Please reassure me I'm not the only DP in the UK that allows and actively encourages my dc to climb trees

[keepyourchinupdear]

As per the caption... Am I wrong in doing this? I never see dc climbing trees or playing outdoors - am I the only one?

DC1 was climbing trees at age 2.5yo. I never really thought about it, just up he went while I watched & wondered if I should do something. Was on top of most the playground equipment by 4.5yo, too.

I perceive that about half of parents don't allow tree-climbing.

I always see children playing outside and climbing trees.

You must be living near some very strange people if you haven't seen any children playing outside other than your own.

my dad used to send me (as the youngest and smallest) up the plum tree to pick all the plums he couldn't reach from the ladder. I must say I hated it due to the fucking wasps and also I didn't even like plums!

My one broken limb (compound fracture to lower leg, same injury that Gazza had, fact-fans) I acquired by........falling over. Go figure.

We had some (pretty rubbish but you could get off the ground) trees in our garden, and we'd spend hours up them as kids. DH also had great trees in and around his garden, and also spent a lot of time up them.

We live in the city now, and no climbing trees in the garden (pocket hankerchief). But there are a line of large leylandii spread apart, that the inner trunks are like steps of stairs so the local kids are up them from almost as soon as they can toddle. They used to be 12' tall when DD was going up them first, but got halved a couple of years back so now about 6.5' (I can grab a child at the top from a full stretch). DD has been going up that since she was about 2.5, if not younger.

There is also one other main climbing tree - where you have to get up a smooth trunk to 4' up. So they tend to be about 6-7 before they manage that one, or else the older kids help them up. DD is now 8, and swings out of that (and has done for quite some time), and has moved on to getting onto the wall about 3' away from it too () all the time. DD and her buddy are the youngest 2 of the main group on the street (there is a 4 year old and a 2 year old but the older ones are too old for them - but not quite far enough apart not to tolerate the 7/8 year olds).

SIL was not impressed though with DD trying to introduce her DCousins to the trees when they visited a couple of months ago - they range from 3-6, and are great kids but very sheltered (despite effectively living in the garden where there are still climbable trees from DH's youth!).

Like others, I am very happy when DD is swinging out of those trees or running around the green, as it means she's not curled up watching tv or ensconsed in Minecraft or similar! Some screen time is ok, but fresh air is great too.

DH got a picture of that same, very tomboyish and adventurous DD, wearing her lovely long first communion dress and looking like a girl for a change - hanging from the top of the monkey bars in the school playground. (DM and DMIL were shocked and horrified she was at that when they spotted it - DH and I both grinned and said it was "typical!").

Yep.

I have so many brilliant memories of going off rambling into the woods and countryside as a small child with my little brother and Taid (Welsh for grandad] and him teaching me how to climb and build dens etc.

One of my favourite photographs from last summer is of DH and the two older DC all sitting up in a big old oak tree

I actually think teaching your child to safely clamber up and down trees and build dens etc is a great way for them to learn how to risk assess.

Steve Brown, the wheelchair rugby player, broke his neck in a fall from a balcony. The Telegraph article here was written by Tim Rushby-Smith, who was a tree surgeon who broke his back in a fall from a tree. He was interviewed about his injury and recovery by Frank Gardner, the BBC journalist who was shot and injured, on Radio 4 a while ago, an excellent programme.

My primary school in the 1970s had an apple orchard in the grounds -we spent every break time climbing trees. People occasionally broke arms and collarbones, but tree climbing was never banned, it did teach you about risk taking.

I understand that statistically, climbing trees is probably not that dangerous.

However, as I personally know of a child who fell out of a tree, hit his head and died (he was 10), it's not something I particularly want to encourage my DGC to do.

And yes, I am well aware that more children die in road accidents than falling out of trees.

Mine climb and fall out of trees, play outside, build dens, etc regularly.

Well, my 12 year old doesn't so much these days, she's far too cool for that now

The only injury from tree climbing has been mine - broke my arm 2 years ago

You would have had to put lead boots on DD1 to stop her climbing.

DD2 managed to break her arm falling off a very wide dead tree, that it should have been impossible to fall off. She broke the other one trampolining.

Does this mean she doesn't climb trees or spend hours doing very complicated gymnastics on the trampoline. Othcourse it doesn't.

I forgot about the trampoline - I broke 2 fingers and a thumb on there.

DD1 broke her wrist falling off a kerb (twisted and fell funny)

I don't tell DS to go climb trees but if he wants to then I am happy with that.

Best games in my childhood involved climbing trees so I wouldn't want DS to miss out on that!

DD2 broke her arm doing gymnastics. She wasn't actually on any equipment at the time - she was just running across the room and tripped on a mat...

Yep mine love to climb and be outdoors in all weather.

My two used to up to 7 and 9. Ok until 7 year old says they are stuck very high up.

I fell out a tree once and really hurt myself, but I was an adult and rather tipsy

Does this mean my 'lazy' parenting, where I just chuck the DCs into the garden and let them go a bit Lord of the Flies, is actually giving them the freedom to grow and develop? Phew!

We have lots of trees in our garden, but none of them are currently very climbable. But that's ok, because we still have a giant pile of rubble that the children are enjoying extensively. I have hopes that the weeping willow will develop some useful lower branches over the next few years.

It's not even that damaging to trees, what's more damaging to trees are playgrounds that loads of trees are cut down to build.

Makes no sense to not climb trees and use a playground instead because you like them

The number if ways it is possible for a child to injure or kill themselves is terrifying to me. I could stop them from doing any activity that has caused an injury to someone who subsequently became a paralympian, but that would rule out lots of the things we do atm. So I opt for letting them do most things, including tree climbing, horse riding, skiing, etc that a considered inherently dangerous and hover, keeping an eye in them and hoping that they make it to adulthood unharmed and with a taste for adventure and the big outdoors. Most paralympians have suffered a trauma through an accident that has damaged them physically. That does not mean that everyone who takes part in that activity will suffer the same trauma. I hope my children remain in the vast majority. The 2 most common causes of death or injury of children in this country are car related and water related. We don't stop driving though, because it would be inconvenient not to. And water just is. The sea, rivers, etc are there and we have to teach them to get on with life safely. The same applies to lots of aspects of growing up.

I have very very fond memories of climbing the trees in our garden...but they were really good trees to climb.

NT properties are good and usually encourage tree climbing

If you go to Tooting Common after school I guarantee you will see lots if kids climbing trees. And lots of happy parents.

My DS was 7 when he broke his collar bone. He was walking along the top of a 1 foot high wall and fell off. Would those who don't like their children climbing trees stop them from walking along the tops of low walls?

Mine is almost 3, but with some slight physical delays that involve a weak core and upper body. I encourage him to climb anything and everything, on the advice of our occupational therapist.

The catastrophic injury thing is a bit weird. I have 2 severely disabled people in my life. One is a quadriplegic who had a v low speed car accident but was on the wrong side when it tipped over and broke his neck. The other is a paraplegic who forgot to check the Jesus nut on his motorbike and went over the handlebars when the ensuing partial brake failure happened.
Both have very pragmatic views about luck and being in the wrong place and the wrong time and both have kids and both encourage them to be physically adventurous.

I'm certainly a bit risk adverse with DS, but more around who is driving and road safety, not about rough and tumble adventuring.

Jumping into the river when drunk is a bad move too. His DM was pretty pragmatic as well.

Most of the town DCs did it, 100x a summer, but only one precise spot was safe.

Oddly it was the one thing my pretty relax DDad asked me not to do. I dived in off the rocks, but not the high wall.