Anyone have a backyard trampoline?

[5 for WDW]

OP, I should have read all the replies. I am so glad you decided against one.

 

[barnaby1]

Oh dear, I was quite keen on one until I read all the replies. Now not so sure.

But just to play devils advocate, all the people who work in ER's and see injuries, do they also see lots of injuries from other everyday accepted sports like football, ice hockey etc which no one would think to say are really dangerous and shouldn't be played.

Just food for thought and would be interested to see peoples replies.

 

[surfgirl]

barnaby, I think the issue is the percentages... here are some stats I found:

-----------------
I then checked out the US Product Safety Commission for announcements & recalls. Their Safety Alert confirms the AAP findings and adds some numbers:

The CPSC estimates that in 2001 there were 91,870 hospital emergency room-treated injuries associated with trampolines

About 93 percent of the victims were under 15 years of age, and 11 percent were under 5 years of age
Since 1990, CPSC has received reports of 6 deaths of children under age 15 involving trampolines (study date not specified, likely from 1999 or 2000)
Another CPSC study states 11 deaths from 1990-1999

Compared to biking, the death rates sound pretty good. In 2006, 77 people died from bicycle accidents (I’m ignoring the 90% who died in collisions with cars – the total number dead in 2006 is 770). The difference is an estimated 3 million trampolines in use vs. 85 million bike riders (and about 540,000 total annual bike injuries).

Additionally, children are actively taught to be safe on a bike by learning about traffic and common sense safety, with the majority of serious head injuries avoidable by the use of a relatively cheap helmet. Some 45-88% of bicycle brain injuries can be prevented with a helmet, and similar increases in safety for trampolines *might* convince me that it’s worth the risk (more on risk in a bit).

source: http://www.tinygrass.com/2008/05/trampolines-safety-liability/

 

[U2_rocks!]

The thing I don't like about statistics is that they don't tell how many of those injuries are caused by true accidents while using the trampoline properly vs accidents while using it improperly. Same with the bike riding stats. They have done studies that show how risk of serious injury to the head is decreased through the use of helmets, and I'm sure if they did one on trampolines they would find that the risk of serious injury would be incredibly lower if flips were never performed. Sure, you'd still have collisions if there is more than one kid jumping (again, you can lower that by making a one child at a time rule), which may result in serious head injury. But if you have rules about no flips and insist on only one child at a time, and you actually enforce those rules through proper supervision, the risks should be much, much lower. The kinds of injuries you'd see then are overwhelmingly foot and and hand injuries, which you can get just as easily on a bike (or skateboard, or rollerblades .. etc.), since the helmet only protects the head.

So I don't believe trampolines are evil at all. I just think, like everything else in this world, you need to use it properly, and be aware of the potential for injury and respect that. Trampolines are better in an area where other neighborhood kids aren't able to jump unsupervised, and you as parent are able to watch your own kids well enough when they are on it. It also helps if the kids have been taught to use it properly through gymnastics classes, as long as they aren't doing flips and advanced things that should have a professional spotter present.

 

[Running_Bell]

We love our trampoline. I had one growing up as a teen and my DH and I bought one for our son and it is passed down and being used by our DD... and me. It is a large round design, with the pads. We love it.... almost all the homes in our neighborhoood have one. We have rules that the kids must follow for their safety... but it is one of the best purchases we've made. Now... as far as injuries... you can get injured doing anything. There are statistics out there where data is collected in a way just to show something looks worse than it is.... believe me, we ride sportbikes (me, DH and DS) and we are constantly dealing with that. It has to be everyone's personal choice... but we have loved ours... and yes, I did break my ankle once... I wasn't using the trampoline properly and decided to jump "off" on purpose. I was an adult at the time...the kids are actually smarter than that. Anyway... broken bones can happen doing anything.... I sister broke her ankle walking down stairs.... those darn stairs.... they should all be removed and alll homes be one story..... : ) sorry... before you all get mad... I'm just joking around. Life's too short... have fun!

 

[luvmy3]

OP, I haven't read the thread so I apologize if this has already been said. Be sure to check with your Home Owner's Insurance to see what their policy is on trampolines. Some do not allow them.

 

[Khill]

We have had a 14" round with side inclusure for about 5 years now. DD9 and DD6 love it. They jump on it, and play on it all the time.

Just have to have some ground rules, and they either abide by them, or I will take it down.

