To be cautious of bouncy castles

[Offerdecisionneeded]

In light of the horrendous tragedy at the weekend when a poor 3 year old girl lost her life in an inflatable trampoline accident, Aibu to not want my 3 year old to go on one this weekend at a friend’s party?

The news at the weekend is heartbreaking and the pain her mother must be feeling at the moment is unimaginable. There are calls for a government enquiry into how bouncy castles are regulated.

We are due to go to a party and I’ve previously never thought twice about letting my dd on one. Now I’m just not sure.

Accidents happen.

Planes are still the safest way to travel, etc.

Yabu like you say the little girl lost her life on an inflated trampoline it was not a bouncy castle, the air had nowhere to go.

YABU. All 3 of mine have had the time of their lives on bouncy castles! Accidents and deaths are very rare.

I'm not too keen either. Such a commonly used piece of equipment but it can be lethal if it goes wrong and it's not clear what's happened here.

You and every other parent, I suspect the party won't go ahead!

I’ve always been really wary of bouncy castles even as a child. People just act stupidly on them and it frightens me.

I think yabu as the risks are tiny but I was shocked at a recent party my kids went to when the bouncy castle started to deflate and a lot of the adults were oblivious to the fact that it was dangerous and all the kids had to get out quick before they were smothered by the heavy material.

Yeh.. I’m usually quite chilled out about things like this - paddy completely agree with your airplane analogy.
Its just the unknown of what happened and the call for govt enquiry - how well are these things regulated etc
Guess most things in life are calculated risks

I’ve been stuck in a deflated bouncy castle - it was dark and we were all pissed and that was pretty scary, they deflate so fast

Separately - and I know bugger all about bouncy castles - if you do decide to let her go on it, make sure she’s wearing socks. There was one at the school fair last weekend and it was so hot in the sun the kids couldn’t bear it for more than a few minutes. First time the kids haven’t had to be chased off at the end of their turn - malt lasted no more than 3 minutes, even in socks.

Malt? Most.

jassy thanks for the tip. Will see how it goes and hopefully distract her away with ice cream or something

YANBU it's bloody scary! I have seen power cut out on a bouncy castle slide as my daughter neared the top and my son had to jump to grab her before it deflated all the while losing his footing because the steps had lost their shape. That made me wary of those big slides as you could quite quickly have children plummeting down fast to a no longer inflated bottom!

I think the calls to have tighter safety measures are sensible. Originally I though the bouncy castle had being lifted by wind which are me begin to think about how a bouncy castle can even be secured in sand? Many beaches have bouncy castles, what do they anchor to?! Ditto for concrete surfaces hosting castles.

@MyLearnedFriend I didn't realise the difference there!

I guess this means all sealed inflatables present the same kind of risk?

Mylearnedfriend is the only person correct here. This was not a normal bouncy castle air escapes through the seams making it impossible for them to explode.
My husband has run a business which includes inflatables for over 20 years. This could not ever happen on a bouncy castle.
Please enjoy your day the inflatable material does get hot if the sun is on it and can feel uncomfortable so socks are useful.
Also if you look around the bouncy castle check it is staked down.

Have a look at the Health and Safety Executive website and type in 'inflatables' in their search window. A lot of the advice is for operators but it is a good guide for the inspections required for 'professional' hirers and organisers, it's under the PIPA inspections I think.

So sad, what happened to the little girl.

I hate them anyway. No one ever supervises them properly, there are always head collisions and kids bouncing off onto the hard floor. So to my mind yanbu.

@MyLearnedFriend

I think you have highlighted the difference really well!

I do think bouncy castles are worrying though - high risk of injury, potential to blow away etc. I hated bouncy castle parties when my DS was small before I even dreamed of them blowing away, the thought of someone landing on his head/neck 😖

As long as you check out the H&S yourself you should be ok.
Please don't leave kids unattended and make sure if you leave them with others they are actually responsible for the dc welfare.

I used to be hired as a children's entertainer, I had an act that I performed and also did party games, disco type of thing.

Weddings were the worst, I had nothing to do with the bloody things, but the amount of parents who just used to leave their dc unattended expecting another parent or worse still myself to look after them.
They couldn't understand that I had no insurance for them, due to not supplying them. I'd get shouted at for not looking after their dc until I stressed that I charged £60 ph for an act, not to babysit.
Their faces were a picture.

Anybody using them, just check who is in charge before leaving your kids.
The owners responsible for the child death when the bc blew away received prison sentences iirc.

@MyLearnedFriend

My first reply to you was not ended with a sarcastic question, it was a genuine query, just to clarify. Mainly because I'm wondering a heated inflated hot tub has the same risk?! They are very popular now!

Shall I start a thread? We own bouncy castles ask me anything!!!

She'd better not cross any roads on the way to this party. Much bigger risk than going on a bouncy castle.