Crawling helmets: Too Far?

[Misfit]

TODAY Moms - Does your high-speed crawler need a helmet?

Given the lengths so-called helicopter parents will go to protect their children, one would think an actual helicopter blade were hurtling toward their sheltered offspring. I suspect the stress caused by parents’ fears might harm kids more than the occasional stitch-worthy gash, or bump on the head.

Case in point: crawling helmets.

Seems some parents are so concerned about the rate at which their babies are ambling about the living room that they are purchasing crawling helmets for their high velocity tots. (No, these aren't helmets for head-shaping or other medical needs; they're just to protect babies from hitting their heads while doing normal baby activities.) If your baby can’t face the rigors of crawling, how will your toddler learn to walk? Will your Kindergartener ever ride a bike? I guess you can forget about contact sports, driving, and frat parties.

 

[pelers]

When my son was first starting to walk I will fully admit to being very, very tempted to either get him a helmet or wrap him in bubble wrap. About the only thing that stopped me was that I couldn't find a helmet that was awesome enough (I had really been hoping for something with a neon mohawk or something on it).

Fortunately he only took a couple nasty spills resulting in one goose egg on his forehead before he figured things out.

 

[libertytyranny]

my child is a horrific klutz. She bonks her head constantly. thats just what babies do :shrug: I make sure that she stays away from stairs, my brick hearth, and anything particularly sharp..everything else though is fair game..and has probably already "met" her head Its kinda funny when she falls now..because now she lays right where she fell and says "woahhh" like a surfer dude and then laughs hysterically. I have no idea where she picked that up..

 

[Dakota]

My sister (deceased now) used to fall ALL THE TIME. She was born with deformed arms which may have been why she was so unstable, plus she wasn't able to use her arms to break her fall. One time, she took a fall down just 2 steps and landed on her forehead. The very next day both eyes were black and her checks....it was horrible... she really needed a helmet so I can say in her instance a crawling helmet would have been a great idea.

 

[kwillia]

Dakota, you most certainly have a perfect example as to why the helmets are a great and necessary form of protection for some children.

I am also sitting here contemplating what our forum life could be had J.P.Cusick's mother strapped a helmet to him in his formative years...

 

[vraiblonde]

I think most people shouldn't be allowed to do life without a helmet.

 

[terbear1225]

my son had a helemt as an infant (medical reshaping) the result was that when we took it off he had learned that his head was protected so he had no fear of hitting it. ended up with more head trauma, fortunately nothing major, than if he had learned that hitting his head was painful early on.

 

[kwillia]

my son had a helemt as an infant (medical reshaping) the result was that when we took it off he had learned that his head was protected so he had no fear of hitting it. ended up with more head trauma, fortunately nothing major, than if he had learned that hitting his head was painful early on.

Excellent post!

This is the same analogy that can be applied to many things we are supposed to let our children expererience and learn from while they are young and by nature's design in a better position to "bounce back".

Same goes for mental as well as physical trials and tribulations in life. We are supposed to let them learn while they are young and we are there to "mentor" how do deal with things if we see they need the guidance.

You do your kid a disservice if you are over-protective and don't let them exerience what causes pain, what causes bad grades, what causes heart aches, what causes being an outcast in general society, etc. etc. etc.

 

[glhs837]

Yep, fall down, go boom. Amazing to see the different reactions of kids who's parent see a fall and dont overreact, and when the parents go high order. the childs reaction will mimic the parents, generally speaking. A simple "shake it off, you'll be okay" does wonders for a kids outlook towards obstacles. while a "OMG!!!! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!!!!!" freaks the kid out and teaches them to fear stuff.

 

[MMDad]

Excellent post!

This is the same analogy that can be applied to many things we are supposed to let our children expererience and learn from while they are young and by nature's design in a better position to "bounce back".

Same goes for mental as well as physical trials and tribulations in life. We are supposed to let them learn while they are young and we are there to "mentor" how do deal with things if we see they need the guidance.

