or is this not already a warning?

[BooyFuckingHoo]

'friend' just posted on FB "warning: do not lets your kids play on trampoline without a net" and then went on to explain that her son had fallen off and is concussed.

i thought that was common sense or do people normally not put nets up when they get a trampoline?

My trampoline came with an enclosure and its on play bark. If any kids are going to fall off a trampoline its my kids. 3 visits to a&e all ready this bloody year, broken arm, something stuck in foot and infected earring removal. 9 year old recently fell off/on top of microscooter and consultant said nearly all elbow injuries are 1 micro scooter and 2 tampolines.

Being on a trampoline is never going to be a totally safe experience. You can have a net around a child who decides to try a back flip.

If you chose the risk versus pleasure/exercise in favour of a trampoline then you just have to be sensible.

The only way to eradicate risk is to eradicate risk. And that isn't a good thing. Not in my opinion.

Yes, the children could leap on the trampoline and land on the floor. The impact will be the same as falling off a wall. I am not going to erect a net to prevent that small risk.
Risk is healthy and our reaction to it should be proportionate.
We are far far too risk averse when it comes to our children and we are creating young adults who will find a buzz anywhere they can.

Just my opinion of course I may be stupid but I want my children to have a rational relationship with life and risk. I want them to consider themselves how to protect themselves in risky situations rather than have every chance sanitised out of their experience.
I taught them how to be safe as they can on the trampoline. They are reasonably safe. That will do for me.

DH's friend was into trampolining in a big way in his childhood and early teens. Did lots of big competitions etc etc. He came off one of the big ones (presumably he was doing a very high jump/spin type combo) and broke his neck. He is now a paraplegic - scary stuff.

My kids spend the summer on the trampoline practicing the backflips and other tricks etc, they want to do when snowboarding in winter.....

That is a terrible story nikki and I am sorry about your dhs friend.

But men break their necks playing rugby and I would not stop my dcs doing that because they love it. People break their necks falling from horses but they will ride if they wish. Most commonly people break their necks falling down stair. I am not planning to move to a bungalow.

i do feel better knowing that i wasn't the only one to have pictured something completely ridiculous!!

Oh don't get me wrong I let my kids use a trampoline, DD was on one of the big professional type ones at a party recently with no nets. I would be worried a bit if they wanted to get into it big time/professionally because of DHs friend but I would keep my worries to myself. It is very very rare for something like that to happen.

My husband is an ex-PE teacher with 25 years experience and he never allowed us to buy a trampoline for use at home. This is because he has experienced over and over that they are terribly unsafe - more accidents caused by them than all of the other sports combined and very nasty ones at that. Even when all of the usual safety measures are taken. Sinking one into the ground is a good option, but nothing gets around the need for close supervision.

I agree that trampolining is a great sport but should be undertaken in a controlled environment, under supervision.

We got rid of our trampoline as i didn't feel it was being used safely

I love the idea of sinking it which would have been great but not an option for us.

Dcs were the first round here to have a trampoline,(brought it with us from our old house) Therefore we had endless kids queing up to come in and have a shot.
It caused nothing but fights and arguments about who's turn it was. One thinking that someone else had a longer turn, The "he/she, pushed/jumped on/kicked me" whinging.
Not undrstanding that 10 kids cannot go on at the same time!
Not to mention some kids deciding to go under the trampoline when the others were on top, Then complaining because someone jumped on thier head.

Ours had a safety net but over time was torn and stretched, The poles were bent beyond belief with the kids pulling and leaning on the net.
Somehow someone always managed to get pushed off through one of the holes.
I called it a day when i caught DD who was about 5 at the time trying to jump out of my DS bedroom window down onto the trampoline (was directly below) which i then found out that she had seen her older brothers doing previously!)

I was costantly worried that someone would damage their back or neck when they were trying to do flips that they'd seen on the tv

Also with 3 dc's and all thier friends i couldn't supervise every time it was in use as i would have been out there for bloody hours....In the end i got sick of my own voice trying to sort out squabbles and telling them to be careful so it had to go. It was the best thing i did.

If a trampoline is being used responsibly then it's not always necessary for the net.
(As in my case kids still got pushed off through the holes anyway)
But obviously is safer with one. I would never again have a trampoline.

If you are considering sinking a trampoline in the ground there is some good advice on how to do it on the Atlantic Trampolines blog. We did this without too much difficulty but you do need to think about where to put the soil from the hole or pay to have it taken away. Also you need to allow the air to escape when someone bounces. We installed pipes. If you don't do this you are just compressing the air when you bounce and makes it very hard work. To begin with we didn't have the pipes and the padding that covers the springs would just flap, which got really annoying. We have a 12ft trampoline which we bought from Atlantic who were very helpful and I'd recommend them.

"has the ground below the trampoline been removed?"

oh jesus, i have tears running down my face!!! bles you! thank you for making me really laugh, and providing hillarious mental images!

Oh that's what they look like. I was the picturing the entire thing sitting six feet below ground level in a sort of tunnel and the DC just running and jumping down the hole for a bounce. Then wondering how they would get out again.

I would quite like one like that to be honest. It would make for a very peaceful summer.

"braiiiiiiiiins"

Counting back the trips to A+E/Minor Injuries in the first 14 years, over half have been trampoline related. One scary one was dd1 deciding to crawl under and getting a direct bounce on the head. She was complaining later of a sore neck - cue xray to check for fractured neck vertebrae.

Nevertheless they have had a lot of fun, but you need to realise they need supervision all the time which is a time consuming PITA as LittleJenny says.

I know just what we need to make trampolining almost risk free :)

You need a room where the entire floor is a trampoline and the walls are padded, problem solved =.=

at tarpauling ground sheet.

Didn't make me spit coffee.

However it did make me choke on coke...

Zombie thread alert.

When I was about oooooo 25ish I went on one of these trampolines at a friends house, I wasn't overweight then and I jumped and then sat down, quite a little jump, sudden pain up my back, couldn't move neck or walk without jarring pain.

Lasted about three hours. Then slowly got better. Hadn't been drinking either. Swore no child of mine was ever having one!

The problem is, a lot of parents buy these things and then just let their kids, themselves and anyone else just start bouncing on them. Without knowing little tricks you bounce all over the place, but once you are aware you know how to bounce and stay in one spot and how to sit, knee and various other things without causing yourself injury.

Some parents don't even realise that not everyone is medically capable to go on a trampoline because of an increase risk of permanent injury. Nor do they understand why and how to check the equipment is fit for use.

Trampolining, done correctly can have a variety of good effects. Facilitate movement, promote balance, promote an increase or
decrease in muscle tone, promote relaxation, promote sensory integration, improve fitness and
exercise tolerance, and to improve communication skills.