What helmet size do children need? Easily find the right bicycle helmet!

Before we determine the appropriate helmet size for your children, let's clarify a fundamental question: When do children need to wear a bicycle helmet? Simple answer... actually always, when they are on the bike or on the balance bike. Even if they are not riding themselves but are in a child trailer, a child seat, or riding along in a cargo bike, their head should have suitable protection!

Also an exciting question: How do you get your kids to actually wear the helmet? It definitely helps if your child has a helmet that they find "cool," and with the wide selection of children's helmets available on the market today, you are sure to find one that visually satisfies your daughter or son.

But almost more important is an optimal fit! Therefore, the helmet size must absolutely fit the child! If it is too small, it will chafe and press - and your child will refuse to wear it. If it is too large, it will slide away in a crash and not adequately protect the head.

Let's get started - find the right children's helmet!

Here we have a simple step-by-step guide for you that will help you determine the right helmet size for children. Afterwards, there are further tips for choosing a safe bicycle helmet for your child.

How to measure a child's bicycle helmet size

The most important step in buying a suitable children's helmet is measuring the head circumference, as the helmet size is derived from it.

To determine the helmet size you need:

• a measuring tape
• or a string and a ruler

Here's how to proceed:

1. Especially important for toddlers: Choose a time when your child is in a good mood. If necessary, you must provide distraction so that they stay calm and you can measure the head.
2. Place the string or measuring tape around the child's head.
3. The measuring tape should fit loosely, not cut in or hang loose.
4. The measuring tape should sit about one centimeter above the eyebrows and be guided horizontally around the head.
   
   

5. If you use a measuring tape, you can read the head circumference directly
6. If you used a string, remember the spot where the string ends meet and measure the length with the ruler.

Now you can directly start looking for a helmet in the appropriate size.

What helmet sizes are available for children's helmets?

Children's helmets are available in sizes like "45-49cm" or "49-53cm". The helmet size corresponds to the head circumference in cm, so if you measured 52 cm, you need a helmet that fits this measurement. You would need to buy our example helmet in the second size.

Helmets can be adjusted in size and therefore usually cover a certain range (about 5 cm head circumference).

Only a few manufacturers still specify sizes like S, M, or L. Mostly you will find size in centimeters in the selection menu. If the measurement doesn't seem to fit, you can visit the products of another manufacturer, as the sizes are not always the same.

Your child is exactly between two helmet sizes

If the head circumference is exactly between two helmet sizes, you can buy the larger helmet. It can usually be adjusted. If your child wants a helmet without an adjustment system (e.g. a skate helmet) you should order both helmets for safety and try them on at your leisure to see which fits better.

This is how the children's helmet sits correctly on the head

A rule of thumb applies to all bicycle helmets: The lower edge of the helmet should be parallel to the ground. This means that the fit of the helmet moves with the sitting position. The lower a cyclist sits, the further the helmet is worn on the neck. This adjustment is important because it ensures that the field of vision is not impaired by the helmet. Depending on the shape of the head, the sitting position can also change the circumference you need to measure!
Since smaller children usually sit very upright on the bike, the head circumference shown at the top of our graphic is usually the right one. Older children may sit more bent over, which also changes the helmet's position!

How to adjust the children's helmet to the right size

You can usually adjust a bicycle helmet, but this does not work with skate helmets and full-face helmets.

Adjust adhesive pads

Especially with children's helmets, pads in different thicknesses are often supplied. They are attached with Velcro fasteners in the helmet, you can simply try out which ones fit most comfortably and then attach them in the helmet.

Adjust head ring

In the second step, put the helmet on your child and turn the wheel at the back of the neck, so the holding system of the head ring inside the helmet closes or widens. It should not press, but if your child shakes their head, it should also not fall off, even with open straps.

Sometimes (but more often with helmets for adults) you can move the distance of the head ring to the lower edge of the helmet. This way you can adjust the helmet even more individually.

Image © Fox Racing

Adjusting the strap

Some helmets have a clamp that holds the front and rear strap together, it is adjusted first. The two straps should form a triangle around the ears, but leave about 1 cm of space to the ear.

In other helmets, these straps are sewn fixed. Then this step is omitted.

Now the width of the chin strap is adjusted. Close the clasp and adjust the length of the strap until there is still space for two fingers between the chin and the strap.

Finally, the end of the strap is pinned down - done!

Since the holders on the ears and also the closure of the chin strap tend to loosen over time, you should check the correct fit of the children's helmet from time to time.

Image © Fox Racing

What helmet size fits children at what age?

Right away - as with clothing or bicycles, it is somewhat difficult to choose the children's helmet just by age.

• Children grow at different rates, the body size (and thus the helmet size) on certain key dates can vary significantly. It usually doesn't work to buy according to the motto "On the tenth birthday, helmet size XY fits."
• People, whether big or small, can vary greatly in their proportions. This applies not only to the body, each of us also has our own head... and it can be larger or smaller, elongated or wide, round or narrow, and thus require a completely different helmet size than expected.
• Finally, growth spurts make it difficult to predict the appropriate size at a certain time. Perhaps it has happened to you that you bought shoes for your child and a week later they were too small? A growth spurt then threw a wrench in your plans! Fortunately, this is rarely the case with bicycle helmets, as they are almost always adjustable in size. But with a growth spurt, the helmet size can change almost "overnight"!

