Trampolines

[taximom]

My kids are begging for a trampoline (big, round kind for the backyard).
I would only get one with the safety enclosure and padding.

Do any of you have one? or No Way Jose ....too dangerous?

If you do have one, can you recommend a brand/store or size?

I'm thinking good exercise and fun for my kids this summer.....but my DH thinks they are dangerous and the kids will lose interest in a month.

Any opinions? or experiences?

Thanks!

[Sarah Maddie's Mom]

Call you insurance company first. They may have some policy exclusions that might make the decision for you.

I don't know how reliable this site is, but it's a start.

http://www.insurancesalesman.com/home-insurance-owner-trampoline.htm

[momtojess]

We had one until the storms came through this spring, picked itup and through is 20 ft in the air, before landing in the tree.

We will probably get another one this summer. My kids LOVE it, and I do too. It is great exercise. We had the enclosure and we have rules. They cant get on it unless there is an adult at there, 1 kid at a time, no flips, no bouncing in to the netting on purpose. They know if they break any of these, they will be grounded from it for certain time periods, depending which one they break. We dont let neighbor kids or friends on it, unless I personally have spoken to them to make sure they are allowed. We had one kid that isnt allowed, so he is our "judge" if we have butt bouncing contest or something.

[coni]

We have one. I can't recommend a brand.

They're fun, but it's true that we don't use it as much as we did at first. (We've had it for a few years.) Be prepared to set rules and police behavior.

If you normally aren't with the kids when they are outside, think about who's going to be watching them when they're on it. We NEVER allow them to use the trampoline without a parent nearby.

Overall I don't know that it has been worth it for us, but when the kids do use it, they enjoy it, especially if they have friends over. It also helps bring down blood sugars (which may or may not be a good thing:p).

[taximom]

Call you insurance company first. They may have some policy exclusions that might make the decision for you.

I don't know how reliable this site is, but it's a start.

http://www.insurancesalesman.com/home-insurance-owner-trampoline.htm

Do you mean for liability insurance....if someone other than family is injured? or for homeowners insurance.......if the tramp is damaged due to wind or something?

[Sarah Maddie's Mom]

I only know this because a friend recently opted not to get one for this very reason. Not, in other words, because I'm some trial lawyer, trampoline hating kill joy. ;)


From Wiki-Answers ( Not unique info though, just google and there's quite a bit about it)

Insurance companies consider trampolines to be an Extreme Risk, People are often injured (sometimes seriously) on them. The claims paid on trampoline related accidents are some of the highest an Insurer can ever encounter. The injuries sustained can be far reaching and last a lifetime. Injuries such as Lifelong Paralysis can require medical care and assisted living epenses that far exceed most policy limits. Insurance companies are writing policies with many stipulations in them due to the high rate of injury claims.

Insurance companies are also worried about uninvited trampoline jumpers. Even if you supervise your children on the trampoline and make sure that they use it properly, neighbors and others may be tempted to use it when you are not around. Trampolines are considered an "attractive nuisance" which means that they tempt people to use them even when they do not have permission to do so. Even though this is trespassing some courts will make awards to the trespassers anyway. It may not even matter that you have signs posted telling everyone to keep off. Some individuals may sue when they get hurt on your trampoline, even if you did not give them permission to use it. This can cost you (or rather your insurance company) thousands, perhaps millions of dollars (hey wierder things have happened!) Even if your win the court case brought against you and you are not found liable for the intruder's injuries your insurance company will have spent thousands defending you. Insurance companies would rather lose your business ($500 premium) than thousands defending a law suit.

[Adinsmom]

We have one. When it needs to be replaced we will not be getting another one.

I like it for my son's that are 3 and 6. Adin loves it and has since we put it up when he was 2. My boys are alot more cautious than my 9 year old dd and her friends. At first we had alot of rules about it. Then we put the net closure on and the kids try to disregard the rules. They feel invincable on it.

[liasmommy2000]

I wanted to get Lia one a few years ago. But I was told to ask about the insurance. I called our agent and was told if we got one, they would cancel our policy immediately. That took care of that! No trampoline here.

