So, how protective a parent are you??

[JoiseyMom]

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??

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

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??

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

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I wouldn't put much thought into it.

They sell younger kid helmets with knee pad and elbow pads. I did make them optional and for a time, my kids thought they were cool. Had nothing to do with any worry on my part. They were about 3-4 though. I'm not sure I could find a helmet without these until about age 5. But it may be because I was looking for a specific character. (I think my kids asked for specific sets--why would I deny them an opportunity to make a fashion statement? )

The only thing I mandate besides a helmet is wrist guards if they are on skates/roller blades. So very easy to snap a wrist and simply not worth the risk to me. I think it is the most common injury on skates, but I could be mistaken.

 

[design_mom]

I require the helmet and real shoes (no flip flops) on the bike. Both my kids' first helmets came with additional pads and they insisted on wearing them all. I had to try to talk them out of the knee pads because it's hard to pedal with those things on. I wouldn't be too hard on your friend just based on that picture. I shudder to think of what you'd think if you saw my son riding his bike in his ice hockey gear (which he has done).

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I require the helmet and real shoes (no flip flops) on the bike. Both my kids' first helmets came with additional pads and they insisted on wearing them all. I had to try to talk them out of the knee pads because it's hard to pedal with those things on. I wouldn't be too hard on your friend just based on that picture. I shudder to think of what you'd think if you saw my son riding his bike in his ice hockey gear (which he has done).

I wouldn't be thinking you were overprotective. I'd be wondering, "What was he thinking?" and "how on earth is it possible to ride a bike like that?".

He isn't a goalie, is he?

 

[Goofyluver]

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??

I'm protective enough of my kid that he knows better than to yell out that he wants to kill someone.

 

[mamacatnv]

I think we all have our own areas of what we are comfortable with.
The use of the "gear" doesn't bug me as much as the inability of parents to let their kids do things, go places, play war, cowboys & indians and as the OP said to yell "I'm gonna kill you" like my brother and I did ummmm pretty much daily. We didn't, we survived.
We have taken the ability to negotiate and solve problems away from our children because we so heavily regulate conflict.

Must wears in my house:
Helmets-biking, skateboarding. skiing & all sports that involve a bat.
seat belts

 

[MoonFaerie]

I have no problem with tag or kickball or whatever. I am a stickler about carseats and helmets though. (Helmets apply to us adults too.)

My mil cracks me up. She thinks that helmets are over protective, and thinks I'm over-protective about water safety. Yet she freaked when ds had surgery & thought we were making the worst, most dangerous choice ever, and she wouldn't let DH play football because she was afraid he'd get hurt.

We all have our things that we're more protective about or stricter about. No biggie.

 

[mhsjax]

I wouldn't put much thought into it.

They sell younger kid helmets with knee pad and elbow pads. I did make them optional and for a time, my kids thought they were cool. Had nothing to do with any worry on my part. They were about 3-4 though. I'm not sure I could find a helmet without these until about age 5. But it may be because I was looking for a specific character. (I think my kids asked for specific sets--why would I deny them an opportunity to make a fashion statement? )

The only thing I mandate besides a helmet is wrist guards if they are on skates/roller blades. So very easy to snap a wrist and simply not worth the risk to me. I think it is the most common injury on skates, but I could be mistaken.

I had a friend this happened to. She is a grown woman, with kids. Has been skating for probably 12 years. She shattered and I do mean shattered her wrist. Her surgeon said he stopped counting at 9. 9 pieces that were broken/shattered. She now has a bionic wrist.

 

[S. C.]

How old is friends DD? Since she had training wheels sounds like she is younger than 10.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

How old is the child?

When my daughter was first learning how to ride a bike I did have her wear knee and elbow pads on top of wearing a helmet just because she was falling pretty consistently. The one time she went out without them, she fell and broke her elbow

Once she got use to riding her bike and wasn't falling all the time the safety gear went to just a helmet.

 

[Tink888]

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??

LOL, I have a picture of my oldest son on his first two-wheeler with his helmet, elbow and knee pads. They came with the helmet. I have lots of common sense. I remember skinned knees and elbows from when I was growing up. They burn like he&%.

They've grown up playing cops & robbers, cowboys & indians, tag, dodge ball, airsoft guns.....all sorts of other things and probably a lot things that I don't know about. And they've both had a trip or two to the emergency room.

I guess we all pick & choose what we're over-protective about. I was probably the most protective with my first born and eased up over the years with each boy.

 

[design_mom]

I wouldn't be thinking you were overprotective. I'd be wondering, "What was he thinking?" and "how on earth is it possible to ride a bike like that?".

