Monday, May 19th, 2008
Discuss: Australia’s Slippery Slope to Pudding Cap Mollycoddling
There is a movement underway to make pudding caps mandatory in childcare centers and nursing homes in Australia’s state of Queensland.
You’re probably thinking one of two thoughts. “Oh my, I can’t believe it!” or “Wow! An auto-feeding pudding dispenser built into headgear. Awesome!”
Pudding caps are a hot 18th century invention designed to counteract typical falls toddlers make when learning to walk. I profiled them two years ago in Pudding Caps: Then and Now.
The belief back then was simple â€” fall on your head too many times and your brain becomes pudding. So, parents wrapped their toddlers’ heads in fabric padding.
Today’s inventors take it a step further, recommending “bump caps” for even crawling toddlers.
Yesterday’s Sunday Mail reported that Australia’s Brain Injury Centre is pushing for Queensland to make pudding caps mandatory. The article raises the issue for preschools, playgrounds and junior contact sports. The state’s health director even suggested kindergarten classes.
I tipped you to my perspective by titling this article a “slippery slope.” Consider some factoids from the newspaper article:
- Up to 50,000 people suffer brain injuries each year in Queensland.
- 0.5 percent of victims remain in a vegetative state.
- Toddler skulls take until at least early adolescence to strengthen.
- Researchers in the US have found infant skulls are just one-eighth the strength of an adult skull.
Wow, it starts sounding like a good idea. But wait…
How many of those “up to 50,000″ victims are kids? What is the average rate of brain injury (not an “up to” figure)? What percentage of injuries were actually serious? How will the one referenced bump cap protect a child in, say, a vehicle collision when it doesn’t cover the entire scalp like bike or motorcycle helmets do? The cap is composed of strips or bars of high density foam covered by towel-like fabric.
The newspaper article doesn’t reference road accidents, but wouldn’t road accidents be a leading cause of head injuries?
The Brain Injury Centre has an interesting pie chart on its website showing that brain injuries in Australia and the United States comprise more than 50 percent of… of, well, of what exactly? The pie chart is an odd collection of issues from road deaths and stroke to AIDS and breast cancer. So, among that peculiar selection of issues, brain injury dominates. Okay, how about showing us a pie chart limited to physical injuries? How about pie charts showing toddler-only types and causes of serious injury?
None of my commentary is meant to reflect negatively on Australia’s own Head Bumpa pudding cap or the seriousness of head injuries in children. If a child is prone to frequent falls in the home, or is spitfire on the playground, I would consider such a product in that special situation, a decision made by the parent.
Would I recommend pudding caps for all toddlers because it surely would prevent some injuries? No, not anymore than I would recommend pudding caps for all adults because, that too, would prevent some injuries.
Better yet, eliminate playground equipment that kids climb on. No more slides because kids can fall from slides. No more sports because contact sports are ground zero for childhood injuries. Might as well cut all the low lying limbs off the tree in my front yard, too. Where do you draw the line?
No, seriously, I’m asking you, Thinga-readers, where do you draw the line? What precautions do you, or would you, take when your child is learning to walk, playing outside or riding a bike? OK, yeah, my daughter does have a bike helmet.
Also see a competing article on the same news website, but from a different newspaper within the media company: Parents warned on mollycoddling children.