Batting helmet for t ball?

[mefordis]

I think I would be more concerned that you wouldn't want your child wearing a helmet. My Ds at the age of 7 got pulled up to minors in the begining of his coach pitch season and his fourth game into minors got hit in the mouth with a fast pitch. Needlessss to say I am waiting for the rest of his baby teeth to fall out just so he can have braces. He now wears a face gaurd on his helmet. won;t play with out one!!


also...most people buy their own because of head lice...FYI

OMG! Read my question again! I'm just asking WHY for t ball?? I didn't say I didn't WANT her to wear one!

I just have to say, everyone else has been sooo polite on this thread and you have to come in here and accuse me of not wanting my daughter to wear a helmet. Go away, please.

 

[KiminChicago]

I'm another one of the votes for a face cage. We had a child get hit with a ball and it broke all the bones surrounding his eye socket. Fortunately he didn't lose the eye, but after that happened, our coach insisted on the cage.

Also, there is a lot of variation in head size, so getting your own batting helmet ensures that it will fit correctly. Even though our league provided helmets, there were only two that would fit the largest size heads. Since they wear the helmet the entire time they are on the basepath, we had several situations where the two largest helmets were on base runners and the batter coming up to the plate was trying to squeeze into a helmet that was too small.

 

[jojogana]

I am sorry I didn't mean to get u going, I have been involved with my kids baseball/t-ball/coach pitch for 6 years now and I cant count how many times I have heard about parents complaining about having to get their kids' helmets in t-ball/caoch pitch. which i do realize u werent complaining, There are many safty reasons to think about. Didn't mean to offend. But Sorry...won't reply again.

 

[mefordis]

I am sorry I didn't mean to get u going, I have been involved with my kids baseball/t-ball/coach pitch for 6 years now and I cant count how many times I have heard about parents complaining about having to get their kids' helmets in t-ball/caoch pitch. which i do realize u werent complaining, There are many safty reasons to think about. Didn't mean to offend. But Sorry...won't reply again.

That's okay. I apologize as well. I was too quick to get defensive. Peace!

 

[mefordis]

I'm another one of the votes for a face cage. We had a child get hit with a ball and it broke all the bones surrounding his eye socket. Fortunately he didn't lose the eye, but after that happened, our coach insisted on the cage.

Also, there is a lot of variation in head size, so getting your own batting helmet ensures that it will fit correctly. Even though our league provided helmets, there were only two that would fit the largest size heads. Since they wear the helmet the entire time they are on the basepath, we had several situations where the two largest helmets were on base runners and the batter coming up to the plate was trying to squeeze into a helmet that was too small.

Great point. My daughter's head is on the larger side!

 

[MickeySP]

If you cant find a right size, buy a little big then tighten it with sticky foam.
You may laugh but the foam that you put around air conditioners works great to tighten up a loose helmet.

I coached for about 10 years and believe me she will not be behind at Tball level. Hey if they can run the bases in the right order & direction it was a bonus

 

[jojogana]

Its all good!! but as i said before, head lice has been an issue with "community" helmets! I am not sure how long your dd hair is but if its long Icould only imagin how hard it would be to get nasty critters out if there were ever a problem

 

[allison443]

Just want to add they make a helmet which accomodates a ponytail, if your dd has one! My dd had a really cute pink one!

 

[luvmy3]

In our league, T-ball is coach pitched and the tee is brought out after 4 pitches and no hit, so even if its called T-ball the kids may be pitched to.
Helmets are provided but we bought our own. My friend's dd had an issue with lice and they swore it was from the league helmets and I never realized that it was an issue everywhere until I read this thread.
We just needed a glove and that was about it, cleats aren't mandatory, baseball pants aren't and bats were provided. I did end up getting ds his own bat because we needed to have one at home anyway to practice, and I got him cleats just because, he wears track pants.

 

[N&B'smom]

We were told not to get helmets w/ a cage but I have every intention of getting my DD a mouthguard. She has GIGANTIC beautiful teeth in the front and I am not about to have her hurt those!!

We always have our own helmets because of the same reason...head lice.

