Trampolines do you think they are safe

[ifeelsleepy]

My ds does not have one but I am tempted to get one.
However so far I haven,t bothered as I am really worried about safety and stories of children falling off and getting badly injured or worse.
What do others think about them on here.

[manuka]

I have a small one for dd she's 2. Neighbours have a HUGE one for their older kids with surround safety net. I think its ace and dd loves jumping so will get her a big one when she's older. I don't know about safety thing. Life isn't really safe is it? I think we can all be a bit too protective these days. So long as you're near when ds is on it til he's old enough to go on alone it should be ok.
How old is ds and what kind of trampoline were you thinking of?

[MorocconOil]

It depends on the ages of your DC and how many you have. We have a DD who is 3. She has 2 older brothers 6 and 8 who have some rough friends. We would be worried about DD getting injured by the older boys, by accident of course. I would also worry about a younger child going underneath the trampoline. I know of quite a few accidents. We've decided to hold off for a few years until our DC can play on one unsupervised.

[Flier]

we got one last summer. we only let 1 child jump at a time, and it has a surround.

[Fadge]

everyone and their dog has a trampoline where I live, most have safety nets on but I have seen little ones bouncing on the large ones, which has been pushed right up against a wall by the path/roadside

[taipo]

We have a big (but not massive) one with a safety net. If you can limit it to one child at a time which is what the manufacturers recommend then probably it's safe enough. In practice it's quite difficult to enforce but I do insist that there are no more than two on ours at a time and if things get a bit wild then I close it down

[Morloth]

Probably not the safest things in the world, but they certainly are FUN and I personally feel that the fun factor outweighs the safety concern in this case.

We don't have a big enough yard here but when back in Oz will surely get one (and one that can take adult weight as well!).

We used to push ours between the garden shed and the swimming pool, push the slide up next to shed, climb onto the roof, jump onto the tramp and then bounce into the pool...happy days I tell you, happy days!

[mummyflood]

We have had a 12ft one for a couple of yrs. DS1 (13 at the time) broke his ankle because too many kids on at once (4)and he bounced awkwardly because the balance was wrong. My opinion is, if the safety net is fitted properly and checked - the elastic hooks do come off from time to time, and you limit the amount of kids on at any one time to 2, especially if you have mixed ages playing together, then they should be fine. They play on their own & a friends even bigger one all the time, and have not had any more incidents with any of them.

Agree about not going underneath though, beware little ones retrieving balls when friends or siblings are bouncing on top!!

[Alfreda]

If you stick to a few simple rules: get a safety surround, don't let kids of different sizes on (big ones bounce smaller ones around), don't let too many on at once, don't let kids play underneath, don't let them on with footballs, toys, skateboards (no really, have seen it) you should be OK. The trouble with trampoline injuries is they can be severe. I accept that life is not safe and will accept that either of my dc might get a greenstick and spend a few weeks in a cast during their childhood. On the other hand the severest elbow injuries with vascular and nerve damage that I have seen (and professionally have seen a fair few)have happened on trampolines.

coi: haven't got one, actually because garden too small, but planning to when garden will be bigger next year. Happily by then my dc will be coming out of the peak age for severe elbow injury.....

[Milliways]

We don't have a safety net, but ours is 14' and does tend to throw you towards the middle.

We have had ours for nearly 6 years now and it has sooo paid for itself in terms of fun!

[wessexgirl]

I got a great intermediate-ish one (suitable for ages 3-6) for dd2's 3rd birthday from Woolies. Only about three feet in diameter and with a foolproof safety net. I feel quite confident that nothing terrible can happen to her on it - unless she nips underneath when dd1 is bouncing.

They were at a party on Saturday where there was a full-sized number - dd1 LOVED it, whereas the smaller one didn't appreciate having other children bouncing against her.

[assdoc]

DH works in A&E in a large hospital. He says they are the devils work and has banned our kids from ever having one.

He's been horrified by the huge numbers of kids (and adults) coming in with broken arms, collar bones and at worst necks since trampolines became popular. Nets are all well and good but they only stop you from bouncing off. They don't stop you from landing on your neck or stop the big kid from next door from landing on top of you 4 year old.

You have been warned.

[StressTeddy]

Nope, don't like them think they are chavvy and will never have one

Does that about cover it???

[assdoc]

Your 4 year old.

[edam]

I'm with assdoc.

[edam]

(That sounds terribly familiar, I mean I agree with her!)

[rosealbie]

Alfreda, what is the peak age for severe elbow injury? Just curious.

[LynetteScavo]

I think as long as you have a safety net, only have one a time on the trampoline, and don't get any ideas about mid air summer saults, then the pros outweigh the cons.

My DS was going through a really rough time last year. The only time he was happy, was when he was bouncing on the trampoline.

[smartiejake]

SO many of my dds friends have hurt themselves on trampolines. All of the injured children DO NOT have a safety net.

My girls love their trampoline. I think they are brilliant fun and great exercise. We have rules they have to follow (no somersaults, no more than 3 at a time,etc) or they lose their right to play on it.

BTW how on earth can a trampoline be considered to be chavvy? Do they do them in burberry now?

[Morloth]

assdoc - what do you mean since they have become popular? I am 31 this year and when I was a kid EVERYONE had one - none of this safety net/limiting number of kids stuff either (though I will probably do that).

hehe I think some parents today would be HORRIFIED by my childhood. We had stacks of broken bones/stitches etc. But my goodness it was fun. Sometimes I worry that my son is missing out.

Growing up in sub/rural Australia in the 80s was a blast!

[Morloth]

oooh and we had the old ones with the pinching springs as well, geez they used to hurt.

[whoops]

I was a qualified tramopline instructor a few years ago and even in a safe enviroment accidents happen. I wouldn't let my dc's have one as like assdoc says the safety surrounds don't stop you from falling on your neck or ankle awkwardly

[Bramshott]

If you can get a mini-digger into your garden, consider digging a pit and setting the trampoline in at the level of the ground - much safer (and more attractive) IMHO.

[Neeerly3]

i thought i was a square for never having a caste on my arm when i was at school - it was COOL to break something!

We have a big trampoline in the garden with a net. we have twin boys, 3.5yo and they both have been shown how to get on and off and zip the net up - we made them show us too after we had shown them. We also ask them to ask us before they go on, so we can watch the embarking procedure and then leave them to it.

We are perfectly happy they are as safe as we can make them and that they are having fun. As they get older we will limit them to being on one at a time, but currently theres no weight to either of them so the only hazard is bumped heads.