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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Sofa bouncers of the world, unite.....

28 replies

lingle · 29/08/2008 09:27

Dammit I should be working but instead I'm going to post this.

DH and I always bounced on the sofa as kids and allow our children to do so also. The sofa was new from Multiyork but the pleasure we've all derived from it has been well worth any (non-detectable) weakening of the springs.

Are there any other secret or "out" sofa bouncing families out there or will everyone think I'm a bad mother for this? I've noticed that avoiding sofa bouncing is given as an example of behaviour to be stamped out of them in several child behaviour books ("you may bounce on your trampoline, but not on our new sofa").

We now climb the arm of the armchair, arrange the cushions on the sofa, then practice our diving and other Olympic sports [dammit, document has now printed out, must do work]

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

LilRedWG · 29/08/2008 09:31

DD isn't allowed to, but each to their own. It sounds like good fun in your house.

Bumdiddley · 29/08/2008 09:36

DD and DS don't bounce on the sofas - because our bed is lower and bouncier

LilRedWG · 29/08/2008 09:37

DD bounces on our bed and in her cot.

chipmunkswhereareyou · 29/08/2008 11:11

Can I come and live in your house - it sounds fun.

We don't let ds do this but I turn a blind eye to a tiny bit of bed bouncing.

His friend is allowed to bounce a lot on her sofa and I have to say it's a bit awkward when I have to tell ds not to and she is there having fun boinging away.

snowleopard · 29/08/2008 11:19

There was a long thread about this before once - it was a true MN polarisation moment!

I'm with you - sofa-bouncing and bed-bouncing is a must! DS has to be careful not to knock pictures or land on bedposts, and no shoes obviously, but apart from that it's fine. Also a lot of olympic-level cushion-mountain-diving (on the floor) goes on in our house.

mazzystar · 29/08/2008 11:23

we positively encourage it.

have a fatboy beanbag, which is strategically place to be jumped on to. sometimes we take the cushions off and make an obstacle course to climb or jump on all over the room.

it beats going to soft play

FiveGoMadInDorset · 29/08/2008 11:30

Oh God yes

Original poster

lingle · 29/08/2008 11:32

Yes chipmunks I can see that's tricky. I have to quickly say "this isn't a bouncing sofa" at other people's houses lest they jump on!
I guess there are bouncing sofas and non-bouncing sofas and vive la difference!

OP posts:

quickdrawmcgraw · 29/08/2008 11:35

sofas in our house are for practicing no handed somersaults from arm and also forward roll to headstands from a full pelt run from other room. No shoes allowed though and they can't do headstands on the sofa with the pictures behind.

Othersideofthechannel · 29/08/2008 11:38

DC are not allowed to bounce on the sofa. Until recently we had an old futon upstairs they could bounce on, and they still have giant cushions and dd has a double bed.
We have concrete floor covered with tiles in the living room so the rule is to protect them as much as the sofa.

bubblagirl · 29/08/2008 11:38

we do this on our sofa but make it clear other peoples sofas are for bottoms not feet

and our bed is alsoa fave to any kid that comes in i dont mind but sofa is not new and a bit ruined anyway i may think differently when we can afford our new leather sweet

hazeyjane · 29/08/2008 11:39

I have turned our front room into a soft play area today (dds are ill) so spare bed mattresses, all the cushions off the sofa, and spare cot mattress the whole floor is covered and dds are bouncing on it as i speak, it also gives me a chance to clean out all the snacks crumbs that have fallen down the sides of the cushions.

ninja · 29/08/2008 11:42

As I type this dd (5) is bouncing on an extremely bouncy chair - like the olympic sports idea sounds fun!

madmarriedNika · 29/08/2008 22:56

Our DCs can bounce on sofas and beds...none of which are in great condition anyway and the pleasure they derive from bouncing outweighs the damage! Mind you they are only 3yrs & 14 months so I may hang my mind when they're bigger/heavier!! But at other peoples houses I don't allow them to put feet on sofas/beds...
DS was also practising diving off the sofa in Olympic fashion too

madmarriedNika · 29/08/2008 22:57

hang? - change- my mind! Must get new keyboard too many sticking keys!!

