baby hates bicycle helmet -- HELP
Bruce User
Any ideas from experienced bikers?
I have attached a high quality child seat to the back of my bicycle.
But my almost 1 year old daughter hates her bicycle helmet, and with
good reason. If I make it even a little loose, she can pull it
off (and will!) enroute. If I make it snug enough that she cannot
get it off -- then as she wriggles it is easy to pinch her in the
buckle. I think she can even pinch herself by tugging on it. The
daily ride is city streets, so she certainly needs a helmet.
Do I need a different helmet or strap adjustment? I've played with
this alot, so please be as specific as possible. She loves the ride,
what can I do to make her safe?
Thank you very much for your help,
bruce
JeanTown
You might try to cover the straps with some fabric, that way it doesn't
pinch and she can't unbuckle it. I don't know if trying a different helmet
would work or not. What type of helmet does your daughter have? My son
has had a helmet for several years now. We decided that he had to wear
one when he rode his trike because he was known to tip it over and also if
we got him into the habit of wearing one now, then it would be automatic
for when he started riding a bicycle. I have never had problems with him
keeping it on, but it is much easier to reason with a 3 yr old than a 1 yr
old. Good Luck!
Jeannette
weiler
Ah ... this is a simple one ... I wish they could all be so simple. It's
like seatbelts in my car. Anyone ... let me repeat that ... anyone who
wants to ride in my car, wears a seatbelt. Period. End of discussion.
You don't have to wear a seatbelt in my car ... but then, you don't ride
in my car. If your "rule" is that a helmet must be worn to ride the
bike, then it is just that simple. Don't want to wear the helmet ? Okay.
Do something else. Simple. For everyone.
I have a 20 year old son, an 18 year old daughter, a 3 year old daughter.
Really, honest-and-for-true, this one is simple.
-Kristina
: You might try to cover the straps with some fabric, that way it doesn't
s...@email.unc.edu
In article <EBD7s...@eskimo.com> us...@eskimo.com (Bruce User) writes:
>From: us...@eskimo.com (Bruce User)
>Subject: baby hates bicycle helmet -- HELP
>Keywords: kids baby bicycle helmet toddler safety
>Date: Fri, 6 Jun 1997 17:41:02 GMT
> bruce
Do you wear a helmet too? Make sure you tell her that everyone on a bike must
wear a helmet and be a good example.
We have had similar trouble with our kids helmets before, and opted to keep
the strap tight, but loose enough to fit a couple of our fingers between the
strap and their necks. Also , when attaching the buckles, make sure you keep
your fingers between the buckle and the neck, so you don't pinch the
skin--that is one sure-fire way to make your daughter upset about the helmet.
(our biggest problem is keeping the helmet from falling over their eyes)
Once you start riding around, be sure to keep her attention on the sites by
pointing out things as you go along--keep her mind off of the helmet if you
can. We also usually attach some sort of toy to the bike with a short cord or
those plastic rings, so that there is something to play with and it can't be
lost (make sure it isn't long enough to get caught in the wheels if she drops
it).
I don't know if this has been much help. Good luck and happy riding. -Suzi
Marcy Thompson
weiler <wei...@voicenet.com> wrote:
>Ah ... this is a simple one ... I wish they could all be so simple. It's
>like seatbelts in my car. Anyone ... let me repeat that ... anyone who
>wants to ride in my car, wears a seatbelt. Period. End of discussion.
>You don't have to wear a seatbelt in my car ... but then, you don't ride
>in my car. If your "rule" is that a helmet must be worn to ride the
>bike, then it is just that simple. Don't want to wear the helmet ? Okay.
>Do something else. Simple. For everyone.
In general I agree with this. But I wonder. What do you do when the
seatbelt doesn't fit around someone? Say, a heavy person in a backseat
of a small car, or a very tall person in the frontseat, where the seatbelt
Does Not Reach? Do you carry seatbelt extenders?
In the backseat of my in-laws' "little car", the seatbelt in the middle
does not fit around me, but the legs of the other backseat passengers do
not fit in the middle seat. So what would you do about that?
