So, how protective a parent are you??

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Never forget that the kids who died in accidents growing up because they were not strapped into a car seat or wearing a bike helmet are not here to share their stories. Of course all of us survived, so we can look fondly on those carefree days. The kids who were not so lucky, and there were many, are now dead and therefore cannot share their opinions on helmets, car seats, etc. My guess is they would be in favor of them.

Our daughter, who is 6, knows that she must wear her helmet if she is going to ride her bike. No exceptions, or the bike goes away for two weeks (it hasn't needed to happen yet). She must also wear the kneepads and elbow pads when she roller skates or rides her scooter. She frequently chooses to wear them when she rides her bike, as well, and that is fine with us but not mandatory. Every child in our neighborhood wears a helmet, without exception, and I can count on the other parents to watch my daughter for compliance, as they can count on me to watch for theirs.

We do not let her play pretend games like war, cowboys and Indians, etc., in our presence at least, and she knows our feelings about them as well as guns (real or pretend). I don't oppose the rights of others to allow their children to play those games, but violence, even pretend violence, goes against our beliefs as a family. That's not being overly protective, in my opinion, but a reflection of our values as a family.

We expect her to skin her elbows and knees, but the world evolves and we know more now than we did when I was a kid. Using those lessons to prevent needless injury just makes sense to me. I had a friend die in a skiing accident, before helmets were common, and a child in my school suffered permanent brain damage from a bike accident when I was growing up. I cannot protect my children from everything, but I can learn from life's lessons and employ the tools at my disposal to keep them safer.

 

[Aisling]

I'm a very protective parent, even still that my kids are grown up.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I'm a grown woman and when I learned how to inline skate, I wore my helmet. One day I hit something in the sidewalk while going at a decent speed and did a flip. I landed directly on my head then skidded around. My bruises had bruises and I lost all the skin off the backs of my arms and legs, and my wrist guards were seriously roughed up.

I had a dent the size of my fist in my helmet.

I was sore and miserable for a few weeks and looked like I'd come out the wrong end of a shredder, but I did NOT have a head injury, which I most certainly would've had without my helmet on. I did NOT break any bones, which I probably would have without my wrist guards.

And I was a GROWN WOMAN. Lord knows what that kind of spill could've done to a kid.

So uhm, yeah. Based completely on anecdotal evidence I am entirely in favor of helmets and pads.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I just saw a picture of a friends DD on her bike with training wheels. OMG, the kid was wearing wearing knee pads and elbow pads. I was thinking like...wow...wrap her in cotton too!!

DS10 came in today with a scrape on his knee from falling off his bike. No biggie..that is what neosporin and band aids are for.


I don't know...I grew up in the 60's... no car seats, click clacks for toys...no helmuts, I am sure my mom smoked while she was pregnant with me and my brothers. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for helmuts, car seats and smoking is bad...but geez we are so protective in too many ways today. Kids can't play cowboys and indians, or cops and robbers. No more tag or dodge ball, and if a kid gets angry and yells out that they want to kill someone (just venting ya know), they can be thrown in jail for making terroristic threats!

What ever happened to common sense??

Maybe the kid is afraid of falling or new to bike riding?

My 14yodd refuses to ride a bike because she is afraid of falling.

One of these days I am getting that kid to ride a bike.

 

[FredinFL]

You wear a helmet or you don't use the bike, skates, whatever. As a matter of fact, if you come over to my house on a bike or skates you darned well better be wearing your helmet or you leave. No one rides in my driveway or yard without a helmet. It's not just the law, it's common sense.

For the poster proudly claiming she must be a bad parent for letting her children ride without a helmet. I wouldn't say bad, I would say extremely foolish. Why take a chance when a simple thing like wearing a helmet can keep your child from dying? I really just don't get that.

 

[quasar4legs]

It's law in NSW Australia to wear an approved helmet when on a bike, including bikes with training wheels.
Head injuries are reduced by 60% in the event of a crash if you are wearing a helmet. You can never protect your children from ever accident but to me helmets are just common sense and in our case, the law.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

It's law in NSW Australia to wear an approved helmet when on a bike, including bikes with training wheels.
Head injuries are reduced by 60% in the event of a crash if you are wearing a helmet. You can never protect your children from ever accident but to me helmets are just common sense and in our case, the law.

I was just about to post this too. I'm in Victoria but yes, its required by law to wear helmets when bike riding and I believe the fines are quite hefty for not wearing one. Even if they were not legally required, I couldn't imagine allowing my kids to ride bikes etc without the helmet. Its just not worth the risk.

 

[golfgal]

Our kids wore helmets when they were younger. The funny thing is most kids don't wear their helmets properly to do them any good giving parents a false sense of security. Now they don't wear them, mainly because they don't ride their bikes any more .

They had to wear wrist pads if they were rollerblading. We never made them wear anything if they were just riding their scooters.

DD has a friend that still has to ride in the back seat of their car when her mom drives--she has has her OWN driver's license for 2 years now. We can't figure out how she drives from the back seat .

 

[mdsoccermom]

Well, my daughter has to wear a helmet riding a bike and a brace on her right arm when she does any physical activity. The helmet has always been non-negotiable. No helmet, no bike. I know 2 people who had accidents where the helmet saved them.

The brace is because she broke her arm (both bones and a compound fracture) riding her bike last year, and then 2 days after she was pronounced completely healed, broke it again in soccer practice.

I also let my kids play whatever games they want. If my son wanted to play cowboys and Indians, war, whatever, he can have at it. I am not going to restrict imaginative play. Right now, he runs around waving a light saber or pirate sword.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I took pictures of my son in all that get-up when he started riding, just because it was so 'cute'!!!