Instead of relying on age specifications, it is always safer to measure the child's head before buying a bicycle helmet!

Nevertheless, many helmet manufacturers provide age specifications or recommendations on which helmet fits at what age, and they are usually a good guide. But they do not replace the exact measurement of the appropriate helmet size!

Age	up to 3 years	2 to 5 years	4 to 9 years	7 to 12 years	from 12 years
Head circumference in cm	44-49 cm	46-52 cm	51-58 cm	55-60 cm	52-65 cm
Helmet size	XS	S	S/M	M	Adult helmets

At the overlaps, you can see how inaccurate the division of helmet size by the child's age is! Measuring is always better!

How do you notice that the helmet size is changing?

Little girls and boys quickly become big girls and boys, and the head naturally grows with them.
At some point, the helmet would no longer fit properly on the head, but you should ideally not let it come to that!

Here are some signs that the helmet no longer fits properly:

• Smaller children may not yet be able to specifically name that the helmet is pressing! They simply don't want to put it on.
• Watch for pressure marks on the sides of the head or on the forehead.
• The chin strap is difficult to close or cuts in.
• The child sweats more and more under the helmet because the helmet's ventilation no longer works properly.

If you notice that the helmet no longer fits properly, you can adjust the helmet width and the fit of the retention straps. If one of these (or both) has reached its limit, it's time for the next helmet size!

Why is the right size so important for a children's helmet?

Sure, you can strap any helmet onto a child's head. But that doesn't do your child any favors.

If the helmet size is too large for your child, the helmet does not sit well on the head. It slips, and often in front of the eyes, which restricts vision and becomes dangerous. If the children's helmet slips off the head during a fall, it cannot protect the head, and the consequences can be fatal.

If the children's helmet is too small, it presses and chafes. Your child will then (rightfully) refuse to wear the helmet at all.

Conclusion: If the helmet size is not correct, the helmet cannot efficiently protect a child's head, even if it meets the required standards or includes safety technology like MIPS.

Does the shape of the children's helmet also matter, aside from the helmet size?

There are children's helmets in all possible variants, even full-face helmets are already available in small sizes. They come with or without a visor, in all colors, with patterns or more neutrally designed. Basically, it doesn't matter if children wear a more neutral all-round helmet, want a mini MTB helmet, or prefer a skate helmet. If you let your child choose for themselves, the chance is greater that they will wear the helmet without protest, which is the most important criterion!

Skate helmets on the bike?

If a helmet in skater look meets the required standard for children's helmets DIN EN 1080, it can be worn on the bike. However, these helmets often cannot be adjusted in width because they lack the necessary “interior”. In that case, you have to measure the helmet size particularly accurately so that the helmet fits!

The big exception: the full-face helmet

A full-face helmet is mega cool, so it's no wonder that many kids would like to have one.
However, full-face helmets are relatively heavy and therefore more of a burden than good protection for smaller children. Full-face helmets usually cannot be adjusted and adapted to the correct size. A full-face helmet covers part of the face, because only in this way can nothing worse happen in mountain biking accidents. The problem with this: the helmet restricts the all-round view and often also impairs hearing. The mini biker no longer notices anything happening on the sides. In the terrain, the advantages may outweigh the disadvantages, but on the way to kindergarten, this is dangerous!

Special helmets like full-face helmets are particularly cool, but rather unsuitable for everyday use on a children's bike! Image © 100%

What helmet size does your child need in winter (with a hat)?

Many children also ride their bikes to school or their balance bikes to kindergarten in winter, so of course a helmet should be worn even in the cold. To ensure the ears don't get cold underneath, it's necessary that a hat fits under the helmet.

This is how a children's bike helmet works in winter with a hat:

A thin hat can usually be worn under a helmet without any problems, provided the helmet size allows it. Special helmet hats in small sizes are particularly recommended here because they are thin yet windproof. They are often even water-repellent and therefore particularly well-suited for the cold season. If the temperatures are not too frosty, a headband may also suffice. or a multifunctional scarf. However, you should make sure that the headband cannot slip into your child's face and obstruct their view.

By the way, the hat is often the reason why a larger helmet is bought. Many parents notice in the fall that no hat fits under the children's helmet and then start looking for a new one. We recommend keeping the smaller helmet over the winter, because in the spring and without a hat, it might fit again.

Another tip: Many children like to ride with a cap under the helmet even in summer. However, baseball caps are often made of quite rigid material, which means that the bike helmet no longer fits properly. It tilts, floats too high above the head, the straps no longer fit... and thus the helmet can no longer protect properly. So it's better to take off the cap and then put on the helmet, that's how head protection works optimally!

Now you find the right bike helmet for your child...

... and it is well secured on the children's bike on the go. However, especially younger kids do have the occasional fall, here's another parent tip: bike gloves for children often prevent more serious injuries! By the way, children tend to wear their helmet with less fuss if parents set a good example and never get on the bike without one. Here are the adult helmets...

Cover image © Rascal