he needed to wear a helmet, and he does, without fuss.

It is a weight off my mind because I always had in the back of my mind the injuries he could soffer if he came off and hit his head.

I will ensure that DS2 wears a helmet from the first time he uses a scooter.

LondonForTheWeekend · 18/02/2014 10:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

whatsgoinon · 19/02/2014 11:17

yes, she´s 2 and doesn´t go very fast!

but thought it easier to get her used to wearing a helmet for bike type things than suddenly introduce it later when she may be more stubborn

violator · 19/02/2014 19:11

Yes, DS doesn't get on his scooter without a helmet. He's too young for a bike but he'll know that cycling = helmet when he does.
DH cycles 20kms every day to work and back and his helmet has saved his life - twice.

Doitnicelyplease · 20/02/2014 17:12

Yes mainly so that the good habit is there. She wears it for bike (it is the law here), scooter and if she gets any rollerskates/rollerblades she will also wear it then.

My DD1 (5) has always been a bit dare devil/reckless so it has been non-negotiable for us.

She also has to wear one for ice skating lessons (compulsory).

If I starting saying 'oh it doesn't matter about a helmet today it is only your scooter' or 'you are only riding in the park', it would just be confusing.

Better to be consistent on this one imo.

DaddyIsHome · 20/02/2014 17:50

No. Health and saftey has gone mad. Kids are made of rubber. Its a personal thing I think but I dont think YABU

yourlittlesecret · 20/02/2014 17:54

I was a bit hen I saw a 3/4 year old wearing a helmet, elbow and shin pads to scoot at walking pace in the park.
I am of the let them climb trees persuasion though.

Stockhausen · 20/02/2014 17:56

Yes, helmet on bike or scooter.

kids are made of rubber!? What utter bollocks.

difficultpickle · 20/02/2014 18:00

Ds (9) cannot run as fast as he can scoot/cycle so I don't make him wear one for that. It is completely non-negotiable that he must wear one for both scooter and cycle. Helmets can be replaced but ds only has one head and that is irreplaceable.

Mercedes519 · 20/02/2014 18:01

DS didn't but then he went down a hill in the park on his scooter really fast and couldn't stop and ended up going arse over tit at the bottom. He ended up with a massive egg on his forehead and a scrape. A lucky escape.

He was fine, winded and dazed but otherwise fine but it taught me just how fast they can go on a scooter. If he'd been wearing a helmet he wouldn't have been injured at all.

Oh, and after seeing him go down another hill on his bike (a theme developing here) and not being able stop (he was too scared to think straight) and crash into a log and fly over the handlebars I thank god he was wearing a helmet then.

Now we have no helmet, no wheels.

hiccupgirl · 20/02/2014 20:59

My 4 yr old DS is another no helmet, no wheels.

I've worked with kids who have acquired brain injuries after accidents and I know that heads break easily and often don't heal well.

It's just not a risk worth taking IMO especially when helmets are not expensive.

BarberryRicePud · 20/02/2014 21:31

No helmet no wheels here too.

It's not health and safety gone mad, it's basic common sense. I cannot understand why anyone would think it's ok for their child to go as fast as they do on a scooter and not wear a helmet. They are NOT made of rubber, they do not always bounce.

I have seen horrific brain injuries in children from low impact trauma that was easily preventable by wearing a helmet. Makes me really sad when I see kids out without them. Yes sure, most will be fine, but it only takes a second, a single momentary accident. The likelihood of risk is small but the consequence massive. Just like wearing a seatbelt in a car. WHY would you take that risk all for the sake of not being bothered to enforce a no helmet, no wheels rule.

beatofthedrum · 20/02/2014 21:44

Must say, I would not consider letting mine go on a bike without a helmet. Wouldn't occur to me, can't understand why you would risk it. I insist my 3 year old wears a helmet for his scooter. I'm not as strict with my 6 year old as she's so much more controlled, but now I'm typing it I can see that's silly as she's fast and you can't control surrounding circumstances.

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