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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to worry about trampoline with nets being safe ?

170 replies

Babieseverywhere · 06/04/2010 08:31

My parents have very kindly offered to buy our children a garden trampoline with a safety net as a joint birthday gift.

But I am worried that these trampoline look very dangerous, no facts or horrible RL stories to base my opinion on, I just think they must be dangerous...AIBU

My DH thinks I am silly for worrying and points out the children love their indoor small, low trampoline and bounce on it for hours (when it is not in the utility room as it takes up so much space in the house when it is being used.)

Our garden is totally paved if that makes a difference to the safety factor.

So what is the Mumsnet verdict on trampolines ?

OP posts:
cyb · 06/04/2010 19:30

lol

beccagrace2 · 06/04/2010 19:52

ours is a 14 ft round one with safety net,its on grass. we let both dc go on together and sometimes cousins too, and the dog often jumps in. my ds fell of for the 1st time last week but just climbed back in. if they are being silly i get them off but most of the time its great and still gets used loads after 2 years

bicep · 06/04/2010 20:39

My young son wandered underneath a trampoline - he was just the right height to go underneath. I dread to think what had happened if I hadn't noticed and my friends dd had bounced on top of him. I think nets should go around the bottom!!

keepitsweet · 06/04/2010 20:41

We used to have one, but ruined the grass underneath.

Only probs we had were with neighbours children. One fractured their ankle whilst on it, didn't fall off just went over on it whilst bouncing. Another broke their wrist whilst doing a front drop landed on wrist. Another cut their head, and although being supervised no idea how the cut came about.

One parent complained that we shouldn't of allowed their child on, even though I personally knocked on everyone's door to ask permission. Other parents understood accidents happen.

MilaMae · 06/04/2010 21:10

They are dangerous. A friend of mine had a child(6) who broke his arm on his, she was told at casualty they're inundated with injuries from them(hers was netted).

She was also told it should only ever be 1 at a time on it and that 3 is a pretty lethal combination particularly if it's not enormous.

I have 3 kids and don't want to spend my life checking that there is only one on at a time so we haven't got one. I'd rather they had more space to run around in the garden too.

To be frank I don't think kids need one, you see them everywhere at farms etc. Mine love going on them then and I'll happily watch on a day out. I'm sure if I bought one the novelty would soon wear off.

cyb · 06/04/2010 21:12

we ahve bark under ours

its the best thing we've bought

boo to you trampoline naysayers

33kns · 06/04/2010 21:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

33kns · 06/04/2010 21:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsSensible · 06/04/2010 21:26

All toy items can be used dangerously or sensibly.... it's up to you as a parent what you do, what you expose your kids to and what you want to make available for them to do. Everything takes effor be it supervisory or in managing it's use.
That said, there is too much risk averse attitudes today and kids need to experience some risk in order to know their own limitations. Without this they are ill-prepared for school and then life itself... which isn't a great gift to bestow.
My kids don't have a trampoline and yes, I know of horror stories from their friends' experiences, but no one has been long term disabled by them. My kids climb trees instead, scaring me half to death, but giving themselves a great sense of achievement and exhilaration. Don't wrap them in cotton wool but be very clear why you are letting them do an activity.

whoodoo · 06/04/2010 21:54

my bro is an orthopedic surgeon and HATES them. He says they are so dangerous and it's not to do with having the safety net. He sees alot of kids with broken bones from them as if there are a few kids on at a time and one kid has taken all the strain in the trampoline and then another lands and there is no strain/give' left IYKWIM, he says it's like landing on concrete and snap there goes your ankle!

BTW he is not a kill joy as he does black run ski runs and kite buggying which I'm sure can't be good for your arms. I think he's just sick of gluing kids back together from trampolines and sticking arms back in sockets after toddler 'swinging'

fallon8 · 06/04/2010 21:58

I'll tell you something else....a friend, an estate agent, says they are a big non selling point for the house next door.imust admit,if I didnt have kids, i wouldnt really want that next door to me.