 

[mouselovr]

We have one that my DS now 10 bought himself when he was about 4-5 with Bday and Christmas $$. We have anet and have never had even a minor injury on it, knock on wood. My DS and DD 3, LOVE IT! It was the best investment he ever made! I'll be it the only one he had ever made. I work in a hopsital too and have heard but not seen the accident reports too(including the one from one of our neurosurgeons daughter who has one also). I also have a cousin whos daughter broke a leg on thiers but I still would have one. I do protect my kids well and am a little to paraniod about somethings probably but, I would be more prone to banning a bike than a trampoline at my house if I were to really look at the stats. if you have rules they are not that dangerous, IMO.

 

[dfchelbay]

DH and I are debating whether or not to buy our girls a trampoline for Christmas. We are clueless about brand, price, size, etc. I've looked at a few on Costco, BJs and Sam's, so we'd probably buy one from them.

Do your kids use your trampoline a lot? Are you glad you bought it for them? What about insurance? Does it increase?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

We don't have a trampoline, but every year we are asked by our homeowners insurance carrier if we do have one. So, I'm guessing it will increase the homeowners insurance rate...why else would they ask.

 

[happymommy]

OP I'm glad you decided against one. Last Thanksgiving, my oldest was injured on my sister's trampoline. ER and 14 stitches in his forehead.

 

[lanejudy]

Just to note ... the OP started this thread in 2009 ...

 

[friedela]

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against anyone having them. The danger is so serious. I would not recommend one personally. I know many folks have kids that have fun on them, but I would not ever get one.

I totally agree. We will never own one, they make me incredibly nervous. Even when jumping "safe" we have so many friends whose kids have broken limbs on them. Tons of articles from the American Paediatrics Association on the dangers of them:

http://www.aappublications.org/content/29/4/29.6
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/67/3/438
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/103/6/1311?sso=1&sso_redirect_count=1&nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR:+No+local+token
http://www.aappublications.org/content/33/10/1.3
http://www.aappublications.org/content/28/9/2.3

there are tons more, just go to the AAP website and type "trampolines" in the search, there are literally pages of articles warning against the use of trampolines at any age.

I think if people did their research they would never let their kids on one again.

 

[friedela]

Just to note ... the OP started this thread in 2009 ...

Didn't even notice that! Haha.

 

[happymommy]

A month after I posted on this, my son ended up in the ER (on Thanksgiving night) with 12 stitches in his head and a possible concussion from jumping on one. The ER doctor that stitched him up said he wasn't even the first trampoline accident of the night. It was an awful experience.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

DH and I are debating whether or not to buy our girls a trampoline for Christmas. We are clueless about brand, price, size, etc. I've looked at a few on Costco, BJs and Sam's, so we'd probably buy one from them.

Do your kids use your trampoline a lot? Are you glad you bought it for them? What about insurance? Does it increase?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

We don’t have one but we seriously thought about getting one. When we switched insurance companies , they did ask if we had one. Just like they asked about pool.

 

[MrsPete]

My husband had a trampoline as a boy, and he loved it -- so he was anxious to get one for our girls when they were old enough. It was their shared birthday gift one year, and no other toy -- none -- in their entire childhood received so much play time.

Knowing what to expect, he was strict about safety from Day 1. No shoes, no toys, only one jumper at a time, no friends without hearing the safety rules and permission from a parent, no jumping when no parent is home. The trampoline lasted about a decade, and we never even had a scratch with it.

His personal favorite memory: We had a niece who was too young to jump alone, but she wanted to jump so badly. He let her have the first turn -- all the cousins were watching and waiting -- and he went on with her, holding both her hands and just simply bouncing in place with her -- she kept screaming out, "I jump with my angel! My angel help me!" She couldn't yet say uncle, and he loved it.

Our girls jumped every single day in good weather, but they also laid on the trampoline just to read or talk. A couple times they slept out there.

No, our insurance didn't go up. The insurance company didn't ask, and I never thought to tell them we had a trampoline. I would not have lied about it.

 

[StowellClan]

We got our daughters one last summer -- actually, I was out of town and came home to find one in the back yard...husband actually got our daughters one last summer. lol

All 4 kids that are still at home are in competitive cheer (ages 5-18), so thought maybe they would practice stuff, but they don't -- use it occasionally for just jumping and doing tricks and they love to camp out on it with us in the summertime. It does have a big net thing around it to keep them from flying off...but we haven't had any injuries, maybe just because they are used to trampoline rules from being in the cheer gym for so long.

 

[tinkerjo]

I know this thread is forever old but just wanted to say the quality of the trampolines are not what they were years ago. DD growing up had one I bought used and it lasted for close to 10 years. The kids played on it almost daily and did flips and tricks all the time. DD was a gymnast so there were some serious flips done on it. Never 1 injury in all those years. We got one for youngest DS about 5 years ago and it didn’t even last 6 months!!! Such junk AND our insurance company had a fit so no more trampolines for us.