If you are anything like me then you will let your baby crawl around the house in nothing but a diaper when it’s hot.
Why?
Because my baby is an absolute wiggle monster who puts up one hell of a fight when I try to get him to wear pants. So much so that I am convinced he was a professional wrestler in a past life.
If I am just staying at home it’s much easier to let him go pants free, especially when they would just have to come off each time I need to change his diaper than it.
Besides:
There is nothing cuter than watching your little baby’s diapered booty wiggling back and forth as he scoots across the floor.
But there is one thing you have to watch out for:
Bloody knees.
A hard or rough floor can quickly bloody or bruise your baby’s knees as he crawls a few laps around your living room.
Because your baby’s skin is so soft and delicate it does not take much to mark it. Floors like marble and concrete pose a particular problem. Even carpet can rub your baby’s skin red raw. If you have ever had rug burn you will know just how much it sucks.
While your baby may not immediately realize just how sore his knees are, just wait until bath time. When those red and render knees hit the warm bath water your baby will definitely cry with pain.
So how do you stop this from happening?
We put shoes on our baby to protect their feet but for some reason do not bother with their knees. Fortunately, there are a great range of knee protection products designed to keep your baby’s knees safe and comfortable while crawling around.
Knee protection is great for special needs children whether your baby has:
Or other disabilities, knee protection is a must. Slow developers who continue to crawl for a longer period than the average baby also benefit from knee protection.
But it’s not just crawlers that benefit from knee pads. If your toddler is just learning to walk then chances are he will keep falling over, banging his knees on the floor. Knee will provide your little ones knees with a soft place to land each and every time he takes a tumble.
There are two different types of baby knee protection products available. They are as close to knee shoes as you will get:
1. Baby leg warmers
Baby leg warmers are essentially long socks with out feet. Yes, this means that leg warmers only provide as much knee protection as a thick sock.
There are numerous problems with using leg warmers as knee protection:
1. Less protection than knee pads: While they provide enough protection across wooden floors, you may still find that harder floors such as marble or concrete will bruise your little ones knees.
2. Can be slippery: Leg warmers also have the problem of slipping on smoother floors like marble. Your baby will look like he is dong the running man dance.
3. Often slide down: Unless the leg warmers sit incredibly tight you will find that they slide down your baby’s legs as he crawls around. If the leg warmers are not covering your baby’s knees then they certainly not protecting them.
If you want the best knee protection for your baby then you are better off going with:
2. Baby knee pads
For those of you with very unfriendly floors, baby knee pads are your best bet. The knees area is made of a thick padded material and provides your baby’s knees with the maximum protection possible.
Crawling in knee pads will take some getting used to since the extra padding on the knees places your baby’s legs at a slightly higher than usual position when crawling. Fortunately, the learning curve is fairly low and before long your baby will be scooting across even the roughest of terrain without cutting his knees.
There is just one thing I need to cover before moving on. That is sizing. The range of sizes that baby knee pads come in is fairly limited.
While this wont be a problem if your baby is an average size, mine was what you would call an absolute chunker. You know those babies that you can pass off as a 9 year old when they are a little over three months? Yeah that was mine. Unfortunately he also had incredibly chubby legs.
These chubby legs did not agree with knee pads. When I slide the knee pads over his legs I noticed they were cutting off his circulation. Instead of protecting his little knee’s I was actually hurting them!
The same problem seems to occur with smaller than average babies as well:
Glenda says:
While I liked the idea of knee pads for babies, The result was less than pleasing. The kneepads kept slipping off my baby’s legs which are as thin as a stick insect’s.
Now If I caught Glenda when she was having these problems I could have told her a handy hint:
Wrist sweat bands are a great way to add thickness to your baby’s thin legs. The added thickness will help stop the knee pads from sliding down your baby’s skinny legs.
I am not trying to scare you off of knee pads. Many parents swear by them and with good reason; for the right baby they are a great solution for scraped knees. I just want to warn you of the dramas that you may face if your baby is anything but average sized.
Snazzy Baby have been developing knee pads for babies for quite some time. With over a decade of experience, Snazzy baby makes one of the best baby knee pads available.
The knee pads themselves are made from a comfortable but extremely durable neoprene. Easy to clean (they are even machine washable) these knee pads have been designed to be incredibly long wearing.
And long wearing they will need to be, Snazzy Baby claims that your child can wear these kneepads from 4 months to 4 years. Great if you plan on using knee pads throughout your baby’s early years. Holding the knee pads in my hand the stitching seems strong and the material good quality. These knee pads may just go the distance.
The knee pads are secured with Velcro straps that loop through an elastic band. The straps are adjustable. As your baby gets bigger (and this happens fast) you can adjust the straps so that the knee pads still fit comfortably. And they will fit comfortably. The straps loop through an elastic band giving your baby complete freedom of movement as he moves his legs in different directions.
If you look closely at the front of the knee pad you will notice small beads. While they may look a bit funny, they actually help your baby stick to the floor like bubble gum. The beads provide tractions so that your baby wont slip and slide all over your floor.
Kneekers are another popular brand of knee protection for babies. Instead of strapping to your baby’s knees, Kneekers slide over your baby’s leg in the similar way to a sock. Elastic at the top and bottom of the “knee sock” prevents the knee pad from sliding up and down as your baby crawls.
Because Kneekers slide over your baby’s leg, they will not fit your baby for a long period of time like the Snazzy Baby strap-on style above. However, if you are only looking for knee protection for while your baby is at the crawling stage then this is hardly an issue.
Holding Kneekers in your hand they feel like a regular sock, the key difference being that there is extra padding sewn into the area that sits on top of your baby’s knee that is more than thick enough to protect little knees from being skinned.
Like a regular sock the Kneekers are not only machine washable but also dryer safe. Being able to throw these through the wash with the rest of your baby’s clothes is a huge time saver.
My only gripe with this style of knee pad is that it is a “one size fits most”. Not all. Most. Like I mentioned earlier in the article, if your baby is too far either side of average then your little one will have difficulty wearing them.
If you wanted something a little more bright and colorful then perhaps your would prefer:
My only gripe with this style of knee pad is that it is a “one size fits most”. Not all. Most. Like I mentioned earlier in the article, if your baby is too far either side of average then your little one will have difficulty wearing them.
Now I don’t exactly know what happy knees look like but if I had to guess I would say:
Bright, colorful and fun.
It looks like Bella Tunno thinks the exact same thing. Their line of baby knee pads by the same name come in a wide variety of funky colors and patterns.
If you like choice then you will be pleased to know that happy Knees are available in over 10 different designs, all with super fun names. If you have a boy or a girl you will definitely be able to find a design to go with your little ones outfit (or lack of). My favorite were the “cotton candy dandy”.
Like the Kneekers these simply slide over your baby’s legs. The padding sewn over the area where your baby’s knee will go is more than thick enough to protect him from cuts and bruises.
And that brings me to the end of my guide on baby knee pads. While they wont be suitable for every baby, there is no denying that they can be very usefull in certain situations.
What are your thoughts on knee pads for babies; another pointless gimmick or a the best thing to happen to your baby’s knees?
I would love to hear your experience.
You know the drill: Leave me any questions, wisdom, love or hate in the comments below and as always . . .
Keep being awesome!
Featured Image Source: Flickr
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