No more monkeys jumping in the bed

[theretohere]

My five year old keeps jumping in and off the bed. I'm not worried about her breaking the bed, but I do worry about her hurting herself. And her knees and shins and thighs are constantly bruised from hitting the frame. She doesn't want me to take it off the wood frame (which we've done before, it solves the bruise problem, but not the jumping one). Should I relax and let her do it? Wrap her in bubble wrap before bed time?
All I can think of is the monkeys in the bed song.

[mama_mojo]

I made up a dumb rule, but it worked. When DD2 was 2 and the others were almost 5 and 7, I said, "You know, beds aren't strong enough for kids as big as 5 to keep jumping on them. So, anyone who is more than 4 cannot jump on the bed." I have no idea why this worked, but it did. BTW, my kids had actually broken a bed frame already. AND, when you have three kids, the chances for injury go up exponentially, so I felt a real need to stop the behavior.

[LynnS6]

I'd let her jump.

Once we had ds to see an orthopedic surgeon. When the surgeon saw ds' legs (covered in bruises), he looked at the intern who was working with him and said "This is a sign of an active child." Active kids jump. Active kids need to jump.

[HappilyEvrAfter]

I dunno. I let mine jump....as long as he's in the middle....but this is also why we have a savings jar for a trampoline.

Lol.

[LuxPerpetua]

I have a very active 3.5 year old and she's been jumping on our bed since . . . well, forever. In the beginning she fell off a few times but she learned to keep her balance and to stay in the middle. I wouldn't worry about it, especially since you have a 5 yo. Just tell them to stay toward the middle. Mine did break her foot at 2.5 years from taking a huge leap off the arm of our sofa; it was a freak accident, though, and she still jumps off of everything to this day. Her largest leap so far has been from about 4 feet high. If you're not worried about the bed breaking (my only real concern) then let her jump.

[theretohere]

Originally Posted by LuxPerpetua

If you're not worried about the bed breaking (my only real concern) then let her jump.

We have an extra twin mattress under hers, so her mattress sits on another. There's no gaps between either, so her frame is well supported.
If that makes sense.

[octobermom]

Originally Posted by LuxPerpetua

I have a very active 3.5 year old and she's been jumping on our bed since . . . well, forever. In the beginning she fell off a few times but she learned to keep her balance and to stay in the middle. I wouldn't worry about it, especially since you have a 5 yo. Just tell them to stay toward the middle. Mine did break her foot at 2.5 years from taking a huge leap off the arm of our sofa; it was a freak accident, though, and she still jumps off of everything to this day. Her largest leap so far has been from about 4 feet high. If you're not worried about the bed breaking (my only real concern) then let her jump.

I agree.. FWIW I did break my first bed at age 5 by jumping on it and I was a TINY 5 year old.. but I surived even got a brand new canopy bed with a pink lacy top in the ordeal

Deanna

[flapjack]

I do not allow my children to jump on beds, sofas, armchairs, bathtubs or each other. If they need to jump so badly, they can go do it on the trampoline, because frankly, I don't have the money to replace broken furniture and my children are priceless.

[lucyem]

My father broke his arm as a child jumping on a bed. My BIL broke his leg also jumping on a bed. My kids are not allowed to jump on beds or other furniture. We have a bounce house for jumping in.

[theretohere]

OK, for those of you who don't let your kids jump on the bed- how on Earth do you get them to stop?

[zeldamomma]

Originally Posted by theretohere

OK, for those of you who don't let your kids jump on the bed- how on Earth do you get them to stop?

1. Find another way to meet the need for jumping
2. Redirect them to the other jumping space when they start jumping on the bed.

[Princess ConsuelaB]

My kids were only allowed to jump on my bed, not theirs, because our bed was bigger and had no frame to break They are still alive

[LuxPerpetua]

I think some kids are bigger jumpers and climbers than others. Trying to stop dd from jumping off of high places is like trying to hold back an ocean wave. It's in her genetics. All I can do is try to make her aware of her limits. Other kids are not like this, I think.

[pbjmama]

I let my ds jump on the bed/couch. He did fracture his foot jumping off the couch onto the floor. Didn't stop him from jumping.

[HappilyEvrAfter]

Originally Posted by LuxPerpetua

I think some kids are bigger jumpers and climbers than others. Trying to stop dd from jumping off of high places is like trying to hold back an ocean wave. It's in her genetics. All I can do is try to make her aware of her limits. Other kids are not like this, I think.

Ugh, I agree. It's just in my DS blood to try risky things. Sometimes it makes my heart skip a beat. Other kids won't even try what he thinks about.

We have talks about how bone can be like sticks and sometimes break if we're not careful.

I can't even begin to remember the number of bruises he's had in just the past month. I swear people think I abuse the dear little thing.

Bumps, bruises, ouchies...don't even phase him.

[octobermom]

Originally Posted by theretohere

OK, for those of you who don't let your kids jump on the bed- how on Earth do you get them to stop?

We don't allow bed jumping (yes I contridicted myself in my earlier post but our reasons are we DO worry about broken furniture our beds are antiques) as for how...we just redirrected.

Deanna

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by lucyem

My father broke his arm as a child jumping on a bed. My BIL broke his leg also jumping on a bed. My kids are not allowed to jump on beds or other furniture. We have a bounce house for jumping in.

My three brothers broke the bed. My Mom and Dad were not very happy.

[mommy2abigail]

We let them jump on the bed...



I have been known to suggest it when they are driving me crazy...:

[confustication]

We don't allow it, as soon as I heard it, I redirected dd to another activity. he still tried to sneak in a good jump now and again- until she jumped, and fell on the floor. Lots of nasty bruises and tears, but I also reminded her that we had a 'no jumping on the bed' rule for a reason. She hasn't done so since.


We also are saving for a trampoline (with enclosure) and planning the yard in such a way that it will work well. In the meantime, we have one of those small exercise trampolines and some of the big sit and bounce balls, as well as an exercise ball (dd has Aspergers, sometimes bouncing is a must for her.)

That said, I have a 9 month old boy, and another on the way. The two small ones will eventually share a room (once they are out of mine!!) and we're planning on platform beds with matresses only in there- comfy, but not *quite* so inviting to bounce on.

[rzberrymom]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

I'd let her jump.

Once we had ds to see an orthopedic surgeon. When the surgeon saw ds' legs (covered in bruises), he looked at the intern who was working with him and said "This is a sign of an active child." Active kids jump. Active kids need to jump.

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