He isn't a goalie, is he?

LOL! Well, he wasn't playing goalie that day. (We had about 10 minutes before we had to leave for the rink when his friend called because he'd just gotten a puppy. DS pedaled down for a quick peek. He looked hysterical.)

 

[happytexasmom]

I dont think the mom was being "over" protective, just protective. I understand that most of us grew up with no carseat or seatbelts or helmets, but the thing is we know better now so thats why we use them. People in the 60s didnt know the importance of all these things. Im not 1 of those people that judge those parents that dont use helmets and pads but as for those that dont use carseats and seatbelts for thier kids or that do use them but not properly..........well, thats another story.....it makes me mad. My BIL was a State Trooper for many years and I know the importance of car saftey



To OP, I know you said that you do think people should use carseats and seatbelts, I just had to vent a little about those who dont

 

[minkydog]

The only thing I mandate besides a helmet is wrist guards if they are on skates/roller blades. So very easy to snap a wrist and simply not worth the risk to me. I think it is the most common injury on skates, but I could be mistaken.

No, you're right. It is very easy to suffer a buckle fracture when you throw out your hands to catch yourself. The impact "buckles" the end of one or both arm bones. Very painful. I had helmet and wrist guard rules too, because i *am* that kind of protective parent. One day my DDthen-10 decided she didn't need the wrist guards so she wore them out of the house and promptly ditched them in the bushes. I didn't have my eyes right on her so i didn't see her when she tripped and fell. Sure enough, she fractured her wrist. We left for WDW the next morning with her in a big pink cast.

 

[AustinTink]

I'm pretty easy-going about everything but helmets. No helmet or no riding the bike or skateboard.

In fact, a kid in our neighborhood died yesterday from a skateboard fall. No helmet. Such an avoidable tragedy.

 

[Jedana]

DS has to wear a helmet on the skateboard. No arguments. He's just learning to ride it, so I am leniant on the knee and elbow pads, but he knows that if he sticks with it, and starts going faster or doing tricks, he has wear all the gear. Right now, he goes about a foot and stops.

On the bike? Helmet for sure. Knee and elbow pads (again) if doing tricks or going fast. He is still learning how to ride.

He gets to climb trees and skip rocks at the lake, and jump in the deep end of the pool (but only if dad is there, because dad can touch the bottom of the deep end--6ft--but mom would drowned dead). He plays outside without me hovering over him, just has to check in every 20 minutes if by himself or every 30 if with his little friends. If he's with the older kids that he plays with, then every hour is fine.

Booster seats/seatbelts are not optional--for anyone in my car.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

I guess I'm a horrible parent. I do not make my kids wear helmets when riding their bikes. Nobody around here does. I don't know a single kid who wore a helmet growing up and none of us ever fell and cracked our heads. Well, one kid did, but he was trying to do an Evil Kinevil trick. He got a few stiches and a cool scar out of the deal. We are in our 30s now, I just saw him today. He's fine.

 

[Leajess99]

I guess I'm a horrible parent. I do not make my kids wear helmets when riding their bikes. Nobody around here does. I don't know a single kid who wore a helmet growing up and none of us ever fell and cracked our heads. Well, one kid did, but he was trying to do an Evil Kinevil trick. He got a few stiches and a cool scar out of the deal. We are in our 30s now, I just saw him today. He's fine.

My kids canNOT ride bikes, roller skates/blades, skateboard, or ride scooters without helmets. I have seen the results of head injuries and I prefer to play it safe than to be sorry.

I know of 2 children who have had to have CT scans and MRIs after a bike and scooter crash and they WERE wearing helmets. The one child's helmet cracked right down the middle and was crushed on one side from the way he landed after going over his handlebars. The other child's helmet had an indention in it from his scooter hitting uneven pavement and him hitting head first.

The doctor for the child on the scooter said it would definitely have been a serious head injury had he not been wearing that helmet. The other child probably would have died. I just could not imagine being faced with that over something that could protect them.

 

[shortbun]

What no helmets are your house OP? My friend Bill's helmet saved his life when he was thrown over the hood of a car while riding his bike. Why worry about some child in knee pads riding a bike? It's not like they are going to hurt themselves by falling 1.5 feet to the pavement but they do need to get into the habit of helmets. My son is almost 16 and his first helmet came with the elbow and knee pads. He wore them biking for a while then he wore them for sure when he was skateboarding with padded gloves. I'm just sayin' maybe you could find something even more trivial to worry about. Kids like to wear costumes.