BattyKoda · 06/04/2010 22:06

You've Been Framed has given me a terrible phobia of trampolines... I always think I'll be the one to get me head stuck between the springs.

33kns · 06/04/2010 22:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChippingIn · 06/04/2010 22:32

fallon8 - I suspect that is due to it highlighting there are children living next door & they play in the garden, much the same as if it was a playhouse or climbing frame!! Nowt to do with it being a trampoline.

Batty - not if you get one with an enclosure!

If you have one with an enclosure, I really don't understand what the 'shock - horror' is all about with concrete underneath? Surely having something soft is only an illusion of increased safety?? (Ours is on grass, but only because it was already gras). If it's the entrance/steps areas you're worried about then surely a couple of ruberised safety/play mats would do the job?

Please don't let your kids put your pets on them!!

alysonpeaches · 06/04/2010 22:32

Dont have one on a paved garden. Dont have a swing on a paved garden either. Swings are quite dangerous, not only to the child on the swing, but the others running round in front or behind it can get a thump on the head. I had severe concussion as a child due to falling off the swing and the swing then hitting my head.

My children DO have a climbing frame though, on a grassed surface. We havent had any bad accidents with this, only the occasional squabble that someone was in their way etc. We have a swing in a cardboard box in the shed waiting to be put up, but I wont have it put up until our little ones are older. We have a see saw and have had to take this up as they get just too silly on it unless I am stood over them. The problem is it goes round and round as well as up and down and the eldest goes too fast and tends to knock the little ones over. I dont recommend this.

Slides are good, no problems with them so far. In our old house we had a little tykes jungle climbing thing which got a lot of use too.

ChippingIn · 06/04/2010 22:38

alyson - a swing & a trampoline with an enclosure are two completely different things! Who in their right mind would have a swing on concrete?

Can't you lock the see-saw into one position (so it only goes up & down) - most of them you can.

How old are your kids?

charliesweb · 06/04/2010 22:39

Ds1 broke his leg last summer jumping off a mound of earth. [hmmm]. Every medical member of staff we saw asked if he had been on a trampoline. The 4 other children in the same ward as him that night had broken bones from a trampoline related injury. The worst being a boy who had been under the trampolin with his arm up when his sister bounced on it. He had to have an operation on his elbow.
Reserchers in Scotland (I think) have discovered that worst accidents happen when 2 or more people bounce of different weights. the problem occurs when the force of the heavier person come back up as the lighter person bounces down IYSWIM. They said an asult bouncing with a child creates a force equivalent of the child falling out of a first floor window.

CarrieDaBabi · 06/04/2010 23:05

walking out your front door int he morning is a risk, as is coming down the stairs int he morning.

get a grip folks, it's fun

AitchTwoZone · 06/04/2010 23:08

oh, hate 'get a grip'. it's so ill-mannered.

and i think the point is avoidable risk, surely?

tom57 · 06/04/2010 23:18

This worried me initally,so got DH to dig a 12ft hole/crater in the garden,trampoline is about 8 inches off ground level.FAB!

No accidents yet but dose allow DD 11 to do gymnastic run ups involving twists and flips

traumaqueen · 06/04/2010 23:23

We got one when dc's were about 8 and 11; was the best thing ever. No safety net. They learned not to fall off fairly quickly. Wish I'd got it earlier and been able to keep it longer.

Friends still have theirs - dcs 20 and 23, still gets used. They do not adhere to the one-person-at-a-time rule. I understand that mixed pairs is a popular variation on the basic bounce.

Do not attempt bouncing in public until you have tested the resiliance of your pelvic floor with a private bounce.

tom57 · 06/04/2010 23:23

Now roundabouts they are scary.

CarrieDaBabi · 06/04/2010 23:26

ok then get some perspective

AitchTwoZone · 06/04/2010 23:34

but what does that actually mean? i'd be stupid to put one in, having been warned off them by the paed consult pal, wouldn't i? from my perspective it would be a phenomenally thick thing to do, having been warned in no uncertain terms not to get one.

amidaiwish · 06/04/2010 23:44

i fell off a swing in my back garden and broke my wrist
i was 15