Best kids bike helmets with MIPS

MIPS is a low-friction layer between the shell and your child's head that lets the shell rotate a few millimetres in an angled impact. It is worth having. It is not worth having in a helmet that fits badly, because fit is the variable that changes outcomes most — so size first, MIPS second.

The four MIPS helmets, by head size

What MIPS actually does

A standard helmet is tested against a straight-down impact. Real crashes are angled, and an angled impact spins the head as well as compressing it. MIPS is a slip-plane liner that allows 10 to 15 mm of relative movement between the shell and the head, which reduces some of the rotational energy transferred in that fraction of a second.

It is a genuine improvement, not a marketing sticker. It is also not a separate safety certification — every helmet legally sold for cycling in the US already meets CPSC 16 CFR 1203, MIPS or not. The full explanation is on MIPS helmets explained.

Where MIPS stops mattering: fit

A MIPS helmet that sits on the back of the head, or rocks forward when you push the front, protects less than a plain helmet that fits properly. Head circumference is the number that decides fit, and it has nothing to do with age.

Measure with a soft tape about an inch above the eyebrows, buy the shell whose published range contains that number, then check the fit on the head: two fingers above the eyebrows, a V around the ears, and one finger under the chin strap.

MIPS at toddler sizes is genuinely hard to find

Most MIPS helmets start at a youth head size, which is why only two of these four fit a small toddler. The Giro Scamp's XS covers 45 to 49 cm and carries the CPSC certification that explicitly covers age 1 and up with extended rear coverage. The Nutcase Baby Nutty is a single 47 to 50 cm shell with MIPS and a magnetic buckle.

Both are genuinely small. Both also have a short useful life for exactly that reason — a one-size 47 to 50 cm shell is a year, maybe eighteen months. There is more on the toddler-specific problem on best toddler bike helmets.

The non-MIPS alternative worth knowing about

MIPS is the best-known rotational system, not the only one. Lazer's KinetiCore builds the rotational protection into the EPS foam itself rather than adding a separate liner, which is why the Lazer Nutz KinetiCore is 250 g — the lightest helmet in our registry — with 12 vents. It is not a MIPS helmet and we have not put it on this page for that reason, but if you are choosing on weight and ventilation it belongs on your shortlist. It is on best kids bike helmets.

Replace it after a crash, MIPS or not

EPS foam works by crushing, and crushed foam does not come back. A MIPS liner does not change that — one meaningful impact and the helmet is finished, whatever it looks like from outside. The rest of the replacement rules are on when to replace a kids helmet.

What we would actually buy

For toddlers and preschoolers: the Giro Scamp MIPS. The XS covers 45 to 49 cm, the S covers 49 to 53, and the CPSC certification explicitly covers age 1 and up with extended rear coverage.

For the helmet they will actually wear: the Nutcase Little Nutty MIPS, in Toddler (48–52 cm) or Youth (52–56 cm). It runs warm, and a helmet a child picks themselves is a helmet that gets buckled.

For school age: the Bell Sidetrack II MIPS, 320 g in youth size with a removable visor and Mips Evolve — with the caveat that Bell certifies it for age 5 and older, so it is not a toddler helmet.

For a first helmet at one: the Nutcase Baby Nutty MIPS, a single 47 to 50 cm size with nothing to get wrong and a magnetic buckle that will not pinch a chin.