Childs Cycling Helmet

bonham23

Hi,Can anyone recommend a helmet for an 11 month old?. I have just purchased a child seat for my bike and i'd like to get a helmet that will be suitable for a number of months...Thanks

Khannie

I went to the local bike shop to get one. Worked out grand. It's a hand-me-down to the younger one now.

Seve OB

I got one in JJB sports for my daughter, she was a bit older that 11 months though, but the helmet is adjustable so depends on the size of your kids head really.

Was cheap though in JJB, like about €15 or so.

Lumen

In my experience very young children cannot be safely and comfortably fitted with helmets, particularly when using a child seat.

BostonB

Lidl and Aldi sometimes have them. Seem like decent enough quality.

monument

Lumen wrote: »

In my experience very young children cannot be safely and comfortably fitted with helmets, particularly when using a child seat.

Why?

I'm asking out of interest as a parent, rather than just questioning you.

BostonB

Getting a good fit might be hard. The helmets I've seen would really only fit 3+

bonham23

Lumen wrote: »

In my experience very young children cannot be safely and comfortably fitted with helmets, particularly when using a child seat.

So do you think its not safe to carry a child under 1 yr on a bike?
Would a helmet like this not be suitable. I've measured his head and it falls within the range recommended for this

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=32918
Thanks.

Lumen

monument wrote: »

Why?

I'm asking out of interest as a parent, rather than just questioning you.

Even off the bike they just don't fit well, tending to ride up the forehead when jostled around.

This is made worse on the bike as the "shelf" that comes out at the rear presses against the seat back, pushing the front up and back. It also means that the child's back is not in close contact with the seat back, or else their neck/shoulders are bent forwards.

A doctor once told me not to worry about dropping a baby at anything lower than head height.

I think puncture risk is quite high as they have soft spots along the skull plates. It would be interesting to design a hard shell "skull cap" with minimal padding to prevent this.

I imagine neck and spinal injuries are quite a high risk due to the relatively huge mass on the scrawny little neck.

It's basically a complete ballache.

Lumen

bonham23 wrote: »

So do you think its not safe to carry a child under 1 yr on a bike?
Would a helmet like this not be suitable. I've measured his head and it falls within the range recommended for this

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=32918
Thanks.

I don't correlate safety with helmet wearing.

At the risk of stating the obvious, you must do everything possible to avoid having an accident.

I don't know what "Bimbi Plus geometry" is, maybe it means a flat back to the helmet.

bonham23

ok thanks for the help. Hope I haven't stirred up the helmet debate again :eek:

Lumen

bonham23 wrote: »

ok thanks for the help. Hope I haven't stirred up the helmet debate again :eek:

If you're in Dublin you can have my little Met one for nothing. It was the smallest I could find at the time.

I am not planning on "producing" any more babies. :pac:

bonham23

Thanks that's very decent of you. Ill send you a pm

Seve OB

BostonB wrote: »

Getting a good fit might be hard. The helmets I've seen would really only fit 3+

My Daughter was about 18 months and the helmet fitted her ok.

Its a either a Bell or a Met I think, will check when I go home

check_six

I found that any helmets small enough for wee kids became a problem when they fell asleep in the child seat. I'd always be anxious to take the helmet off lest there was any problem with the chin strap.

Lumen's *be careful out there* advice is top priority, along with suitable jackets, gloves etc.. Helmets come down towards the bottom of the list. Get an inexpensive one like the ones suggested above, but treat it as an "optics" piece of kit only (as in, get one to stop you imagining people are thinking you are terrible person for sending your little mites into the world "unprotected").

monument

Lumen wrote: »

Even off the bike they just don't fit well, tending to ride up the forehead when jostled around.

This is made worse on the bike as the "shelf" that comes out at the rear presses against the seat back, pushing the front up and back. It also means that the child's back is not in close contact with the seat back, or else their neck/shoulders are bent forwards.

A doctor once told me not to worry about dropping a baby at anything lower than head height.

I think puncture risk is quite high as they have soft spots along the skull plates. It would be interesting to design a hard shell "skull cap" with minimal padding to prevent this.

I imagine neck and spinal injuries are quite a high risk due to the relatively huge mass on the scrawny little neck.

It's basically a complete ballache.

Thanks for the advice.

Rented a bike with a baby seat today in the park -- the little fella loved it. He's just six months old and learning to hold his head up and just discovered he has a neck. Looking all around him -- he started with looking just at the OH's feet peddling for a while but once he started looking around there was no stopping him. Big smiles every time we stopped.

The OH added another reason for not using a helmet -- he just would not be able to hold his head up with it, he's just only able to hold his head up.