Marcy
--
Marcy Thompson
home: ma...@squirrel.com
work: m...@criinc.com
Usenet only: ma...@world.std.com
Hanspeter Bayer
Bruce - can't help you with your question, but maybe you can help with
mine. We too have a one year old daughter and are considering buying a
seat for her. Have you come across any statistics that say how safe or
dangerous it is to use one of those seats, as compared using a trailer,
or to other activities? The only info I have found online was that
Consumer Reports failed a child seat that went on the handlebars - they
said it put you off balance and ruined your visibility.
Any info would be appreciated.
We have a tough time getting our daughter to keep her sun hat on, so
we're trying the strategy of just putting it back on everytime she takes
it off in hopes that she will get tired of it and realize that it is
easier to just leave it on. Kids!
Thanks!
Pete
--
Peter & Shelley Bayer
mailto:ba...@snet.net
http://ourworld.compuserve.com:80/homepages/Hanspeter_Bayer/
leigh hudson
I would tell her firmly that the only way she gets to ride on the bike (if
you can explain this to her) is that she keeps the helmet ON. Stop riding
each time she takes it off and tell her you will ONLY go when the helmet is
ON.
Leigh
Bruce User <us...@eskimo.com> wrote in article <EBD7s...@eskimo.com>...
David Martin
leigh hudson wrote:
>
> I would tell her firmly that the only way she gets to ride on the bike (if
> you can explain this to her) is that she keeps the helmet ON. Stop riding
> each time she takes it off and tell her you will ONLY go when the helmet is
> ON.
>
> Leigh
What if she doesn't want to go? you have just held yourself to ransom.
Is a bicycle helmet that important?
(sorry, ignore that last line. It is far too inflammatory.)
..d
--
* David Martin - Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis research group *
* http://www.uio.no/~damartin/ david....@biotek.uio.no *
* Lab +47 22 95 84 54 Fax +47 22 69 41 30 GSM +47 90 74 27 65 *
Marie Houck
In article <33A50949...@biotek.uio.no>, David Martin
<david....@biotek.uio.no> wrote:
> leigh hudson wrote:
> >
> > I would tell her firmly that the only way she gets to ride on the bike (if
> > you can explain this to her) is that she keeps the helmet ON. Stop riding
> > each time she takes it off and tell her you will ONLY go when the helmet is
> > ON.
> >
> > Leigh
>
> What if she doesn't want to go? you have just held yourself to ransom.
>
This is an excellent point. The difficulty is making HER own the problem
instead of YOU, and, if YOU are the one who needs to be on the bike and
she doesn't want to, this is not easy.
When my daughter started squirming out of her car seat at a rather
precocious age, I went nuts for a while. We had to be in the car;
leaving her home wasn't an option. My mom finally helped out by
suggesting that every time she got out of her car seat, I just pull off
the road, pick up a book, and ignore her until she got back in. It worked
well: we were late to a few things (I tried to leave early to have the
time, but leaving early isn't one of MY best things), but she really hated
being ignored. First I'd pull off the road and pick up the book and say,
"I'll just read until you're ready to get back in the car seat." Later,
all I had to do was pull off and pick up the book; she'd start to cry and
ask me to please look at her, and eventually would get back in the car
seat and ask me to buckle her in. Within about a week, the problem was
mostly solved.
Maybe something like this would work with the helmet.
Marie
Theresa A. Rivkin
I have read that you shouldn't even put a child that is under one year
old on a bicycle because they do not have appropriate head and neck
control for a helmet. My son was a little over one year old when we put
him in a bicycle seat and he hated his helmet too. It got to be such a
battle that we stopped taking him for rides. We just waited another
couple of months and he willingly wore the helmet because he wanted to
go on the bike.
--
Terri Rivkin
Mom to Benjamin (5/25/95) and Brianna (8/21/96)
Rivkin_There...@msmail.bms.com
The Nelsons
Just one comment: I do hope the parent(s) are also wearing helmets.