Helmets for Sledding

we don't get a lot of snow in Georgia!! With my boys? I think I would have them wear helmets. They wear helmets for biking and skateboarding. I don't care if other kids make fun of them. I don't want my kids being a statistic.

Mine do. We use bike helmets. The more we learn about the lasting effects of head trauma, the more sense it makes to me. This is not over-caution - this is basic safety.

And since I require it of my children, I wear a helmet, too. After all, my brain is worth saving as well, middle-aged and mom-tired though it is.

I would look for a snowboarding helmet.

A junior in high school here in MN just died last night from a sledding accident. http://www.bringmethenews.com/2014/01/01/high-school-athl...

Here is a summation of the numbers of injuries, and head injuries, caused by sledding.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40479252/ns/health-childrens_he...

Even older kids should wear them. My daughter's friend (seventh grader) got a concussion a few weeks ago while sledding. If he'd had a helmet on it might not have happened. He's lucky-- He's OK now but ended up missing a good bit of school, having to stay pretty much still and quiet for days on end, seeing specialists etc. and he's going to have to get checkups for a while to come. Sledding (or biking or skiing or whatever) is not worth the risk of doing it without some simple, basic protection. They have to wear helmets while biking -- it seems to make sense to do it sledding, which involves less control than biking and more elements like unpredictable speeds etc.

Go to a sports specialty store to talk to them about helmets. You should never, ever put anything like a cap or hat under a bike helmet -- they are designed to fit extremely snugly to the head without anything else between the helmet and the head. There are specialty helmets for skiing and those might be the right ones for sledding too, maybe.

My husband showed me a photo of one of the olympic goalies wearing a beanie over his helmet. That way it covered the holes in the helmet.

A ski/snowboarding helmet should do it. My daughter took her bike helmet to ski camp and the snowboarding helmets were better.

They didn't but that's a great Idea, they wear them for Horse back riding, biking, skating so why not sledding. I'll remember this for my Grandkids.

I never have...

It might not be a bad idea at all for young kids, who don't know how to keep themselves balanced well on a sled...

I think I might with somewhat older kids if you go somewhere where there are a TON of kids, if the snow is very hard packed (turned to ice), or if the kid will be picking up lot of speed. other than that, I wouldn't bother. We used to go to a hill (well, actually it was a pit...) where at any given time there were at least 30 kids. Some would build jumps and be pretty wild... but for the most part, it wasn't (too) dangerous. I think that in my entire childhood, I only knew of one or two kids who actually got injured sledding without safety equipment. (that is including my 13 siblings, and all of their friends too... With snow on the ground from Oct-March we did quite a bit of sledding.)

I think a skateboard/ski style helmet would work better if you have to go out and buy one. (The kind that kind of goes behind the head, and is rounder instead of the traditional bike helmet.) If you already have bike helmets, just go with that.

I would put a thin cap under the helmet, along with an earwarmer (the kind that is pretty much a cap with no top...) to keep the ears warm.

If you are going somewhere with trees or bushes... goggles might not be a bad idea. I narrowly avoided more eye injuries than skull injuries sledding! lol. (jk.)

i didn't make my kids wear helmets when they were little fellows tobogganing in the neighborhood, but in retrospect it's a good idea. i mean, they never got on a bike or a pony without a helmet.
i do think modern kids are WAY bubblewrapped, but some of yesteryear's casual habits should be done away with.
khairete
S.

my kids don't wear helmets when sledding. I'm sure they should, but they don't.

If they wore a helmet - I would put a beanie OVER the helmet.

The few times we've been, yes, they have. A ski kind.

My youngest wears a hockey helmet and my oldest wears a snowboarding helmet. You can get them at Target for not that much and they are warm inside so you don't need a hat. We have a thin beanie type liner that we use under the hockey helmet if needed. Rarely see other kids with helmets but as long as mine are willing to wear (and like to try snowboarding) they will be wearing them. Knew someone who's son was in a sledding accident so not taking chances.

My kids don't wear them for regular tobogganing, but they do wear them for ice tubing. The wear the multi-sport type helmets for that.

Absolutely! Even if no one else is wearing them, start a trend and raise awareness! You can use a helmet specific to snow sports but a bike helmet works fine too. If the bike helmet has some of those foam inserts that help it fit snugly, sometimes you can take them out (usually attached with velcro) to make room for a warm winter hat. The winter hat doesn't have to be super thick to do the job especially with a helmet on top. Mostly you want the ears covered.

It's also better to use a neck warmer (donut-style) than a scarf with long ends - that applies to sledding but also to general safety on a school or public playground - long scarf ends get caught in playground equipment and even under sled runners.

Remind kids to always sled down the middle of the hill but walk up the sides. They try to save a few steps by walking up the most dangerous section of the hill. And watch the parent spectators at the bottom of the hill as well as the kids who just finished their run - there's a lot of standing around and chatting about how cool the last run was, with no regard to the next toboggan or saucer coming down the hill. A friend of mine had a nasty collarbone break because she turned her back on the sledders, and someone just took her out (the sleds with no steering are the worst, but a lot of kids don't know how to steer anyway).

I did have helmets for my kids when they were skiing. I WISH I'd had a helmet for my son when he was sledding all those years ago, when he ended up cracking his head and having to have staples in it to close an inch and a half gash...

I went to a ski shop to buy my kids' ski helmets. That way I would know that they would fit properly and would be the right ones. Considering people have serious accidents skiing, I think it's the right thing to do.

Not usually, but I do try to get them to wear helmets. They are older now and it's hard to get teenagers to do that. When my younger son had post-concussive syndrome from hockey concussions two years ago I forced him to wear a helmet. He used a helmet designed for downhill skiing. They have a warm lining.

I was also going to post about the teenager just killed in MN this week sledding, but I see someone else did. Horrible and scary.

where my kids sled there is nothing but hill and snow, and other kids I guess. So I feel their hat and coat hood will cushion enough.