On toddlers' helmets

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 20:54:57 +0100, Zog The Undeniable
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

OK, I'm pretty anti-helmet as people round here go, but even I thought
my 1-year old ought to wear one in her child seat. After all, she won't
work up a sweat and since she's strapped in and has few survival
reflexes and little strength, she can't do much to save herself if I
stack the bike.

Me too. tho' my toddler's 2 and a half, and I didn't get the helmet
and seat until his ssecond birthday.

Quoted message said:

What the manufacturers don't tell you is (a) the back of the helmet
rattles against the plastic seat back

I got a cheapy child seat, and the back of his helmet is higher than
the top of the seat back.

Quoted message said:

and (b) it (a Giro Me2) is too
heavy for a small child's head. After 10 miles she was sitting with her
head bowed right down on her chest and screaming. After 15 miles we
abandoned the ride, I left her with my wife and raced home to bring the
car back (then rode my wife's bike home, since I didn't fancy removing
the wheels from a Subway 8).

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
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On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 20:54:57 +0100, Zog The Undeniable
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

OK, I'm pretty anti-helmet as people round here go, but even I thought
my 1-year old ought to wear one in her child seat. After all, she won't
work up a sweat and since she's strapped in and has few survival
reflexes and little strength, she can't do much to save herself if I
stack the bike.

What the manufacturers don't tell you is (a) the back of the helmet
rattles against the plastic seat back and (b) it (a Giro Me2) is too
heavy for a small child's head. After 10 miles she was sitting with her
head bowed right down on her chest and screaming. After 15 miles we
abandoned the ride, I left her with my wife and raced home to bring the
car back (then rode my wife's bike home, since I didn't fancy removing
the wheels from a Subway 8).

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

Or a trailer?

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 05:52:28 GMT,

Gawnsoft said:

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 20:54:57 +0100, Zog The Undeniable
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

What the manufacturers don't tell you is (a) the back of the helmet
rattles against the plastic seat back and (b) it (a Giro Me2) is too
heavy for a small child's head. After 10 miles she was sitting with her
head bowed right down on her chest and screaming. After 15 miles we
abandoned the ride, I left her with my wife and raced home to bring the
car back (then rode my wife's bike home, since I didn't fancy removing
the wheels from a Subway 8).

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

Or a trailer?

Same problem, if not worse - my two-year old doesn't wear a helmet
when she's in teh trailer, because teh seat back comes up
significantly above her head and a helmet pushes her head forward at
an unatural angle.

I also thought, when she first went in, that for one who's so
recently got teh strength to hold up just their head, strapping
weights to the head and joggling them around wasn't teh brightest of
things to do.

Dunno if it's any comfort to Zog, but we've also had to abandon a ride
while I rush home on teh wife's bike, then drive to where they were
waiting, then she drove home with Rachel and I rode home towing teh
trailer. We gave up rather sooner than 15 miles, however.

regards, Ian SMith
--
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In message <[email hidden]>, Ian Smith
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 05:52:28 GMT,

Gawnsoft said:

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 20:54:57 +0100, Zog The Undeniable
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

What the manufacturers don't tell you is (a) the back of the helmet
rattles against the plastic seat back and (b) it (a Giro Me2) is too
heavy for a small child's head. After 10 miles she was sitting with her
head bowed right down on her chest and screaming. After 15 miles we
abandoned the ride, I left her with my wife and raced home to bring the
car back (then rode my wife's bike home, since I didn't fancy removing
the wheels from a Subway 8).

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

Or a trailer?

Same problem, if not worse - my two-year old doesn't wear a helmet
when she's in teh trailer, because teh seat back comes up
significantly above her head and a helmet pushes her head forward at
an unatural angle.

Yes, we have a Chariot trailer and while it is supposedly designed for
children to be wearing a helmet it's never looked that comfortable
because of lack of space -( seat is suspended material, with mess at
the top) - though better now Elinor is bigger. We don't, unless she
insists bother with a helmet in the trailer.

