Do you have a trampoline? - Page 2

[loraxc]

In an era where 40% of my state's kids are overweight, and 25% of my state's 3rd graders are OBESE, I think it's time to let go of the idea of a childhood free of risk of ever having a broken bone.

I have to say, unless you've had a child immobilized by a break for 10 weeks, as we did when DD broke a leg bone on a tramp, you don't know what an enormous pain in the butt it is for everyone. DD even lost friends at school because she had to sit on the sidelines on recess. No PE--she had to sit in the library. It was pretty hard on her. Had it been at a different time of year, we would have had to cancel our vacation. She also fractured her growth plate, which can lead to long-term problems. A broken bone isn't the worst thing ever, but let's not take them lightly. It also cost us close to $1000 out of pocket. Fortunately, she did not need PT.

as for this:

I'm not saying we should go out there and let them jump two at a time, double bouncing each other and smacking heads.

There are a ton of folks with tramps in our circle and I have NEVER seen even ONE person make the kids go one at a time. This is my problem--after our experience I want to make a rule that my kids can only go on one solo, but there is no way to enforce that at a gathering or playgroup without being That Parent.

[SunRise]

I would love a trampoline, but my back yard is slanted and ... rules rules rules - no one would want to come because of the rules (ha) -  the killjoy trampoline house.   I guess, thankfully, the back yard is sloped so there is not much for me to think about; but so much for my  favourite child pasttime.

In ground trampolines (these look safer) - and rules:  1) ONE person at a time, 2) no shoes, 3) spotters, 4) instruction (proper landing for different positions).

[LaughingHyena]

We've have a toddler one with a handle and have just got a small round one. The kids havent used it much yet, it was a freecycle find over the winter so they haven't really had a chance. However they are already telling me it's small so I;m not sure how long we will keep it.

Most of the problems I've seen stem come from having more than one child on the trampoline at once so I'm hoping by having a small one which can really only fit one child we will avoid that issue. I'm seeing quite a lot in the shops now with tents to go over them, I don't like those as it means not being able to see what's happening in there.

We do have a climbing frame, with a slide which seems to get a lot of use. They also like to make a den of it by throwing a sheet over the top. We also have a pop up tent which again they love. Dens and hiding places seem to be a bit thing for ours.

[meemee]

the trampoline has always been a life saver for us. 

it was for me with a high energy toddler and now still a high energy child. its a great place for her to vent. 

i have not worried about safety because she is the kind of child who is cautious. 

she does some pretty risky sports but never got injured there. instead she broke a toe at chucky cheese playing dance dance. go figure!!!

[ljc]

No we don't have one - nor will I ever.  I have three extremely active children ages 6, 6, and 8.  We do allow our kids to take all kinds of risk - bikes, skiing, skating, skateboards, roller skates, climbing giant rocks and tall trees - you get the idea.  But in my opinion the risk on the trampoline is just too great to outweigh the benefit of expending energy and getting exercise.  

I did consider one when my husband asked me to google the risks.  We are both by the way Physical Therapists - so he found it crazy that I even asked.  We both know three people that are quadraplegic following trampoline accidents.  

It's been I while since I studied the statistics.  But my understanding is that the greatest risk comes when multiple jumpers with different body masses are jumping - the greatest risk comes to the smallest on the trampoline. In fact a friend and coworker had an experience this summer during which her sons cousin landed on his hand on the trampoline and his son shattered many bones in his had requiring multiple surgeries to repair.  Her son age 8 cousin maybe 10.   And while I understand how difficult a broken bone can be that is not my worry.   My biggest concern was really the increased risk of a spinal cord injury.  

While I don't feel that any of my neighbors and friends would ever consider suing me for an injury their child sustained on my property - you just never know what a family might do if they were left caring for a disabled child for life.  As others mentioned homeowners insurance may also cancel your policy.  So something else to consider.

Bottom line while I know they are fun - and can be relatively safe - my feeling is it would require constant adult supervision -- I did not want to constantly supervise, spot, enforce rules for  the neighborhood (or my kids) on any piece of backyard equipment.  And that's how we felt it would be.

So what did we do - we purchased a blow up bounce house and a blow up water slide.  Both loads of fun at that age.  But you blow them up and then take them down.  The bounce house does not carry the same risk as trampoline as it doesn't have the same kind of surface tension. We also love bikes, scooters, skateboards, hula hoops, jump ropes, and we have a great swing set with rockwall, fort, monkey bars etc.  Another really fun and active outdoor activity is to take a large piece of plastic, a little soap, and a garden hose - hours of fun on a homemade slip and slide.

good luck with your decision - 

[BellinghamCrunchie]

There are four trampolines on our street alone. None are fenced, none are supervised, and all belong to friends of my DD. Its impossible to tell her not to jump on someone else's trampoline.

The only solution I could think of was to get the funnest trampoline I could, make it as safe as I could, implement some safety rules, and supervise when they're jumping.

I'd much rather have them here jumping supervised and with some safety rules than down the street doing crazy things like seeing how high they can make a 7 year old on a bike go if they all doublespring at once.