You do your kid a disservice if you are over-protective and don't let them exerience what causes pain, what causes bad grades, what causes heart aches, what causes being an outcast in general society, etc. etc. etc.

My son tried to touch the fire when he was 2. He still respects fire years later.

As parents we want to protect them from everything, but if we do they end up being unable to deal with anything.

 

[terbear1225]

My son tried to touch the fire when he was 2. He still respects fire years later.

As parents we want to protect them from everything, but if we do they end up being unable to deal with anything.

mine did that too. his older sister learned a healthy respect for fire too.

(at this point, they might as well reserve a spot outside the ER for the boy)

 

[libertytyranny]

Yep, fall down, go boom. Amazing to see the different reactions of kids who's parent see a fall and dont overreact, and when the parents go high order. the childs reaction will mimic the parents, generally speaking. A simple "shake it off, you'll be okay" does wonders for a kids outlook towards obstacles. while a "OMG!!!! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!!!!!" freaks the kid out and teaches them to fear stuff.

unless it looks like a good hit (and then she def earns huggs and a kiss on the booboo) I just look at her and ask her to find elmo or point out the cat or something..totally ignoring she just fell, doesn't even phase her. now I know when shes fine because of her surfer dude reaction. I am trying to get it on tape..hilarious.

 

[Dakota]

Dakota, you most certainly have a perfect example as to why the helmets are a great and necessary form of protection for some children.

I am also sitting here contemplating what our forum life could be had J.P.Cusick's mother strapped a helmet to him in his formative years...

Thank you and giggle....

terbear Falling down is part of the learning process but in those very rare instances where the child is disadvantaged from the start... could I see using a helmet. Actually the doctors told my mother she may not be able to walk - but she did. She wanted to do everything like a normal child, even rode a bike but sadly, her head took the brunt end of it all. No sooner did she recover from bruises... she'd get another... it was constant.

Besides.... most serious head injuries occur when one fails backwards and hands or no hands are going to prevent that...

 

[Pete]

I just bought my 15 year old a helmet a couple months ago. You never stop being afraid for them.

 

[KDENISE977]

My son rams his head into EVERYTHING... we call him bruiser. We actually have some pictures with bruises on his head. I used to gasp...now I've learned that if I don't even react to it, he doesn't either. The fire thing scares the crap out of me though, we have and use a pellet stove and Chase is JUST now starting to stand and will be walking very soon....scarey !!

 

[Sweet 16]

When my son was a toddler and would throw a tantrum, his M.O. was to throw himself backwards, banging his head on the floor. Now this wasn't so bad if he was on the carpeted living room floor, but not so great on the kitchen floor or concrete sidewalk. With his help, my "mommy-reflex" was sharply honed and he never bashed his skull hard enough to concuss. In hindsight, I probably should have let him do it -- maybe it would have knocked some sense into him!

 

[Dakota]

I take it most of these over zealous parents wanting to slap a helmet on their kid is a 1st time parent because once the 2nd one comes along and falls, you wait for them to cry.

 

[terbear1225]

Thank you and giggle....

terbear Falling down is part of the learning process but in those very rare instances where the child is disadvantaged from the start... could I see using a helmet. Actually the doctors told my mother she may not be able to walk - but she did. She wanted to do everything like a normal child, even rode a bike but sadly, her head took the brunt end of it all. No sooner did she recover from bruises... she'd get another... it was constant.

Besides.... most serious head injuries occur when one fails backwards and hands or no hands are going to prevent that...

those were the ones that freaked me out the most. once kiddo was out of the helmet he would intentially tip over backwards. it never hurt before so he didn't think it would hurt out of the helmet. only took a couple times before he figured it out!

 

[Hank]

I still wear a helmet and carry around cherry flavored windex so I can lick clean windows! Safety first!

 

[Roberta]

My son tried to touch the fire when he was 2. He still respects fire years later.

As parents we want to protect them from everything, but if we do they end up being unable to deal with anything.

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