To get a bouncy castle?

[Icanttakethisanymore]

It’s our LB’s 4th birthday soon. We’ve invited 11 kids from nursery and 8 have RSVP’d so far (all are coming). I’ve suggested a bouncy castle (we’re having the party at home). DP thinks I’m nuts, as does my DM (although she’s notoriously hysterical so I’m less surprised by that).

Parents will be staying, given their ages and (3 and 4) and there’ll be lots of adult family numbers around too.

What do you think?

ETA . In case it’s not clear DP’s concern is people getting hurt or just the effort involved in policing behaviour etc.

I think it sounds great. Presumably parents will be staying to supervise?

You haven't said what the problem might be?

If it's accidents, just make sure you have an adult on 'castle duty' the whole time who only lets an agreed amount of children on at any one time.

I'm sure it'll be fine.

It’ll be a massive hit! There’s a risk of injury but I’ve been to many a kids party, professionally thrown and in the garden and I’ve seen a few sprained ankles but it’s par for the course for most parents?!

Oh and buy a couple of those little ice packs for the freezer, to deal with any bumped heads/sprained knees.

I’m not sure what the issue is? Regardless of what activity you choose, someone will have to supervise - kids parties tend to be a bit of effort , so he’ll have to get over that! And they’re pretty standard as a party item, not like you’re offering bungee jumping as an activity!

Love me a bouncy castle! We got one for our housewarming.

yeah, go for it.

Ooh great fun! I'd get one with a little slide rather than just a bounce house, so the flow of children is more controlled.

They're great for any occasion. Except funerals. We honestly thought the lid was screwed down.

We’ve been to a lot of bouncy castle parties and other than the odd bumped head that’s forgotten about in 5 mins, no one has ever been hurt. They are standard at all these hall parties around here and we’ve been to some with them in gardens too. They’ll love it!

I've done them for my son in our back garden for his 4th and 5th birthdays. Kept numbers sensible. Had a great time both times. No injuries.

We've done this. The people who set it up had chairs facing the bouncy things (there were two) and they kept the kids under control for us. There were probably 20 ish kids running around plus adults but we also had food section and sand pit, swing set etc so it depends on the people setting it up, you should ask. Had no injuries.

If you have the space, go for it.
Buy some burn cream beforehand, it is always handy for rubber burns, worse case scenario.

This is a great idea!

Bouncy castles are fine if used appropriately. If things go wrong then quite often the problem is drunk adults, over-enthusiastic teens or larger adults falling into much smaller children.

If all the kids are around 4/5 then they aren't going to create enough bounce to catapult one of them off, and probably won't cause an injury if they fall on to a friend.

Check the insurance both by the hirer and your personal/home deal.

It's all shiny and fluffy. Until it isn't.

Pretty standard at the parties we go to at peoples home. Just have to make sure you use someone reputable and it’s properly secured into the ground

Not trying to piss on your chips:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-22/tas-hillcrest-jumping-castle-hearing-set-for-september/103619986

@Mysterian, you have won the Internet for today. Thank you.

Absolutely fine. Everyone gets them around here for any occasion whatsoever (apart from funerals as pp said 😂) and we've had all ages on them. Nothing worse than a bumped head.

Oh and its an amazing way to wear the kids out and burn all the sugar off!!!! Sleep like logs that night ha!
Better than them running around hyper and trashing the house

They’re perfect. They just bounce all the time and don’t need any other entertainment. They’re pretty cheap to hire and kids adore them. I’m surprised they think it’s a bad idea.

We did a bouncy castle in the garden for 8 children when ds was 3 and 4. We will book another for 5th birthday. All round a great party. Never had any issues whatsoever

We always go for the bouncy slide option - everyone moves in the same direction, so no collisions.

They are always a big hit and has the bonus of absolutely knackering them out.

Paediatric A&E doctors absolutely LOATHE bouncy castles...they see loads of bouncy castle accidents and injuries every year. The major concern with them (as well as trampolines) is the risk of broken backs - and as someone who has had spine surgery myself I would never EVER allow a child on one for that reason (plus head injuries).
Then there's the risk of concussion from kids whacking their heads into each other - again, not great.
And the falling/busted arms/busted lips/biting through tongues etc etc.

And if the potential injuries weren't bothersome enough then there's the issue of what happens when a child does get injured: it can cause all kinds of drama in friend groups. Plus liability claims - I know of one parent who had to fend off a civil suit after a kid at her son's birthday party got horribly injured (some kind of facial scarring was involved plus concussion) on a bouncy castle - the parent sued the bouncy castle company and the parent who through the party. Which whether they got anywhere or not with the suit was still tremendously worrisome and anxiety making. Plus their home owners insurance REFUSED to provide liability coverage for bouncy castle-related injuries on the property.

It's not worth the agro. Rent a company that has soft play stuff if you want to spend some money. Or just have a normal child's birthday party with party games etc.