Acinonyx · 29/08/2008 23:02

Bouncing is permitted on all sofas, chairs and beds here. Most of my mummy friends permit this too - but dd knows that some houses do not allow bouncing. The sofa is a bit sad, it's true. We have 2 cats as well. I can't believe I thought that sofa would last a lifetime when we bought it.

EachPeachPearMum · 29/08/2008 23:06

I didn't think I would ever allow this....
but DD looks so cute and funny doing it ( and at one point we feared she never actually would bother to walk) so we just laugh and let her.

BroccoliSpears · 29/08/2008 23:14

I had a friend round the other day who is far stricter with her little boy than I am with dd. I somehow find myself trying to pretend I'm a stricter parent than I really am and heard myself say in my very best Stern Mummy Voice "Now DD, if you're going to stand on the windowsill and jump onto the sofa I'm afraid you MUST try and land on your bottom, not your feet. If you land on your feet you could tip forwards and hurt yourself. Do you understand?"

It occured to me afterwards that my firm parenting possibly didn't impress my friend all that much really...

susiecutiebananas · 29/08/2008 23:18

Funny one this. I personally don't see any problem with it at all. DD doesn't actually really bounce on out sofa, maybe it is not bouncy enough! She went through a phase of flinging herself backwards on it, which was fine until she got too over zealous and started flying off it. So not so safe onto a wooden floor... I really wish there was more bounce in our sofa!

She does bounce in her cot, and tries on our bed, but its got a tempur mattress on it so it just doesn't give the right bounce! I can remember vividly bouncing on my parent's bed with my brother, when we were little, and on our beds. We moved to a temporary house with beds with proper proper springs on them, they were like trampolines to us, it was like christmas when we started to bounce on them!!

I've got a good friend though who really doesn't allow bouncing at all, and DD always, without fail climbs up and starts to bounce. It's so embarrassing as it looks like she's a naughty girl, and my friend always tells her not to. I think its just because her DS does and falls off all the time so she's banned it!

I say, yes, bed bouncers and sofa bouncers unite indeed!

TheMoistWorldOfSeptimusQuench · 29/08/2008 23:18

I half heartedly tell DD off for her boucing antics, but secretly rather approve.

However, you know what happened to those 5 bed boucing little monkeys boucing ...

TheMoistWorldOfSeptimusQuench · 29/08/2008 23:20

Sorry, should preview.

Bouncing.

wb · 30/08/2008 09:52

Sofa and bed bouncing are practically obligatory in our house - one of childhood's greatest pleasures as far as I'm concerned. Have had to be strict about not jumping on the furniture in other people's houses though, cause no-one else we know tolerates it.

NellyTheElephant · 30/08/2008 19:23

Don't talk to me about bouncing....... Both my DDs never stop (despite my best efforts and two hospital trips). Problem is, despite their love of bouncing they are both terribly clumsy, just like me! First A&E visit was due to DD1's sofa bouncing. She was just 2 and DD2 was a couple of weeks. She flew off the sofa and almost landed head first on the coffee table, I stuck my arm out to catch her, but in the process dropped DD1 (I told you I was clumsy too!) who landed face first on said coffee table amid much blood and awfulness (she was fine). DD2, being v little at the time, clearly learnt nothing from this experience. Now, aged 18 months she's an even keener bouncer than DD1, but a couple of weeks ago did a crazy bounce off DD1's bed crashing face first into the bedside table. A&E thought she might have fractured cheekbone and broken nose, but all turned out fine again (phew!)

erwfran · 30/08/2008 21:44

I was never allowed to sofa bounce as a child but it made it much more fun to do when parents weren't in the room to see it. I will be applying the same rules with my ds (hes only 7 months at the mo), officially no sofa bouncing - this issue actually came up recently when we had friends to stay with a 3 yr old and 18 month old they were running all over my brand new sofas, have to say I wasn't impressed (didnt say anything mind).

laralamb · 31/08/2008 17:14

have to say I can still remember the bliss of sofa and bed bouncing as a child!

One of my very favorite childhood memories is when round a friend?s house we would take all the mattresses, duvets, sofa cushions and pillows line the staircase with them and make a big bouncy slide to fling ourselves down. Another favorite pastime was jumping off a top bunk bed onto a heap of pillows etc.

Needless to say I am showing my kids the way to do these things, they are learning from the expert!

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