Toddlers banging their heads learning to walk

embireland

I went through this with my first daughter, when she was learning to crawl and walk she kept falling backwards and banging her head on the floor. Unfortunately, we have tiles and wooden floors, not being able to afford to carpet the whole house. Anyway, this brought tears to my eyes every time she fell backwards and whacked her head on the floor.
Now with my second daughter, who is not able to crawl yet as she has hip problems but is able to go on her little car, but falls off it, I have found a solution to my problem, on contacting the big baby shops, one shop in particular was very helpful to me, and that was EuroBaby, they suggested a helmet, like a cycle helmet.
I went into their store and bought the Raleigh XXS bicycle helmet which is for a baby head. It cost me €25 and I thought at first this is expensive.
Now at home, my daughter is able to go on her little car and when she falls off, I hear a big bang, which is her helmet banging off the floor and I am so very glad I bought it and it is worth every penny now, she does not cry when she falls, I think to myself, that would have been her head on the floor if she had not got the helmet on.
I am glad I found the helmet in Eurobaby, and they were very helpful to me, they replied to my emails when I first enquired.
I would recommend parents to buy this helmet if their child is banging their head on the floor when learning to crawl, it is only common sense to protect your child.
I reckon its the best 25 euro i ever spent, especially when she falls.

Wade in the Sea

If it gives you peace of mind I think it is ok. We had the same problem with our 13 month old and joked about getting her a helmet as she did have a few falls but after a few weeks she seemed to become aware the floor is hard and catches herself as she falls so she lands on her hands or bum now

fiona-f

I am no expert on toddlers but that helmet in the photo does not look like it is being worn correctly. It seems to be perched very far back at an angle instead of fitting the head like a bike or other helmet should. Having the straps loose, like in the pic, is generally considered hazardous especially for small children - there is plenty of research on child cycle safety on this. If (and to my mind it is a very big if) there could be a net positive effect to helmet wearing for children learning to walk, then the helmet would have to be fitted and worn correctly at a minimum.

There is also a concept discussed in helmet research for cyclists around your sixth sense of perception on the space occupied by your own body. I can't recall the precise name of the phenomenon but basically by artificially increasing your height and size of your head through the helmet, it can throw off balance and increase accidents etc.

I think you would need to have a detailed conversation with a healthcare professional about whether safety equipment is required for a normal phase of childhood development before being able to say this is the best course of action, rather than relying on the word of the salesperson who is selling you the item.

littlemissfixit

I have tiles and wooden floors as well, and I do cringe every time one of my little ones bang their head on it but at the same time I believe strongly that its the only way they learn to control their falls and by putting a helmet on them, you might just delay the learning of this skill as they will believe that falling off things is not painful at all, until you stop putting the helmet on.
My daughter fell backwards for a couple of weeks, then learned to hold her head up when she was falling, then learned to fall forward and had to learn to put her hands in front to... etc.
Luckily, as he is a great climber, my son is also a great "faller", I can recall only a couple of times he hurt himself.

embireland

fiona-f wrote: »

I am no expert on toddlers but that helmet in the photo does not look like it is being worn correctly. It seems to be perched very far back at an angle instead of fitting the head like a bike or other helmet should. Having the straps loose, like in the pic, is generally considered hazardous especially for small children - there is plenty of research on child cycle safety on this. If (and to my mind it is a very big if) there could be a net positive effect to helmet wearing for children learning to walk, then the helmet would have to be fitted and worn correctly at a minimum.

There is also a concept discussed in helmet research for cyclists around your sixth sense of perception on the space occupied by your own body. I can't recall the precise name of the phenomenon but basically by artificially increasing your height and size of your head through the helmet, it can throw off balance and increase accidents etc.

I think you would need to have a detailed conversation with a healthcare professional about whether safety equipment is required for a normal phase of childhood development before being able to say this is the best course of action, rather than relying on the word of the salesperson who is selling you the item.

The straps are tight not loose, its just way they are, there is 2 straps each side that shape into a V towards the catch. This is the smallest (XXS) bicycle hat available on the market. They are available in Eurobaby, made by Raleigh.
I dont think I need to discuss safety equipment with a healthcare, I am taking precautions against my child falling and hitting her head on the floor. Last week she fall backwards off the toy car and struck the helmet really hard on the floor. If she had not that on she would have hit her head.
Since wearing the helmet she has less falls now and is more balanced on her car.
We make our kids wear helmets when they are out on bikes so they dont hurt their heads on the ground, but its quite acceptable for a baby to fall and hurt her head several times a day on the floor, when her little brain is only starting to develop.
I dont think it should ridiculed or thought of as ridiculous for a baby to have a helmet, it cruelty to let her hit her head on tile and wooden floors, because she is learning to walk.

littlemissfixit

It is quite acceptable if you want to use a helmet, I don't think anybody means to ridicule. I wouldn't go as far as to say its cruelty not to use one, as then we would have all been victims of cruelty as children, I never knew of anybody using helmets indoor when the child is learning to walk. We are just saying that it is a learning curve, and a few bumps are part of it, the first few times you wince, but just as they do, you learn to toughen up.

pwurple

If she keeps falling off the toy car, I would take that to mean she isn't ready for the car yet. I'm not a fan of straps or chords anywhere near a babies neck, so that puts me off them.

I have hard floors too. We got a thick rug for those wobbly stages. Helmet is a good bit cheaper than a rug though!

Wade in the Sea

I was thinking about this again this morning and it occurred to me that for such an obvious safety device there must be lots of products available out there. And bless their cotton socks mother care would certainly have a range in it, in pink White and blue of course.

It turns out there are a few products in the US but they are widely discredited as being over protective. Reading the OP again I see it was actually Not just a matter of a helmet when learning to walk. Having said that I enjoyed reading a few discussions on baby centre. Certainly gets some people's back up LOL

http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/04132012-do-crawling-babies-need-helmets/

embireland

This little helmet is causing such a fuss, but she is not able walk yet as she has hip problems, which may require an operation, and she is not able to crawl either, so her balance on the floor even without the helmet is not great. I have another solution, which I used for my first child, its a little back pack with padding that when she falls backwards it breaks her fall. I know it sounds crazy and over-protective, but my floors are too hard, and take no prisoners when something falls on them, it breaks, so I dont want her to hurt her head, she already got one fall on the side of her head and it swelled out in a lump, which she rubbed for days. I dont want that to happen her again. I know i sound naff, but we harness kids in car seats, in buggies and high chairs so they fall, and hurt themselves, we protect them from the fire and the cooker, ya i know i am rambling off, but its just to precaution against her injuring her head seriously.

Mimikyu

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