[CJ's Mom]

We've had the same one for about 8 years with a net enclosure. Even at 12 and 15 the kids are on it frequently. We've had 1 accident and that was last fall when Cj was jumping and landed wrong twisting his ankle and sprained it. I don't consider it a true trampoline accident since it's the type of injury that could have happend playing any sport. I agree with previous posters, it seems to bring down BG. The cats like lounging on it & the dogs like lying under it.

[BrendaK]

Our neighbor has one and has an "open jumping" policy -- we can jump on it any time we want, as long as we don't sue them if someone gets hurt!!! One kid in the neighborhood has already gotten stitches from it this year.

I think the exercise on it is great, but WOW, is sure does a number on Carson's blood sugar. For a while he was in the 40-50's every time he jumped. A few times in the 30's. He needs a TON of carbs if he jumps on it for more than 5-10 minutes. The trampoline just REALLY stresses me out because of D. We've kind of figured almost a carb a minute, so it's gotten better than it used to be. But WHEW, it was really stressful there for a while!!

[staciebco]

We had one until the storms came through this spring, picked itup and through is 20 ft in the air, before landing in the tree.

We will probably get another one this summer. My kids LOVE it, and I do too. It is great exercise. We had the enclosure and we have rules. They cant get on it unless there is an adult at there, 1 kid at a time, no flips, no bouncing in to the netting on purpose. They know if they break any of these, they will be grounded from it for certain time periods, depending which one they break. We dont let neighbor kids or friends on it, unless I personally have spoken to them to make sure they are allowed. We had one kid that isn't allowed, so he is our "judge" if we have butt bouncing contest or something.


We have one, my kids are on it everyday. We used to have some of the rules that are listed above. However, we've had it for several years and now I don't monitor the usage as much as I used to. My kids do all the "no-no's" on the tramp. They do flips, they play hockey, they bounce off the sides of the enclosure, they throw each other into the enclosure, they are almost always on all 4 of them together, and whatever friends are over at the time. I think we've had it for 4 years, we've replaced the enclosure and spring cover once. Ours is a Jump King. We bought it because replacement "parts" are available. We've never had a serious accident. When I spoke to our insurance agent, he said our company has a "one free accident" policy. If something happened to it I would buy another immediately. It's been well worth the money.

[taximom]

Ours is a Jump King. We bought it because replacement "parts" are available. We've never had a serious accident. When I spoke to our insurance agent, he said our company has a "one free accident" policy. If something happened to it I would buy another immediately. It's been well worth the money.

Stacie,
What a coincidence. I ordered a Jump King trampoline yesterday! I'm so glad you are happy with it. I talked to my DH about the whole insurance issue and he said not to worry about that....well ok then. Our backyard is very secluded and surrounded by woods, so I'm not concerned about anyone else sneaking on it. For the past 7 years (last 2 houses in the South) we've had a pool in the backyard. I think the dangers/responsibilities of a pool far outweight that of a trampoline.
Brenda - thanks for the warning of low BG's. I'll have to keep an eye on my DS and check his BG often, to see how much it effects him. He loves to eat....so maybe it will all balance out.

[hawkeyegirl]

Nope. No trampoline here, nor will there ever be. My kids won't be allowed to jump at others' houses either. I'm a mean, mean mommy.

[taximom]

Nope. No trampoline here, nor will there ever be. My kids won't be allowed to jump at others' houses either. I'm a mean, mean mommy.

Is this a mommy thing or a lawyer thing? Do you have any real-life horror stories? I probably shouldn't ask since I already ordered it.

[Twinklet]

We've had one for 2 years. It has the full enclosure net. It is housed in our fenced-in backyard, so no one else can really get to it but my kids. We bought the El Cheapo brand at Walmart, but when this one falls apart I'll get a Jump King. I wanted to see if they really liked it before I forked over twice the amount of dough.

