Ensuring the proper fit of your child’s riding helmet is crucial for their safety and comfort. To guarantee a secure fit, it’s recommended to have your child fitted by a professional at a reputable retailer. Trained staff can accurately measure your child’s head and provide guidance on selecting the appropriate helmet size. The right fit is essential to ensure that the helmet stays securely in place during rides and adequately protects against potential impacts. At Champion, our authorised retailers are equipped with the knowledge to assist you in finding the ideal size for your junior rider, making the helmet-buying process a seamless and reassuring experience.

Once you’ve found the perfect helmet, it’s imperative to regularly check and maintain its condition. A properly fitted helmet should sit snugly on your child’s head without being too tight or too loose. It’s essential to confirm that the chin strap is securely fastened, and the helmet does not shift when your child moves. Additionally, keeping the helmet in good condition is vital for its effectiveness. Helmets should be replaced after any significant fall or impact to ensure continued protection. Following safety guidelines and replacing helmets when necessary ensures that your child remains as safe as possible, providing peace of mind for both parents and young riders alike.

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Use our Stockist Locator to find your local Champion retailer. All retail partners are trained to fit helmets and will be happy to advise you on the best Champion helmet for you or your child.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Which helmet should I choose for my baby or toddler?

Helmets for infants & toddlers

Infants (0-1 year) and Toddlers (1-3 years) are at an early stage of their development and during this time there are several aspects to consider when choosing to buy a helmet for your child. Champion provides the following guidance, however, as there are currently no official rules, laws, guidelines or conclusive research on the matter, it is at the parent’s discretion if their child wears a helmet or takes part in activities with the associated risk.  

There are two areas to consider when making this decision; the helmet in relation to the head, and the helmet in relation to the neck:

Head Injuries

The spaces between a typical infant’s skull bones are filled with flexible material and called sutures. These sutures allow the skull to grow as the baby’s brain grows. Around two years of age, a child’s skull bones begin to join together because the sutures become bone (NHS). According to experts, as with most bones in our body, the skull grows during childhood and adolescence, and it typically completes its growth around the age of 18-25 years. 

The head forms involved in testing for equestrian safety standards are designed around an adult’s head and are a solid mass, very much different to a child’s. Although Champion helmets meet and exceed the current safety standards, they are designed for an average user of a much older age. The effectiveness of a helmet designed to this standard on an infant or toddler is unknown and would depend on the strength and weight of the child’s head. 

Neck Injuries

The second question is whether the neck can support the head with the added weight of a helmet, as neck muscles will not have fully developed yet. There is also reason to assume that added weight could cause injury or issue to development if the neck is not ready to carry the added weight. To our knowledge, no studies have investigated neck muscle mechanics throughout development, so it is at the parent’s discretion to assess the individual child’s ability to wear an item of safety equipment, taking into account their frame, muscle development and capability.

Fitting a helmet for an infant or toddler

Champion advises that everyone should be fitted in-store by a trained professional when purchasing a safety helmet. It is at the parent’s discretion whether they would like their child to ride and when fitting infants and toddlers for a riding helmet, the following things should be considered: 

  • If the child cannot keep their head upright, we advise that the child should not bear the weight of a helmet.
  • If the child can keep their head upright, but cannot when wearing a helmet, then they should not wear a helmet.
  • If the child becomes fatigued after wearing the helmet for several minutes, then they should not wear a helmet.
  • Our stance as a safety-first company is that nobody should ride without a riding helmet, and if the child cannot wear a helmet for the above reasons, the parent should consider whether they should ride at all until they are at a point where they can wear a riding helmet.
How often should I replace my child's hat?

A child’s helmet should be replaced as soon as possible if the helmet does not fit them or if there has been an impact to the helmet. If there has been no impact and the helmet fits the child well, helmets should be replaced once every three years as standard, or once every year if the child is riding multiple times a day. This is because of general wear and tear to the helmet and subsequently the protective foam that lines the shell.

I have an old helmet at home, will it do for the time being?

Champion advises that everyone rides a horse whilst wearing a correctly fitting helmet that meets the current safety standards. If you do not know the condition of the helmet or if the protective foam has been compromised by a drop or fall, you are putting yourself or your child at risk by wearing it. If a helmet is older than three years old, the protective foam could have issues due to general wear and tear, and it would be safer to wait until a new helmet is purchased. Riding helmets are designed as single-use PPE and once the foam has taken an impact, the foam cannot offer the same protection in that area again.

Should I buy a helmet for my child to grow into?

Interestingly, the human head grows at a very slow pace after the age of three years old, when it will have reached 90% of its adult size. The head will then reach 95% by the time the child is 9 years old, and will finish growing at around the age of 20 years old. So it’s not like buying a pair of shoes or clothing.

Firstly, a helmet performs best when it is correctly fitted, and to buy a helmet for a child to grow into would risk their safety in the time until their head grows. Secondly, it can be assumed from research that it is unlikely the child will grow into a helmet quickly, if at all (depending on their age) and therefore that period of risk is prolonged.

Can I pad out a helmet with newspaper or foam to make it fit?

Whilst it may seem like a good solution, additional padding from materials like newspaper will still allow the helmet to slip and it is unlikely that the helmet will fit correctly against other parts of the head, like the crown for example. Helmets that are too large can cause injuries such as a broken nose if there is an impact to the back of the head when the helmet slips forward. We advise that a helmet that meets the current safety standards is professionally fitted by a trained retail advisor.