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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

am i being ungrateful and stupid?

105 replies

mamamibbo · 02/09/2012 23:20

MIL has decided the children need one of those big garden trampolines they are 10 (with asd) 3,2 and 7 months so she is getting them one for christmas, which is very generous

but i dont like them, i think they are dangerous

apparently i should be grateful she wants to spend that amount of money one them and accept the gift as that would be ungrateful and its stupd,i "cant wrap them in cotton wool, they wouldnt sell them if they were dangerous"

aibu?

OP posts:
CaliforniaLeaving · 03/09/2012 01:38

I love the one we got, but they aren't a fit for everyone. We have a huge back yard and the boys used it a lot when they were home, it's 14' across and has a net and a mister system around the top that Dh made, so they can jump up to the water in swim suits. They even camped out on it overnight, took pillows and sleeping bags and the cat turned up and stayed overnight with them.
If you don't want one, ask for what would suit your children better, a swing set or a play house or fort maybe.

TaintedLove · 03/09/2012 03:08

You can fall off a kerb and break a wrist/leg/arm. When the f did trampolines move into the DANGER list??

TaintedLove · 03/09/2012 03:10

Oh but clearly your not being "stupid" OP. Tho' c'mon, it's a tramponline not a loaded nuclear weapon with springs added for bouncing fun in your garden. Grin

TyrionTheImp · 03/09/2012 05:27

They are not toys. Two friends (paediatric consultant and radiographer respectively) are kept in work by them and recommend never buying them. BIL is an adrenalin junkie but happens to coach gymnastics and trampoline. He also falls on the 'NOT a toy' side of the debate.

CheerfulYank · 03/09/2012 05:45

I love them and hope to get one next year when DS is 6 (no use getting one now, it'd be covered in snow soon!) but it is your house and your choice.

bruschetta · 03/09/2012 06:58

I love trampolines. Maybe it would be good to have one.
But it's your choice. Maybe they are a bit young and they can be dangerous, requiring lots of supervision.
How annoying to have someone dictate like this.
Besides, the fact that they are on sale reveals nothing about their appropriateness for your smaller children.

sashh · 03/09/2012 07:09

It's just mean to get them a trampoline in the middle of winter.

Kveta · 03/09/2012 07:23

Mum is a paediatric radiographer. She has all but forbidden me from letting my DC near a trampoline, as she sees so many nasty fractures from them. Even from netted ones being used by a single child.

Jinsei · 03/09/2012 07:29

I've heard A&E consultants warning against them too. If you follow the guidelines and supervise carefully, I'm sure they're fine, but the OP may not have time to spend hours supervising in this way. The fact is, loads of injuries occur each year because kids don't follow the guidelines. :(

OP, I don't think YABU, it's not your MIL's decision.

merrymouse · 03/09/2012 07:34

Check the instructions - when I was investigating this I found that most trampolines were sold with the stipulation that they were for children over 6, when supervised by an adult, and not to be used by more than one child at a time.

Trampolines have always been on the danger list.

squeakytoy · 03/09/2012 07:43

I am sure more kids fall off bikes and sustain broken arms and wrists than from trampolining.

MrsKeithRichards · 03/09/2012 07:53

Best 90 quid I've ever spent.

fluffyraggies · 03/09/2012 07:55

See - safety wise everyone is going to go by their own experience.

I've never had one - kids were never interested. My friend had one with safety net, and her DD broke her arm on it TWICE! Once she fell off the ladder, and second time she bounced on her own arm ?!?

Needless to say it put me off.

One of my DDs friends has hers sunk into their lawn. She's had a fracture too.

I'm totally put off!

Then again my DD broke her wrist after falling off somebody's skate board she was just standing on in the school cloak room last year! Shock

I think the real point here is that if the OP doesn't want one, for whatever reason, she shouldn't be bullied into it. End of.

Lucyellensmum100 · 03/09/2012 08:00

Just say no thankyou. My dd will probably have to be admitted into hospital today :( she had an accident at a soft play centre - bounced off a "soft" see saw, fell on her bottom and nearly bit her tongue off - this was friday and she is still unable to eat. I wish i had wrapped her on cotton wool.

Those things are ridiculously dangerous, will irritate your neighbours to the nth degree unless you havea huge garden, because all your neighbours will see are your childrens heads bobbing up and down.

My mum did exactly the same to me - we conceded to a smallish one - she used it, ooooh, four times, it buggered up a good proportion of the lawn and in the end i dismantled it, with great cheer.

ohcluttergotme · 03/09/2012 08:01

yanbu as it is your children, your garden, your decision. I have had one for my dd (13) since she was eight and she has loved it, there is a 10 year gap between her and ds (almost 3) and it is the one thing they both do together where they laugh and have fun very hard to find things that teenage girl and toddler boy will do together
I've got on a few times when not doing million other things and it is quite good fun. Smile

Lucyellensmum100 · 03/09/2012 08:04

oh and you'll look like chavs! Wink

MrsKeithRichards · 03/09/2012 08:07

Bingo!

I was waiting for a chav comment!

thebeesnees79 · 03/09/2012 08:11

I love ours and so do the children (mine are 5 & 3) Its a great way for them to do some activity and burn energy. personal choice and in the 3 years we have had it my son (eldest) has had one accident which was our fault. he banged his eye on a fence that was too close to the netting. Parental over sight and nothing to do with the kids being over boisterous. He never needed the hospital and was fine within a day or two.

GurlwiththeFrothyGoldMedal · 03/09/2012 08:13

DH is a retired PE teacher. He would never allow our boys to have one in the garden because he knew from years of teaching how dangerous they are. There were far more injuries from trampolines in school than from any other sport. Also the injuries can be worse than those from football etc.

Lucyellensmum100 · 03/09/2012 08:15

Grin MrsRichards Sorry, i hope i didn't get your goat :)

nokidshere · 03/09/2012 08:45

Your home your garden.

Trampolines are dangerous in gardens because:

  1. parents don't follow the age restrictions
  2. Parents don't follow the safety guidelines
  3. Parents override the "only one at a time" recommendation
  4. Parents don't risk assess them properly

They ar a high risk "toy" because the likelihood of something happening is fairly high, and the outcome of something happening can potentially be very severe. Falling from height whilst moving quite fast is obviously worse than falling from a bike or from a standing position.

It's because parents don't understand the above that they are not suitable for a family garden. Not one of my friends who have them in their gardens supervise them properly or take the risks seriously enough.

whats4teamum · 03/09/2012 08:46

Nothing more tedious than the creak creak of trampoline springs and heads appearing above the fence.

headinhands · 03/09/2012 08:51

My ds has residual low tone following a neurological illness when little. The jumpoline as the kids call it helped him regain a lot of gross motor skills such as hopping and jumping.

Dd2 broke her arm falling off a bench and dsis broke her wrist skating. Ds broke his elbow falling over on grass! I don't personally know any fractures from a trampoline and have had most of the neighbours' kids on ours. But I am hot on one person at a time.

Obviously fractures have happened but I'm trying to point out how your fear of them may be skewed by media horror stories down to the nature of trampolines being a relatively new addition.

If you are happy to let your dc play at the local park then I don't see that your reservations hold owing to the number of kids I know personally who have broken limbs falling off swings and slides One little boy i know had a very complicated fracture of the elbow that needed pinning and that was falling off one of those sit on springy

Hope I haven't put anyone off parks!

brass · 03/09/2012 08:53

could MIL have it in her garden for when you visit?

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