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 ?

We have never had a trampoline of our own because our garden slopes too.

However, my kids loved them whenever they got the chance at friends' houses. All their friends seemed to have ones with safety nets around them, thankfully.

With the safety net and with reasonable supervision they are fine. None of mine were ever injured on trampolines or bouncy castles. My youngest daughter gained a broken ankle about a year ago when failing to properly extract her foot properly from climbing equipment at our local park, but none of mine have so far been injured any other way (touches wood).

You just cannot remove all of the risk from life. If you try you will probably take away most of the fun.

Best thing we ever bought for our girls, we have it since they were little and now they are 10 and 12. It gets constant use, and they never had an accident.

Kids also get hurt off bikes and scooters...

Our local peads A and E has a display up about the dangers of them and the injuries they get. That helped me make up my mind not to buy one.

To be fair they are fine as long as people supervise, make sure only one child at a time etc but realistically it seems not many do that and that is when it gets dangerous

ChronicallyHungry - I had hip dysplasia and trampolining has been amazing for me - my leg and feet muscles had really wasted - trampolining sorted that out for me. I had surgery & spica but don't have pins so maybe that's what makes the difference. I'm sure the consultant would have mentioned it if you needed to avoid them.

Best toy we've ever had, keeps them amused for ages, good exercise etc, no accidents so far and we've had it about 4 years. We have a net and a no more than 2 person rule. It's the thing they have had the most use out of, in all weather's too, stock their rain stuff on and they like wet bouncing

Neighbour has just taken hers to the tip - an extended family member passed away a few weeks ago . I believe he was 12.
Trampoline to blame .
As said before , with supervision and a one person rule perhaps - but who the hell does this all the time ?

We have the biggest that would fit reasonably in the corner of the garden. It is the most used toy my DS has (along with the Xbox).

Get one - I love it and go on it nearly everyday with my DS. He is 12 now and it's a lovely way to spend time together. I enjoy it nearly as much as him. It also makes a great place to have an afternoon doze in the sun.

We decided against. Radiographer friends all say no and although lots of DC's friends have broken bones in all sorts of ways, the nastiest breaks with operations and complicated casts all seem to be from trampolines. For everyone like me there might be 10 or 100 who don't know a single child with a trampolining injury, but you have to go on what you've got.

The problem with nets is you can get a nasty scrape if you bounce and land down the net. ds2 did this on a friend's trampoline and really skinned one arm badly.

They are dangerous but I think I would get one if I had the garden space.

Paediatric A+E will tell you that trampolines are the single biggest cause of injuries sustained by children

HTH

Perhaps there are an increased number of trampoline accidents compared to other accidents now because our children are not riding their bikes or playing football in the road, climbing trees and falling out of them, walking on thin ice with the risk of falling through and falling off playground equipment onto concrete. All of which I or my friends used to do.

We can keep our kids totally safe from accidents, but we then run the risk of them becoming overweight couch potatoes. For my son, who does not like team sports and until recently couldn't ride his bike from home because we live on a busy road, the trampoline has kept him slim and fit for the last 8 years. He is now 14 and still uses it every day.

He cracked his wrist roller blading, cracked his head open when a friend threw something at him- plenty of minor things really, but has never had an accident on the trampoline (touch wood) because he has always been sensible.

On balance, I would say trampolines are a fantastic fitness resource and especially promote cardiovascular health. Name me another form of exercise that children are willing to do for hours on end until they are breathless?

Single biggest cause is not a useful statistic because there are lots of potential causes and it doesn't take into account how much time kids spend on something. Not too many injuries from space travel, for example.

Have a net.
Supervise.
One at a time.

DH wants to get one. I don't.

My compromise was that as I will be supervising them while they are in the garden 100% of the time I would be needing a very lovely sunlounger to lie on. DH seems to have something odd against sunloungers so we're not getting either.

Note to self: find out if his ex had a sunlounger... he's also adverse to butter curlers and Winnie the Pooh.

Where children's broken bones are involved, I tend to think less about "statistics" and more about incidence. Thousands of trampoline injuries every year. Nuff said.

I grew up with a trampoline, and when I was 9 broke my collarbone while falling off it. My sister broke her arm in another incident on the trampoline.

BUT I still plan on getting one for my DCs, and my sister already has one for hers. Why? Because those 2 incidents play such a small part of our memories of the trampoline, which provided more fun than any other single thing we owned. The exercise can't be underestimated either. I continued to use it until I left home at 18 for that reason.

Also our trampoline had no pads and no nets, so my collarbone injury probably wouldn't happen on a modern trampoline.

I'm in the 'viewofthehills' camp.

What will your child be doing instead of trampolining?

If it is up to several hours per day of significant exercise, just of a different type - so if, for example, your child will skip / cycle / run / swim / play vigorous sport / dance for that length of time daily instead, then it is fine to do the 'which of these is the safest way to keep your child fit?'

If they will instead be on a computer / XBox / watching TV, then the question is 'for the long term health of your child, is it better to do a couple of hours of vigorous cardiovascular exercise a day, but have the risk of a broken bone, or have much less exercise?'

[Doing it the DD way, and doing 13+ hours of dancing per week + at least 6-7 hours on the trampoline a week in good weather, might be overkill, I grant you. She's outrageously fit, though...]

DD sprained her knee badly falling awkwardly on her cousin's trampoline - even with safety nets and no other kids involved accidents can happen. A&E told us they're the biggest cause of injuries these days. Having said that, they are also great fun and great exercise - I'd probably be in two minds if our garden wasn't so sloped.

7,807 child pedestrians were killed or injured in road accidents in 2011 ... so they shouldn't walk.

2,881 child cyclists were killed or injured in the same year...so they shouldn't cycle.

7,571 children who were in cars were jkiklled or injured in road accidebnts...so they shouldn't go by car.

But perhaps even more tellingly, in 2010, 3 out of 10 children were obese, with all the health risks that brings...

do children play in the road ?

should bicycles be used as toys indiscriminately ?

should children be playing in cars ?

being obese increases your risk of hurting yourself on a trampoline

I don't see the point

My point is that anything children do is risky - walking doen the road, cycling, going in the car, trampolining. Before we say 'don't trampoline', it is worth comparing the likelihood and severity of risks associated with each activity.

'Thousands' of children, according to a previous poster, have trampoline accidents each year, but equally, thousands are injured in car accidents or as pedestrians - we don't say 'don't walk' or 'don't take the car'.

Trampolining is an excellent way to keep fit. Would I prefer a very fit child, who in say 10 years of trampolining had a single sprain or broken arm, or a sedentary, obese child? I have the former (x2, but no injuries to either as yet), and know that I'm very happy with that.

Strains and broken arms don't sound too bad (but have you ever had a broken arm ? Has your 8yo ?)

Spinal injuries and head trauma don't sound quite as cosy though

These days, car journeys are fairly essential. As is walking down the street and crossing roads. Trampolines...not compulsory.

I agree that the serious trampoline injuries aren't cosy, but nor are:

high blood pressure
high cholesterol levels
cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke
type 2 diabetes
osteoarthritis
some cancers, including endometrial, breast and bowel cancer
asthma
liver disease
sleep apnoea

all of which are health problems that are linked to obesity. Again, it is a balance of risks. I agree, there are other ways to keep extremely fit - but how many of those are 'fun enough' that pretty much any child is happy to do it for an hour or so each day, every day for years?

It isn't a case of

Use a trampoline versus get obese and susceptible to all those horrible health conditions. Far too simplistic. I have never had a trampoline and none of my family have any of those nasties.

Every day ? People use outdoor trampolines every day? No, they do not.