I’m not saying you’re going to scar little Z for life (heck, the helmet is adorable), but I think it’s time for a little bit of intervention:

Looking at that helmet, the chances it will save Z from a permanently debilitating or fatal injury are near-zero, and not just because that’s an incredibly rare thing to happen to kids. On the other hand, you may well be teaching your child that all those usual bumps and bruises of childhood DON’T have painful consequences, so he’s going to be less risk-aware than normal kids.

Here, I’ll really freak you out: that helmet looks bigger than his head, and not very tight fitting. One of these days he’s going to run around the playground, and for some reason he’ll get that helmet caught on the edge of a potrusion that would have missed his head and it’s going to give him a neck injury.

BTW, falls are way less serious for children Z’s age than for adults because their bones are softer, they are lighter, and the falls are much shorter. It would be very hard for your kid to fall from a standing height and sustain a permanent head injury.

If I sound like I’m trying to mess with you, I’m really not. But I am trying to point out that most people are very bad at properly analyzing which risks in their lives actually matter. There was, you know, a book that covered the subject of faulty risk-analysis, among others.

Are you a bad parent? You’re just being a parent. I don’t think I would buy the thudguard, but I think it would just be natural instinct for me to protect my kids (when I have them!).

Sure they fell down, but even if they bumped into something that wasn’t padded, or bumped their head, or whatever, they survived. Kids are amazingly resilient.

But a little bit over protective.

Remember when we were young? Our parents let us do all sorts of crazy stuff..play on merry-go-rounds, jungle gyms, ride our bikes without helmets, roller skate without pads..

I think we turned out ok.

My kids never wore a helmet when learning to walk. A few bumps and scrapes were all that came out of it. Remember..kids don’t have that far to fall! Thudguard now..what’s next, a leash to keep him from running away when he finally learns to run? At what point do you stop protecting them from the world around them…and let them learn things from ‘mistakes’? Some parents say NEVER. Others have a more liberal approach..

We all want to protect our kids, I have no doubt you are doing it out of love..what you do is YOUR decision. Our opinions don’t and shouldn’t count.

Besides..he looks adorable.