Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability in children. The most common causes of TBI in children: falls. One cause of the frequency of toddler head injuries is that the toddler’s head is his center of gravity, proportionally larger than the rest of his body, and hence can easily propel him forward or backward. As parents we want to give our babies and toddlers freedom to explore their new world. But we also want to protect our toddler’s head in the process. We wonder whether all the bumps, falls, tumbles, and “mild” head injuries are serious, or could be serious long term, especially when our child gets up and keeps going.
The short answer to that is: Yes.
Traumatic brain injury during the first 3 years of life is completely different when compared with adults. Children are not young adults. The scalp in children is highly vascularized [developing many blood vessels]. Even a small loss of blood volume can lead to hemorrhagic shock in a newborn, infant, and toddler, which may occur without apparent external bleeding.
Childhood brain injuries, including concussions, are associated with an increased risk of subsequent mental illness, poor school attainment and premature death, according to a new study.
People who had experienced a single mild, moderate or severe brain injury during childhood were at twice the risk of being admitted to hospital as a mental health inpatient and were 50% more likely to use a mental health service than unaffected people in the same age group.
Many studies indicate far-reaching and long-term consequences of child head injury. And thus reinforces what we knew already — that prevention is key. It is easier to prevent head injury than to cure or recover from head injury.
The challenge is to protect the toddler’s head in a comfortable and effective manner that addresses the unique and critical head safety needs of small children. Protective Headgear for small children must be very comfortable, very lightweight, custom-fitting so it does not slide around, have full head coverage and of course, been proven safety effective in absorbing impact energy from a bump or fall.
Those crucial criteria are found in Plum Enterprises’s ProtectaCap®, the protective headgear specifically engineered and designed to meet the critical head safety needs of babies, toddlers and small children. More information can be found on ProtectaCap.com.