 

[DizBelle]

1. Wearing a helmet while running the bases seems like a good idea because they will be focused on running the bases rather than on watching the ball that might come toward their head

2. It gets them used to wearing a helmet to play ball

 

[LJRJR]

Where my kids play, wearing a helmet with a cage is mandatory, as well as the chest protector (which is extremely light weight). I got a the helmet at Models and it came with alot of padding inside.

 

[ICF]

Where my kids play, wearing a helmet with a cage is mandatory, as well as the chest protector (which is extremely light weight). I got a the helmet at Models and it came with alot of padding inside.

What kind of chest protector? Do you mean for the catcher or for all of the kids? Hopefully it's not something all of the kids are wearing while hitting or in the field.

I never thought about lice and find that one kind of funny. I played for years as a child, as did my siblings and we never got lice. At least 1 of my kids has played the last 5 years and it never even occured to me (and neither kid has gotten it either) to buy them a helmet for that reason. My daughter got her own one year, because we found a pink one on clearance for $5 and she wanted it so we got it for her.

One thing on the helmet issue....unless all the kids have their own helmets, you might be prepared for other kids to wear your helmet. Often the kids / parents in the dugout just grab a helmet so unless you child is holding on to theirs, it may well get stuck on someone elses head.

 

[mefordis]

Its all good!! but as i said before, head lice has been an issue with "community" helmets! I am not sure how long your dd hair is but if its long Icould only imagin how hard it would be to get nasty critters out if there were ever a problem

Absolutely! This morning I'm going to Modell's to get all the gear, including the helmet. I am terrified of lice!

 

[LJRJR]

The chest protector they wear is extremely light weight, it goes under their shirt, it is just a piece of foam sewn into a white tank top. It is not the heavier type of protector a catcher wears. It is supposed to diffuse the impact of a ball hitting the chest.

 

[ICF]

One day, I'm going to go watch a little league game and find a kid wrapped in bubble wrap.

 

[luvmy3]

One day, I'm going to go watch a little league game and find a kid wrapped in bubble wrap.

I was thinking the same thing!

I played from T-ball age to 17 and the only thing we had was a helmet. I do remember one accident where a girl got hit in the face with a bat, she was catching and she had the mask on and still ended up with a busted lip. I understand things happen but to me, all this equipment gives everyone a false sense of security. The best way to keep them from getting hurt is to teach them how to play and how to pay attention, thats whats been working for years

 

[msjprincess]

I bought my 6yo daughter's equipment at Target. I got a bat, glove, helmet and cleats for less that $75. I also bought her an extra pair of pants from Modell's for $10.

 

[dawson5]

There have been several instances of kids getting hit in the chest (infielders) and dying. This is because of the bats being so light/engineered that the ball comes off quickly, with a lot of force. I don't know if in the t-ball level you really need to worry about this, but I can certainly understand why any parent would worry. Sometimes improvement is not always for the better. These are not the bats of our youth. Compare a bat from 2 yrs ago, to a 5 yr old bat to a 10 yr old bat.

They need to go back to wooden bats. Just for giggles, go to a batting cage and hit the ball with a -13 bat (I know DeMarini has one, I want to say it's the Vexxum, blue & black.) and then use a wooden bat of the same size. It takes a lot more force with the wooden one to get it as far as the aluminum/scadium/composite ones. [I'll step off my soapbox now]

OP you asked about drills you could do with your daughter to get her ready. Short toss and long toss. Just throwing the ball. Focus on the basics, they're so little at this age and the attention span for most will be pretty limited. Have fun. I miss these days.

 

[mjkacmom]

I wouldn't invest in a whole lot of stuff until your kid knows she wants to stick with it.

I bought DD's helmet at Wal-Mart. It was $10.00. Same with her glove. $10.00. Cleats at Dicks, they were $20.00, but she can wear them for soccer and softball.

If they are baseball cleats, she won't be able to wear them for soccer (but soccer cleats can be used for baseball). I wouldn't worry about bats for now. Ds12 plays little league, and they all have their own bats (since they are more expensive - his waas $250 ).