I may be a little more protective of my son than some parents.
But I really don't think I am overboard.

My son is getting older now, and he knows the meaning of the term 'Helicopter Parent', and if the thinks something I say or do is a bit much, has been known to say " Don't be a helicopter parent now..."

 

[NaLisa]

We have some rules in the house that we occasionally bend, but SAFETY rules must always be followed. My kids wear helmets on their bikes and scooters, use booster seats in the car and ride in the back seat. I don't think I'm overprotective. All the evidence points to those things saving many, many lives. A minor accident on a bike or in a vehicle can become deadly if your child isn't properly protected. The risk just isn't worth it for the kids to have a bit more freedom.

 

[FredinFL]

They are wearing them properly enough for the rate of children dying from head injuries while riding bikes, scooter, skateboarding, etc. to have gone down. That makes it more than worthwhile to me. Even if only one child was saved, especially if it was YOUR child, wouldn't it be worth it?

 

[diznygirl]

I wouldn't put much thought into it.

They sell younger kid helmets with knee pad and elbow pads.

I took pictures of my son in all that get-up when he started riding, just because it was so 'cute'!!!

Exactly. The matching set was adorable, and my little girl looked sooo cute all done up and she insisted on wearing everything with a matching dress - which I'm sure would send all the nit-pickers over the edge! "A dress! On a bike! What is that mother thinking!"





As for what I actually require for safety - a helmet and no flip-flops.

 

[Jeniferdwn]

Eh...little bumps and bruises...no big deal to me.

I would put the pads on to avoid saying the four letter "B" word in my house.

BANDAID! My kids need bandaids and talk about their boo boos FOREVER

Ok at the risk of sounding really stupid, what is the four letter "b" word? Maybe i can't think of it because I haven't had any caffeine yet this morning.

My kids are allowed to play war, cowboys and Indians and anything else like that. My dd was threatened by another 8yr old last summer. He said he was going to kill her. I insisted that his parents be told because you never know what the kids have access to at home. THEN....this year.....I get a call from DS3's preschool teacher. He said he was going to kill everyone in his class!!! UGH!!!! He is not allowed to say that anymore!!!! He was punished and told how wrong that was!!! even though a 3 yr old saying that doesn't bother me as bad as an 8 yr old (i know this family and they aren't the best family in the neighborhood!!!) Helmets are required when on the motorcycles, not always bicycles. We do have water guns, nerf dart guns and pirate swords.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Ok at the risk of sounding really stupid, what is the four letter "b" word? Maybe i can't think of it because I haven't had any caffeine yet this morning.

My kids are allowed to play war, cowboys and Indians and anything else like that. My dd was threatened by another 8yr old last summer. He said he was going to kill her. I insisted that his parents be told because you never know what the kids have access to at home. THEN....this year.....I get a call from DS3's preschool teacher. He said he was going to kill everyone in his class!!! UGH!!!! He is not allowed to say that anymore!!!! He was punished and told how wrong that was!!! even though a 3 yr old saying that doesn't bother me as bad as an 8 yr old (i know this family and they aren't the best family in the neighborhood!!!) Helmets are required when on the motorcycles, not always bicycles. We do have water guns, nerf dart guns and pirate swords.

Butt?

 

[golfgal]

Ok at the risk of sounding really stupid, what is the four letter "b" word? Maybe i can't think of it because I haven't had any caffeine yet this morning.

My kids are allowed to play war, cowboys and Indians and anything else like that. My dd was threatened by another 8yr old last summer. He said he was going to kill her. I insisted that his parents be told because you never know what the kids have access to at home. THEN....this year.....I get a call from DS3's preschool teacher. He said he was going to kill everyone in his class!!! UGH!!!! He is not allowed to say that anymore!!!! He was punished and told how wrong that was!!! even though a 3 yr old saying that doesn't bother me as bad as an 8 yr old (i know this family and they aren't the best family in the neighborhood!!!) Helmets are required when on the motorcycles, not always bicycles. We do have water guns, nerf dart guns and pirate swords.

Bandaid--she said it later in that post--.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Bandaid--she said it later in that post--.

oh, lol....maybe I need coffee too

 

[locolala]

My DD is a bit young for bikes still, but there is a helmet rule for us. If you're on a horse, a bike, a scooter, etc, you have to have an appropriate helmet on. No exceptions. When I was 16 I had a horse flip on me.. if I hadn't had my helmet on, I wouldn't be here today. Seatbelts and proper restraints for children in the car are also not optional.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I don't mess around with car seats and seat belts. I keep my kids in rear-facing car seats until they are 2, and keep them in harnesses until ?? - DD is 3 1/2 and still harnessed.

When my kids are old enough to ride bikes they will wear helmets and shoes (not flip-flops). But right now DD does not wear a helmet when she rides her tricycle! DH's brother sent a photo of his 3 yo DD riding her tricycle in a helmet and knee pads and to me that is overboard.

I am fairly laid-back, definitely not a "helicopter." My best friend was very very hovering when we first met, and she has lightened up a little bit. It's a little joke to ask her if she brought her kids' helmets whenever we go anywhere.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

When my kids are old enough to ride bikes they will wear helmets and shoes (not flip-flops). But right now DD does not wear a helmet when she rides her tricycle! DH's brother sent a photo of his 3 yo DD riding her tricycle in a helmet and knee pads and to me that is overboard.

We made our DD wear a helmet when riding her trike to set the habit of "if you're on a wheeled toy, you must wear a helmet," and not because we thought she actually needed it.

Her little brother, who has some special needs and physical delays, must wear his helmet when riding his trike for the same reason, but also because he has been known to thrash about randomly and tip the trike.