But a helmet probably serves little purpose in a trailer anyway. If the
trailer was to tip (never happened) or be hit hard by a car it might
give some protection to the head hitting the frame etc. but that's a
small risk - she is much more likely to injure herself on the climbing
frame or bouncing around on the bed.

Re Zog;s problem well my response would be to leave off the helmet if it
was a toss up between going for a cycle and wearing a helmet the head
will be protected from impacts with the road etc. by the sides of the
seat to some extent anyway presumably.

It may not be the helmet anyway of course, maybe she just had had enough
sitting in the bike seat for some reason?
--
Chris French, Leeds

Zog The Undeniable said:

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

A trailer is the thing for small kids.

Paul Rudin said:

Zog The Undeniable said:

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

A trailer is the thing for small kids.

Definitely.. Ours loved it. The key was always to take fairly frequent
breaks and make it a fun thing. Every 3-4 miles was good though mine were
happy to do nearer 20 at a stretch.

With trailers they have their toys, drinks and so on to play with as well as
being more comfortable. The youngest cant wait to get going when he knows
there is a bike ride in the offing.. Has been know to wake me up on a
saturday morning with his helmet and boots on over his pyjamas ;-)

Ob helmets: We don't bother in the trailer. I have never heard of a trailer
tipping under normal use and see no point in them. Child seat: there is some
merit as the child may mot have suitable defensive reflexes. One has to be
careful that the helmet will fit and not make life too uncomfortable for the
child. We didn't start using the child seat till they were two.

...d

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 07:43:40 +0000 (UTC), Ian Smith
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 05:52:28 GMT,

Gawnsoft said:

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 20:54:57 +0100, Zog The Undeniable
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

What the manufacturers don't tell you is (a) the back of the helmet
rattles against the plastic seat back and (b) it (a Giro Me2) is too
heavy for a small child's head. After 10 miles she was sitting with her
head bowed right down on her chest and screaming. After 15 miles we
abandoned the ride, I left her with my wife and raced home to bring the
car back (then rode my wife's bike home, since I didn't fancy removing
the wheels from a Subway 8).

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

Or a trailer?

Same problem, if not worse

I wouldn't have thought so.

I was suggesting trailer, potentially /instead/ of a helmet + child
seat combo.

A child seat is far up, and makes the bike much less stable -
especiallt if you're having to walk or stand beside the bike for some
reason.

Both good reasons for the child to be helmetted.

A trailer has a) children positioned much closer to the ground, b)
much greater stability when the bike is unmounted (though admittedly
less stability at higher cycling speeds and c) a limited amount of
roll-protection built-in (varying from trailer to trailer)

- my two-year old doesn't wear a helmet

Quoted message said:

when she's in teh trailer, because teh seat back comes up
significantly above her head and a helmet pushes her head forward at
an unatural angle.

....

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

Gawnsoft <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

Or a trailer?

Deffo the trailer. I'd never go back to a child seat after the trailer.
We had a few get-offs and fortunately we only had a few bruises to show
for it, but looking back on it - arrgh! Never again! Also it gets a bit
cramped with two kids...

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 20:54:57 +0100, Zog The Undeniable
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

OK, I'm pretty anti-helmet as people round here go, but even I thought
my 1-year old ought to wear one in her child seat. After all, she won't
work up a sweat and since she's strapped in and has few survival
reflexes and little strength, she can't do much to save herself if I
stack the bike.

What the manufacturers don't tell you is (a) the back of the helmet
rattles against the plastic seat back and (b) it (a Giro Me2) is too
heavy for a small child's head. After 10 miles she was sitting with her
head bowed right down on her chest and screaming. After 15 miles we
abandoned the ride, I left her with my wife and raced home to bring the
car back (then rode my wife's bike home, since I didn't fancy removing
the wheels from a Subway 8).

I suppose it will have to be short family rides until she gets a bit
bigger :-(

Edinburgh Bike Coop have a 2-toddler, fold-flat trailer for £120 in
their special offers section atm.

It even takes car seats, for those very small kiddies who might
otherwise find a a sitting position fatiguing.

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk