Should I get a trampoline?

[SunshineMuffin]

Cons: takes up loads of space & potential injuries.
Pros: something children can do in garden

Vet indecisive

If yes, what size would you get?

Get one! 8 feet ample. Get the surround.

Absolutely. My DS loves his. Hey the biggest one you can.

Depends if you like your neighbours or not!

Best thing we ever bought for the kids. They never got bored of it.

My kids loved their 10ft one. I did get slightly annoyed upon realising that friend's children had basically destroyed it by leaping specifically at the nets and tearing them to pieces for some reason though. New safety net buying and friends ban aside, a very much loved item by my kids.

I’m like a broken record about trampolines. The amount of injuries (some which are life altering) I see at work due to trampolines are unreal. None of the physios children have them, and the ortho surgeon has nothing good to say about them. So we will never have a trampoline! Neighbours have a 14ft one with no safety net on their gravel drive- I come out in a cold sweat watching the kids on it, sometimes 4 at a time!

A safety net is a MUST.
Also, try to position it in your garden away from neighbouring fences so as not to annoy your neighbours!

Rules such as only one bouncer at a time will help reduce the risk of injury (but not eliminate it obviously)

Hmmm...this is my concern. Kids rarely listen to me anyway and bouncing is so much more fun with 2 but obviously more dangerous. Feel like I might end up policing it for the whole Summer. I really want one though.

I would get one! My nine year old and three year old love it and spend hours outside on it! It’s a ten foot one with an enclosure and it’s honestly the best thing I have ever bought my eldest dd!

Sorry I did establish some rules though, no shoes on there, no breaking the net and making sure the zip to get in was down if they were on there, I so let them on together though and it’s great exercise!

They are NOT toys. We have friends who are a paediatric consultant and radiographer respectively. Both are clear that the injuries they can cause have the potential to be catastrophic. Half of everything they see is trampoline related and nearly every life changing injury they've encountered in the last decade has been trampoline related. An acquaintance's niece died fairly recently following a trampoline injury and I just can't bear them.

I don't let my DC on bouncy castles either.

Our friends have one which they dug into the ground, so it was level with the grass then had the surround around it. It worked well.

I know they are dangerous, but our kids adored theirs- our youngest are 21 and we are getting a new one after much persuasion. One of our daughters now competes nationally. Once they’ve got a few bruises, they learn to be safe. My eight all have such happy memories with ours- we went enormous, and had two- one for the little ones and onne for the older kids.

The only injuries I’ve ever known to come from a trampoline are from kids falling off them.

With the proper surrounds and safety nets I think they’re less dangerous.

We have had one for over 5 years and my children love it. Never had any injuries.

Only if you can ensure that when they bounce at their highest they cannot see into neighbouring gardens. It's very intrusive to have children especially if they are shrieking to be looking in as they bounce.

My ex has one in his garden and his neighbour a young woman with a baby told me she felt she could no longer go out in her garden to relax because of my ex's children using the trampoline. Very selfish if him when I told him and he just laughed.

Yes. Get the biggest one you have space for and get one with a net. They will be in it from morning until night. After they have banged heads once or twice they will soon learn to stay apart. They will spend hours making up new games to play on it. Best buy ever.

she could no longer go out in her garden to relax because of my ex's children using the trampoline. Very selfish if him when I told him and he just laughed.

Why? my neighbours had one for 3 / 4 years before DC was old enough to have one. I never felt I couldn’t go in my garden when they were bouncing.

One thing- make sure that parents of friends agree that they can use it, so you don't end up with a lawsuit in case of injuries! We always made sure that this was done, even when they got bigger- however, we live in a small community where it was easier to ask everyone. Net zipped up, and don't let them jump off the shed/climbing frame onto it, like my lot did! (I'm not a terrible mother, honestly...)

No. My son went on a family members trampoline. Fell on it ( didn’t fall off ) and broke both bones in his forearm. Two operations later, weeks in plaster, he has massive scars on his arm.
As pp have said, orthopaedic surgeons and staff on the wards said their own children are not allowed on them because of the dangers.