We have very strict rules: No more than 2 kids at a time, any rough play results in immediate removal, bouncing off the net = immediate removal, no flips......and more. The rules exist more for our daredevil little 6-year-old who is fearless. I don't monitor much, if at all when my oldest and a friend are on it. We've had no injures in 2 years of almost daily use.

Regarding blood sugar: It is a nightmare! Emily needs a LOT of free carbs and her pump off to jump. One Saturday she had a friend over and they jumped on the trampoline and played games on it for almost 5 hours. She got 100 free carbs that day, it was unbelieveable! So our rule is she has to check her BG every 30 minutes while on the trampoline and take some long-acting free carbs (with fat and protein).

[hawkeyegirl]

Is this a mommy thing or a lawyer thing? Do you have any real-life horror stories? I probably shouldn't ask since I already ordered it.

Definitely a mommy thing. A kid could come over to our house at any time and trip and fall in the yard and sue me, ya know? I don't get too riled about the liability thing. It's why we have insurance. :)

I think we all have our "things". I'm pretty anti-four wheeler and three wheeler, too, and I know a lot of parents don't have any problem with them. Swimming is actually fairly dangerous for kids, but I wouldn't ban my kids from swimming. More kids probably end up in the emergency room from riding a bike every year than from trampolining (is that a word?), but I wouldn't stop my kids from doing that.

I may well be irrational about the trampoline issue, but I just don't know that I could get over it.

[momandwifeoftype1s]

We won't have a large, outdoor trampoline (with or without the nets) for our kids. I've heard too many injury stories, and my kids are too hyper to obey the rules when they are already jumping. I'm also too tired/have no desire to sit outside and supervise jumping. However, we do have an indoor trampoline with a handle attached to it for TV viewing. They can jump with they watch TV. We also have a small bounce house, which we sometimes set up in our bonus room for jumping on rainy days. They like to fill it with their Webkins while they jump.

[Heather(CA)]

Well, my brother the Paramedic has one in his backyard...

But, my hubby the guy who has jumped out of an airplane over 300 times said "NO WAY" when we could have gotten one for free:confused:

Here's an idea, call the local ER's and get their opinion?:cwds:

[caspi]

We're going on our second year with ours and our kids love it! It has the enclosure and I'm very strict about who can use it and who can't. There are only a couple of the kids friends that I allow on it, because I know their parents very well.

Ours "took flight" as well earlier this year and we have since staked it down!

It's also great when Cam is running high because it brings him down very quickly!:D

[taximom]

If my kids were younger and had to be constantly supervised, then I probably would not even think about getting it. My kids have been on many of their friends trampolines without any problems. My daughter actually "camped-out" and they slept on her friend's tramp. in the backyard last night. They had a blast (with the exception of a wandering pack of racoons :eek:).

Accidents can happen with anywhere. We've always had a swimming pool...no problems. My kids have skied and snowboarded down huge mountains ...on problems. They play ice hockey and football, ride skateboards, etc, etc. My non-d son was riding his bike to school, collided with another kid and broke his arm! ....Will I ban bicycles from our house? Not quite.

I think with the proper safety enclosures, padding and rules....it will be a lot of fun and good exercise for the kids.

Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

[dqmomof3]

We have always had a trampoline, and we have never had a safety enclosure. Call me crazy, but that's the way we've done it. We had an adult cheerleader/coach tell us once that the kids with safety enclosures were less likely to learn the rules, because there is a false sense of safety with the net. So he advocated for no safety enclosures, and enforcement of basic rules instead. That's what we've always done. I think we've had a trampoline (we're on the third or fourth one) since my oldest was about 4 - he's 14 now!

Jayden is a gymnast, though, so she's trained in the gym on the trampoline on how to do the flips and such. She's the only one who does those out there. The other two are content to play sword-fighting with pillows or "king of the mountain."

You are right about the blood sugars...whew! Honestly, I think that's why Jayden's A1C is what it is, and why she was so long delayed in diagnosis. She is on the trampoline all the time...probably 2-3 hours a day, even on gym days.

If ours breaks, we'll have another one for sure, probably until all the kids leave home!