So last weekend, throwing caution to the wind, Ray and I decide to take Maia for a ride in the Kid Karriage we received for Christmas last year.
The instructions, of course, require that you use a helmet when you use this carriage. Double Whammy for Maia, who doesn't really care for hats or anything on her head (even hooded towels) for very long (see post title, above!). But a helmet she must have, so I purchase her a toddler-sized one, but struggle to get the straps short enough to keep it on her head. We start by assembling the cart in the living room and giving her time to be intrigued by it. She is eager to get in and play. Great! She even tolerates being strapped in! So we'll take her out and get her used to the helmet. Of course, mommy and daddy model their new helmets too! She tolerates that pretty well while we're in the house, but easily manages to get it off, so we keep trying to get the straps shorter.
So we head out to the bike trails at Millennium Park. We strap Maia in, and put on her helmet. Heading out on the trails, Maia is delighted. The wind is in her face and she is watching the world go by as she bumps along. After a while, she yells because the helmet is over her face. We stop, and fix it. She's a little perturbed we put this helmet back on, but we move on and in no time, she is making happy noises again. Then I catch up with Ray and Maia and find out why: Maia has managed to get the helmet off. So we stop (again) and put the helmet on (again). Here's where the screaming starts. And it's high, and loud and persistent. She's had it. We turn around and head back to the car. Oh well, we didn't expect much for our first trip out.
About 1 minute after we turned back around, the sound of my bike changes, and I look down to see a very flat front tire. We're about 2 miles away from the car. Ray and Maia (who is screaming away) are quite a ways ahead of me at this point, so I have to yell very loudly to catch Ray's attention. He tells me he will go get the car and meet me back at the road. We're rather far away, so I think we're supposed to meet back at the car. Eventually we find each other, but so much for biking (safely) with Maia.
Interestingly, however, we both passed two separate bikers who had similar such bike trailers carrying children within a few months of Maia's age. Neither of these children were wearing helmet, seemed perfectly pleased to be out in the fresh air, and were not rending the air with banshee screams.
So on the way back home, we debate: How vital is that helmet? Is it better to fore go the helmet until she gets over her stroller embargo? She seemed to enjoy the bike ride except for the helmet issue. If we continue with the helmet - there goes one other option to get outside and be active as a family. Or do we force her to wear the helmet and hope that eventually the screaming will stop? Are we horrible parents for even considering taking off the helmet?
So I actually did some research to find out what the research shows on accidents in bike trailers, and eventually found that there isn't any research! I did find an article on ibike that speaks to the issue. And it kind of sounds like we might not be absolutely horrible for thinking about not using the helmet for the bike trailer.
ANYWAY. So I'm thinking "immersion therapy." I'll start taking her for walks in the new bike trailer (which has attachments to make it into a stroller). We take a walk around a single block. She makes it about 75% of the way before she starts with the random frustrated screams. Prior to that time, it would seem she was enjoying herself. So I guess we'll keep trying as I have time to take her for walks, and be grateful that at least she is screaming her head off while we're outside, and not, say, in a restaurant.
Ah, toddlerhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment