How to Choose a Bike Helmet for a Child

When you’re choosing a helmet, focus primarily on ensuring the correct fit. “A poor fit will impact the protection a helmet can provide,” says Angela K. Lumba-Brown, MD, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Stanford Health Care in California and an expert on brain injury. “It can also make a helmet uncomfortable and therefore less likely to be used.”

The best way to find the right size is to take your child to a bike shop and have them try on helmets so you can see what fits best because a good fit is essential for protection, says Susan Booth, who oversees bike helmet testing for Consumer Reports. If you choose to buy online, Lumba-Brown suggests measuring your child’s head with flexible measuring tape about an inch above the eyebrows before choosing a size. 

Most helmets come equipped with a hard outer shell and shock-absorbing foam on the inside. Some helmets also contain a retention system designed to minimize rotational impact, a type of force that can lead to concussions. (Find out more about the types of helmets that can help prevent concussions.)

You should also consider ventilation, one of the features that CR assesses in our helmet testing. Good airflow is probably more important for older kids who may be going out for longer-distance rides.

If you have younger, squirmy kids, ease of adjustability—signified by the score for fit adjustments and ease of use in our ratings—is critical. The dial on the back of the helmet should be large enough to grab and easily turn. 

The kids’ helmets in our ratings range from $20 to $100. But don’t get too hung up on price. All helmets sold in the U.S. have to meet standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, says John Galeotafiore, associate director of product testing at Consumer Reports, so inexpensive or poorly rated ones should still offer minimum levels of protection. Counterfeit helmets that don’t meet federal safety standards are sometimes available for sale online, however, CR has found. So consider purchasing a helmet from your local bike shop or a trusted online retailer, such as REI or Performance Bicycle. 

Once you choose a helmet, keep an eye on how it fits over time. You can tell it’s getting too small if your child has a hard time getting it all the way on or if it exposes the child’s entire forehead or is tilted backward. The front edge of the helmet should sit an inch above the eyebrows, covering the forehead well.

Helmets should always be replaced after an impact, even if you don’t see any visible damage. And if your child is older and not outgrowing helmets as quickly as a younger child might, a well-used helmet should still be replaced approximately every five years because the protective foam can become brittle over time.

As a rule, enforce helmet-wearing even when your child is riding on the sidewalk or in a driveway. “Bike injuries don’t just happen in a direct collision with a car,” Lumba-Brown says. “The child can get out of control when they make a quick turn.”

One of the best ways to help kids understand the importance of wearing a helmet is to wear one yourself, Lumba-Brown says. A CDC study published in 2016 found that 90 percent of children reported always wearing helmets when their parents always wore helmets, too—but that number dropped precipitously among kids whose parents didn’t wear helmets or wore them inconsistently.

It can also help, Booth says, to involve your child in the helmet-shopping process. Let them have a say in the color and style because the most important thing is that they’re willing to wear it consistently.

Along with ensuring proper fit and habitual helmet-wearing, Galeotafiore says there’s one rule to follow when you’re gearing up for a bike ride. “You want to make sure with any helmet, you never cause the buckle to pinch the skin,” he says. “Otherwise, they’re never going to want to wear the helmet ever again.”

Digital and All Access members can also see our full ratings of youth helmets.