[MamaInTheDesert]

DD has two friends who have trampolines. I personally would NEVER have one at my house, especially after watching what goes down at the other people's houses. Luckily both trampolines have nets which make me feel a little bit better. But, no one watches their kids on the things. When birthday parties are held at these places then I am the only one standing by and monitoring. I pull DD out when the older kids go in, or the behavior gets out of control. She's four, and the teenagers think it's fine to hop in with her and even the littles (2-3). I'm constantly telling kids to not run into each other, not to bring sharp objects in there, to take off their shoes, not to double bounce, not to do back flips, not to hold the little ones upside down and bounce them on their faces... it's ridiculous. I spend the entire time wondering why anyone would have one of those things, and trying not to have a heart attack.

As far as other toys to have outside that even the big kids like, I've got a swing set that has a sandbox, raised club house, and slide. All ages love it. I have to be careful watching the bigger boys when they get on there in groups, because they start getting a little rowdy, and I don't want them falling backwards down the ladder of the clubhouse. The best part about the set to everyone is the shutters that open and close. They can "hide" in there. Also, a big hit has been plastic sports equipment. Soccer goal, basketball hoop, and t-ball sets have all gotten a TON of use. Finally, the bigger tonka trucks are always a bunch of fun. Ones where they can fill up the buckets and are tall enough that they can run while pushing them around are the best.

[Learning_Mum]

I really want a tramp for the boys. They love them and would spend half their time on it if we got one. My problem is I want a big one for them but wouldn't be able to fit it in the back yard.

Does anyone think that maybe the reason kids do stupid things like bouncing little kids on their faces is because they're never allowed to do anything that is deemed "dangerous" and therefore never learn risk assessment?

And also, when did climbing trees, riding bikes, rollerskating and skateboarding become dangerous? Seriously?! That's ridiculous! Maybe if kids weren't wrapped in cotton wool constantly they would learn their limits and learn to assess risks. There are times when my boys do something that makes me hold my breath and pray but that is MY fear that they are going to get hurt because I'm their Mum but that doesn't mean I should impose my limits on to them and as a result (I believe) they are both adventurous but know when to stop. 

[chaimom]

We have a trampoline with twin 9 yo boys and a 6 yo girl.  We've had it two years, going on 3 and we are always shocked how often the kids are on it.  Just yesterday my three were on it for an hour bouncing and laughing.  We got it because their cousins have one and they love it when we visit (out of town).  It's literally the first thing kids do when they come over for playdates.  The second thing is play with the guinea pigs.  Then the toys.  

I'm glad we have it and have never had a problem with crazy behavior.  My boys are kind of "rule" kids and once they know the rules, they enforce them on each other-- so I always know I would hear about it if someone broke one of our rules.  Also, I let my kids bounce together, but if my boys have friends over, the littles can't bounce with the bigs.

[MamaInTheDesert]

Originally Posted by Learning_Mum 

Does anyone think that maybe the reason kids do stupid things like bouncing little kids on their faces is because they're never allowed to do anything that is deemed "dangerous" and therefore never learn risk assessment?

LOL!! Not the kids I'm talking about in my post. They all have 4-wheelers and dirt bikes, not to mention regular bikes, skateboards, and rollerblades. Most are required to wear helmets on the power vehicles, but that's it. They shoot paint balls at each other's faces, have "stick fights," jump off of each other's bunk beds onto tile and hardwood. They all go camping at least once a year, if not WAY more for some families. A lot of them have free roam of the "area" when they go camping to include climbing trees, playing in streams, throwing rocks in the river/at each other. A group of 5-8 year olds dragged a huge fallen aspen tree down a hill by themselves last time I was camping with them.

At one of the more recent birthday parties an 8 year old took his 3 year old brother on the back of his kid sized four wheeler for laps around the parent's house. Neither of them were wearing helmets, and the 8 year old rolled the four wheeler over, and crushed the 3 year old underneath. Luckily neither of the kids were injured beyond some scrapes that other people might have considered "gashes."

I think that the majority of the reason the older kids do stupid things with the little kids in my group is because they are largely unsupervised while growing up, have had a lot of luck in that there are very few life-threatening injuries that I know of (I can only think of two stories where kids have died in the last 20 years out of this group, and only one was due to reckless behavior on the part of the kid), and sustaining an injury and being tough about it is considered "awesome." I mean, the parents talk about how "tough" a kid is (boy or girl) when they break their arm, or tousle their hair and say things like "you can handle it" when they're bleeding.

To be honest, the way that some of these families deal with health and safety really scare me and make me nervous to have them influencing my kid. But, this just tends to be the culture here. I try to relax as much as I can, keep my kid away from what I consider to be the most dangerous activities, SUPERVISE vigilantly, and instill a sense of self-preservation when and where I can.

Edited by MamaInTheDesert - 4/17/12 at 10:29am

[ljc]

Originally Posted by Learning_Mum 

Does anyone think that maybe the reason kids do stupid things like bouncing little kids on their faces is because they're never allowed to do anything that is deemed "dangerous" and therefore never learn risk assessment?

And also, when did climbing trees, riding bikes, rollerskating and skateboarding become dangerous? Seriously?! That's ridiculous! Maybe if kids weren't wrapped in cotton wool constantly they would learn their limits and learn to assess risks. 

HMM - I don't know if it's a reason that kids do stupid things?  That is probably just a development/maturity thing.  

And I agree that the above activities should not be considered dangerous - though could be depending on what you are doing on your bike, board, skiis etc.  

Assessing the risk - after researching the topic - is why as a parent I won't have a trampoline.