Do your young kids wear helmets when ice skating? - Page 2

[MountainLovinMama]

Originally Posted by oceanbaby

I just can't get into a helmet while sledding. I've been skiing and sledding for years and have never worn a helmet, nor have I ever seen anyone but the most radical snowboarders wearing helmets. Sledding is risky - you could be wearing a helmet but still break your neck. I guess you guys will really think I'm a horrible mother when I admit that my dad sits with my kids in the wagon and goes careening down a steep path at one of the local parks.:

Around here, most people DO wear helmets skiing, and all the kids are required to in their ski programs, whether ski racing, snowboarding, freestyling or just learning how to snowplow. Among the adult crowd, the majority do wear helmets and they have almost become a fun accessory with the styles and colors. That said, I don't always put my kids in helmets for skating. Sometimes there are games of an ice version of soccer on the pond...helmets are required for that. But for just skating around, just learning, and for dd learning some figure skating we don't always wear helmets. They don't have the velocity skating as skiing, though I'm sure helmets are a very good idea.

[maya44]

Originally Posted by oceanbaby

I've been skiing and sledding for years and have never worn a helmet, nor have I ever seen anyone but the most radical snowboarders wearing helmets.

Really? Where do you ski?

On our last two ski vacations (Vail and Aspen) it seemed to us that about 80 percent of the adults and 90 percent of the kids were wearing helmets. My dh and I commented on how big a change this was from about 5 or 6 years ago when there were few helmets. Now it seems standard.

[HollyBearsMom]

recreational skating on the pond-no helmet :

ice hockey, etc on the pond-helmet w/ face shield

any skating at an indoor rink-helmet w/ face shield

[HollyBearsMom]

Originally Posted by maya44

Really? Where do you ski?

On our last two ski vacations (Vail and Aspen) it seemed to us that about 80 percent of the adults and 90 percent of the kids were wearing helmets. My dh and I commented on how big a change this was from about 5 or 6 years ago when there were few helmets. Now it seems standard.

Same here in NE- we see tons of helmets at all the mountains these days.

[Clarinet]

Facts about Sports Related Injuries (in children under 14) including numbers on ice skating, sledding and skiing. 775,000 children were treated at the ER for sports related injuries. Winter activities totalled 56,000, making it 7% of the reported ER visit injuries in the U.S.

According to the National SAFE kids campaign, only 38,000 children (under 16) were injured in ATV accidents but I think it's mandatory to wear helmets then. Anyway, my daughter is four and the ice is slick. She wears a skating helmet.

[Qestia]

Originally Posted by Clarinet

Facts about Sports Related Injuries (in children under 14) including numbers on ice skating, sledding and skiing. 775,000 children were treated at the ER for sports related injuries. Winter activities totalled 56,000, making it 7% of the reported ER visit injuries in the U.S.

According to the National SAFE kids campaign, only 38,000 children (under 16) were injured in ATV accidents but I think it's mandatory to wear helmets then. Anyway, my daughter is four and the ice is slick. She wears a skating helmet.

That's niteresting but I couldn't see where those injuries were brkoen into body part, did I miss it? many of them nust be cuts or broken bones, things helmets wouldn't protect against.

I'm not necessarily against these measures for my son--I'm just wondering what will be recommended for --his-- son!

[Clarinet]

Here's more, then:
Comparison of skating related injuries
Ice Skaters more likely to suffer head injuries than roller or inline skaters
Helmets for ice skaters? (this one has a small chart at the top that breaks down the percentage of head injuries in four skating sports)

When you know better, you do better. My daughter inherited her mother's clumsy gene so we will wear helmets while enjoying sports.

[Qestia]

Originally Posted by Clarinet

Here's more, then:
Comparison of skating related injuries
Ice Skaters more likely to suffer head injuries than roller or inline skaters
Helmets for ice skaters? (this one has a small chart at the top that breaks down the percentage of head injuries in four skating sports)

When you know better, you do better. My daughter inherited her mother's clumsy gene so we will wear helmets while enjoying sports.

Thanks. Those show that it makes more sense to wear a helmet skating than rollerblading, still, only 20% of the reported injuries in skaters in two of your links were to the head, only 13% were in I believe your second link. So when people are quoting total figures for people injured while skating, they need to remember that only 1/5 of those injuries were head injuries (which of course are more serious!).

Again, this is still obviously pointing towards the necessity of helmets. I'm just touchy about stats being fully explained.

[oceanbaby]

Originally Posted by maya44

Really? Where do you ski?

The Lake Tahoe area.

[BusyMommy]

I'm not really one for stats b/c I believe they can be manipulated. And, I am about the polar opposite of a micromanaging mother but helmets are one of the battles I pick. And, that's simply b/c of personal experiences. My kids are used to wearing them and have no complaints. Whenever we go to the sledding hill where the girl passed away, I point to the stand of trees and remind them WHY we wear helmets.

Last summer, I saw some boys ride out of their cul-de-sac and toss their bike helmets into the bushes and then race off across a busy street. I hope : that by showing and explaining to my young boys WHY we take certain safety precautions, they'll internalize them.

[bobica]

you ladies rock!!!! I wasn't able to check in with the thread before we went & dh forgot to bring the helmet (he's not so great at the getting out of the house- she didn't have a coat on either : ) she was the ONLY one without a helmet so he ran back home to get it!

i can see how requiring it would open up liability issues, so it makes sense that it wasn't in the paperwork.

the class was fantastic! amazing level skaters teaching the kids (ours won junior nationals when she was 16 ) there had to be 50 kids total split into very small groups at different sections of the rink. dd held onto a safety cone & made it across the width of the rink both ways!!! she was sooo tired (she has low muscle tone) and soooo proud of herself! finally, a physical activity she enjoys!

thanks so much for the input- i typically error on the side of caution anyway, but we had only been skating with me holding her up & not many kids were wearing helmets at open skate. needless to say, dd will be wearing hers at open skate in the future!!!

[maya44]

Originally Posted by oceanbaby

The Lake Tahoe area.

Huh, that's weird!

Maybe you have not gone recently?

We are actually going to the area soon and my travel agent just sent us a packet about our resort with some articles and this was one of them:http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/art...NEWS/101190075

[BusyMommy]

We just got back from skating w/3 classes of kindergartners (oooh where's my drink : ) & it just reinforced my belief in helmets for skating. OMGoodness, the amazingly creative ways they (and their chairs) can wipe out on the ice...

[BusyMommy]

Oh and re: helmets on the slopes, ALL the little kids on our mountain wear helmets. About 50/50 for medium sized skiers and boarders. And, hardly any adults--more boarders than skiers, though.

I watch my dh and our kid zoom through the woods and thank Goodness he's wearing a helmet. I cruise sedately down the groomed tracks w/o one.

[A&A]

Oh yes. Even my 9 yo.

[KaraBoo]

Well, I'm enlightened now. I've never seen children wear helmets for sledding or ice skating or skiing. I never considered it. But I will consider it now. Doesn't mean I will get a helmet but I will definitely think about it. (We don't ski and that, to me, seems the most dangerous...we sled on a little hill in the park and haven't tried ice skating yet but plan to)

[hhurd]

Nope, no helmets ice skating or sledding.

[gret the great]

yes-
My kids wear helmets. Even the toddler in the sled.
I had a concussion as a kid, from an ice skating fall. Ice is hard. And slippery!