Helmet safety for young children - Yes, little ones need bike & scooter helmets too

Helmets are important, even for young riders

Planning on getting a bike or scooter for your toddler or any other age child this Christmas? Then put a helmet on your list too.

Helmets are important and can save your child's life. Wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of a head injury by 85%, according to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission.

Jill Braselton (RN, BSN), Injury Prevention Coordinator and ThinkFirst IL State Chapter Director, explains what the helmet does that is so important:

A helmet should be worn for any activity with wheels (skateboarding, rollerblading, roller skating, when using a scooter or any motorized vehicle, i.e. ATV’s, motorized scooters, motocross, motorcycles, Segway) or any type of activity that has increased speed (skiing or horseback riding) or force (football, hockey, etc). If you fall while doing any of these activities and your head hits the ground, the skull will take the impact on the outside and your brain will take the impact on the inside. Your brain is suspended inside the skull in cerebrospinal fluid that helps cushion the brain. The brain can be injured from hitting the inside of the skull with any impact. The severity of the injury depends on the impact. If the skull bone is broken it can penetrate the brain and cause even more damage. Wearing a helmet helps protect the skull and the brain. The polystyrene or plastic foam in the helmet decreases the force of the crash on the skull and brain with any impact. The foam is designed to compress on impact and that helps ‘soften the blow’ to the head with the foam absorbing the energy. It is similar to how a seat belt works in a vehicle crash, the seat belt actually absorbs a large portion of the energy as does the helmet. There are many different kinds of helmets and the right helmet should be worn to match the activity, i.e. bike helmet for biking, ski helmet for skiing, etc.

So how young is too young for a helmet - or is there such a thing? As soon as a child starts to ride a bike or travel on a bike in a bike carrier, they should don a helmet says Braselton. "It is not recommended for children under the age of 1 to ride on the back of a bike in a child seat or in a bike carrier since their neck muscles are not developed enough to control their head from moving with a sudden stop. Everyone should wear a helmet whenever they ride a bike," she adds.

Helmets should be used with
scooters, bikes & tricycles, even 1st ones

What things should parents look for in a first helmet for a 2 or 3 year old who may be getting their first bike/trike or scooter this Christmas?

Okay, so you're sold. Now, how do you pick one out? First thing - take your tot to the store with you. Even if you don't find one they like in their size, you can find out what size you'll need to fit their tiny heads. This doesn't have to ruin the surprise. Just let them know now that they're a big boy or big girl, it's time to  test out helmets. My kids thought this was an exciting adventure. They were happy to try them on at the store and we even browsed online to find the perfect choice for each of them. Make sure you tell them the importance of the helmet and play up how cool and fun they look on them. After all, a helmet will not do any good if it's sitting on the shelf.

How should they fit?

"Helmets should fit snug on the head, meaning it should not move around if the child were to shake their head in any direction. It should sit level on the head about 2 finger widths above the eyebrow. If the helmet is tipped back, it is not sitting correctly on the head and could cause injury to the exposed forehead area in a crash," says Braselton. And note your tot will probably try to adjust it tilting back at first like they would a hat. Just be sure to correct them the first time they do it to start a good habit. Braselton adds, "Helmets often come with extra fitting pads to adjust for different head sizes and growth. The straps also need to be appropriately adjusted for proper fit. Typically the two straps on either side of the helmet should come to a V just under the ear and the chin strap should fit snugly under the chin."

And look for a label stating it meets the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Safety Standard for Bicycle Helmets for your child's age range. "All helmets should meet minimum recognized standards. In the U.S. these are ASTM," says David Mozer, Director of the International Bicycle Fund. He points to helmets.org as a good place to find additional info on those standards.

How do helmets work?

"Today's lightweight helmets provide comfort, style and protection," says Steve Russell, vice president of plastics for the American Chemistry Council. "Most helmets have a hard, crack-resistant outer shell, made from injection-molded plastic, such as ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) or fiberglass. Helmet interiors contain plastic foam pads, constructed from EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate), expanded polyurethane, expanded polystyrene or polypropylene. These plastics are designed to mitigate an impact by spreading the force over a greater area of the head and by reducing friction in a slide. For example, the stiff polystyrene inner plastic foam withstands great force before crushing and helps provide a proper fit."

What about knee pads and elbow pads for first time tricycle riders, you ask? You saw those at the store next to the helmets and are wondering if you should add those to the cart? "Research for some of these activities shows that wearing wrist guards could reduce the number of wrist injuries by 87 percent, wearing elbow pads could reduce the number of elbow injuries by 82 percent, and wearing knee pads could reduce the number of knee injuries by 32 percent," Russell says.

Braselton adds, "Any protective equipment for new riders is helpful in preventing injury. This equipment should also be fit properly to not interfere with riding or the safety of the child during the activity."

But before you settle on elbow and knee pads, consider Mozer's advice: "There would be far more benefit if people focused on gloves as the second piece of personal protect equipment after helmets."

"Children and teens will be much more likely to wear a helmet if their parents model the same behavior.," adds Braselton. "Everyone should take the extra precaution to safeguard their brain. We only have one brain and we literally need it for everything we do. If you break your brain, it can’t be fixed."

The American Academy of Pediatrics has more advice on bike helmets HERE.