to not buy dd a trampoline as I think there dangerous ?

[misstiredbuthappy]

So my dd (5) keeps asking for a trampoline, I saved some cash but now im not to sure I know loads of people that have them and their kids have never hurt themselves but about 5 friends say there dc have hurt themselves. Dd has no fear an falls over fresh air. What do you think trampoline or no trampoline ?

Even one of our cats used to love ours - we'd often see her doing a bouncy walk on it, for absolutely ages.

Sorry for the mini hijack, but what does hip dysplasia have to do with trampolines? (Asking because DD had a very mild form that was treated just with thick nappies)

Well, orthopod in the family here and we have one.
Our rules are: one at a time
no somersaults unless there is an adult at home
No bouncing after dinner or when tired; lots of children come into A+E in the evening when they have gone out to play for "just 10 more minutes. Mind you that goes for bikes, scooters, rollerblades too.

Apart from that the we feel the exercise benefits outweigh the risks. DS broke his collar bone at 3 when he had a nightmare and fell out of bed.

Lots of sports and activities are dangerous and carry risk of injury, but do we really want our youngsters to grow up being afraid of everything? It's part of learning to grow, surely.

Rugby is dangerous, as is horse-riding, and Motocross and skateboarding and mountain-biking. Sailing carries it's own risks, as does hill-walking. The list is endless.

Only get one if you are prepared to always watch your children on it - you can't leave them unsupervised for any amount of time.

I don't say this to scare you, but I know one child who had a fatal accident on a sunken trampoline, and a friend of mine is paralysed from the neck down from landing on his neck whilst doing a somersault on a trampoline when he was 17. Be very careful.

best thing we ever bought.

get an enclosure, that will prevent a lot of bouncing off nonsense.

Set rules and enforce them! And make sure it is weighed down if youa re not going to put it away in the winter...they fairly catch the wind.

I know of a six year old lad that banged his head off the trampoline safety net pole. A few hours later he died from bleeding in the brain. I also know of a lad that broke his collar bone. My own daughter salsa severely winded after falling off a trampoline without a safety net when she was staying at friends and couldn't put any weight on her legs.

I still think I would get one for my kids but they would be supervised at all times.

We haven't got one (no space) but if we had, I would despite safety reservations. Simply because of the exercise.
I think you need the best one you can possibly afford - I've seen some really rubbish spring covers/padding, definitely a safety net, but I also think you need a size relative to the size of the child.
Children will always have accidents, adults too. If you are prepared to take all reasonable precautions, the rest you just have to chalk up in my view.

Weve had our trampoline for a couple of months now and it is the most played with thing we own. The DDs have hours of fun on it most days. Theyve never had an accident on it, I dont see how they can unless they didnt zip the enclosure up.

I think a lot of people make the mistake of buying one too big for their garden so there are a lot of hazards too close to the trampoline.
They let too many kids on at once.
They don't check for rips and other damage.

I don't want to tempt fate but we have had one for a few years and its been fine.
They are very popular for kids with ASD which is why we got one but they all use it. The two little ones go on together but my older one on his own.

The dogs like it too

ChrohnicallyHungry my DD had a full dislocation and had a couple of operations and 3 months in a spica cast to treat her hip dysplasia. Any bad fall could re-dislocate hip from socket to a degree or as she has pins and plates in her femur there is a natural weak spot which could fracture.
All I know is the surgeon said avoid avoid avoid (along with bouncy castles).

I understand why people buy them and I can see how much fun they are.
But they are not a toy (my children used to have trampoline lessons) and even when only used by one child they can be dangerous.

The child can easily get too adventurous and try a jump they shouldn't (please, no somersaults) and do themselves a mischief.
And where some people say that they are fine if closely supervised - how soon does that good intention go out of the window?

I hate them.

Thank you everyone. Do the nets stop them falling of then ?

Two of the kids I know that had injured themselves had no net an weren't being supervised. Ill make sure im right next to the trampoline ready to catch dd

YABU trampolines are brilliant, my DC used theirs for years and years. They are dangerous if used dangerously There is some inherent risk even if they are used safely but I would count that as an 'acceptable' risk.

Thanks horton I probably don't need to worry then as DDs hips never actually dislocated, her hip sockets were just immature and shallow.

only breakage for my 3 was on a slide. and they have spent hours and hours and hours on the trampoline with no incident.

the people I know where a child hurt themeselves had small and it cheap ones. get a good quality one, pay a bit more for a bigger one and they are as safe as anything else I think.

Mine aren't closely supervised. They go on many at a time. No injuries. Had it 9 yrs now.

I did replace the spring padding when it wore out (some people won't, and the springs can be dangerous). The padding alone was £100 but has lasted very well.

After the net wore out we sunk it in the garden.

DC would be bereft without it.

Best thing we ever bought. Mine have very strict rules and if I witness any silliness they are off and banned for the rest of the day. As a result they are very sensible.

Of course there are risks associated with trampolines, but I cannot remove all risk from my children's lives (nor would I want to). My children also ride bikes, climb trees, swim, bake, use scooters and whizz each other round at crazy speeds on playground roundabouts. I teach them as well as I can how to do these things safely, but they may have the off bump, sprain or even broken bone along the way. It is part of learning and experiencing life!

Would never let my children on a trampoline with no net.

DS does Motocross, a pretty dangerous sport. Yet he's just had quite a major operation on his knee (cruciate ligament reconstruction, with a predicted 9-month recovery period) just because he was injured having a friendly kick-about in the park with his mates and a football he doesn't even like football

He was never hurt on the trampoline.
We need to get everything into perspective.
Injuries are going to happen, whatever they do. We just have to supervise carefully, where possible, take all necessary precautions, but we also have to let them DO stuff.

When I was young, we used to go off into the woods for hours on end and make rope swings across the river, climb trees, etc. Totally unsupervised.
At least a trampoline in the garden is supervised.

Exactly, vestandknickers

Mine go on a friend's, with NO NET, but she is a trampoline teacher and they have proper rules. Other friend has net and no rules and they are wilder on it, which is more dangerous imo.

Bicycles are potentially lethal - but every child should have one, and the opportunity to ride it.

People drown in swimming pools and the sea - but every child should learn to swim, and swim regularly.

Crossing the road is, statistically, very dangerous. As is travelling by car.

People are injured on trampolines - but they are fun and fabulous exercise.

In all of these, rules, supervision and safety equipment change the balance of risk. Our rules have evolved over time, but they are still there - in the same way as the rules about checking bikes before riding them, not riding at night, wearing helmets and reflective clothing are still there for bike riding.

We have no net, as the ONLY time I have been worried about trampoline safety was seeing kids on another trampoline using nets as a springboard to throw themselves back into the melee in the middle at high speed.

We have a 1 at a time rule, and 4 metres of grass on every side. Have had the trampoline for 8 years, in daily use except in midwinter, and have never yet had so much as a graze.

but every child should learn to swim, and swim regularly.

I agree with this, and most do that by having lessons. Not so many children on trampolines have had trampolining lessons. One of the things that indicated to me the level of risk with trampolining was that at lessons, they have spotters standing round the bed, and crashmats all round. You don't tend to get that with garden trampolines.

(We never had a trampoline, though I have taken trampoline lessons in the past. But we did used to bounce on the Edwardian double bed that was in the spare room, and do somersaults on that. I'm not sure if the greater risk was hitting the low ceiling, or our parents catching us - it was definitely forbidden!)