Are Trampolines Safe?

We have one - my kids LOVE it. They are 5 and 6 and they are on it almost every day. It's great exercise. We have the safety net and it works great.

S.,
My co worker had a terrible accident happen on her trampoline and because of it I will never own one. The kids (her daughters and some school friends) were teenagers jumping on the tramp at the same time. Somehow (I can't exactly explain the science on this one)someone jumped as a young man landed and all of the shock hit this young man just as if he landed on cement. The bone in his leg instantly shattered. He was a star athlete and probably would never be the same. She immediately took down the trampoline and told me never ever to get one for my kids. This is not one of those "I knew a person who knew a person" stories. They felt terrible and I am sure their homeowners insurance was sued to pay for the many doctor bills that incurred.
I would recommend against purchasing a trampoline.
C. O

I know they can be fun, but no. I broke my arm on a trampoline as an 8-year old and also one of my classmates from high school is paralyzed from the neck down because of an injury from a trampoline. Just say no.

S., I don't know about the injuries aspect, but we have American Family Insurance and they will insure them - no problem (I checked).

make rules they should be ok. the trouble is when more then one person is on at the same time. i was 20 years old when i got hurt. my Boyfriend "stole my bounce" meaning he jumped down just as i was about it hit so it sprung up and hit me as i came down.it dislocated my ankle it popped back in after a few days but i couldn't walk well for a few months and I still have a weak ankle. limit the # of kids on at one time and check with insurance.

Some insurance companies are OK with trampolines. Ours is- I checked.
In my opinion, trampolines are as safe as bikes, but you HAVE to have rules and enforce them. For example, our rules are: Shoes must come off. No pushing or jumping on people. No one is allowed under the trampoline when someone is on it. No more than 3 people can be on at the same time. If a little guy is on (like my 2yo) big kids cannot jump. No toys, sticks, or other equipment are allowed on the trampoline when people are on it.
Accidents can happen, but the chance of serious injury greatly decreases if you SUPERVISE and TEACH your kids- and their friends!- to be smart about how they play.

An ER doctor friend told us that they see a lot of foot/ankle tendon injuries with trampolines and small kids. I think they have age/weight guidelines that you might want to check.

Like with just about anything there needs to be safety rules that need to be followed. Please check with your insurance company as we just looked around for new homeowners insurance and the one thing our insurance lady told us was to NOT get one.

S.,

I use to work in agricultural safety and health and part of that job was educating families on safe play areas on the farm. Trampolines have always been a no-no. They are very dangerous.

CB

Hi S.! We don't have one, but growing up our next door neighbor did. I can tell you that rules or no rules kids are going to go a little nuts on them. :) We tried to "double" bounce each other, do flips, etc. I almost went off the side a couple of times and my friend got her leg caught through the springs scraping it up pretty badly. In my mind the risk just isn't worth it - both for our family and for other kids that would come over (I never want to explain to another mom why her child has a spinal cord injury).

As to the insurance - I work for an insurance company that will not insure a home with a trampoline. There are those out there will, but it will increase your premium - sometimes quite substantially. Just some things to think about.

S.,

While trampolines are fun they are not safe! I am a surgical nurse and have seen a few kids come to surgery with neck and thoracic vertebrae injuries. Not to mention head injuries!!! I know we can't keep our kids in a bubble, but if they flip off the wrong way they could really change their life forever. Just say no!!!

A little about me:

I am married and a mom of 2. I have a home business that I work Mon. thru Fri. and I am a RN on the weekends.

Most serious injuries happen on trampolines because people try risky tricks/flips that they aren't trained to do safely or there are too many people on the trampoline. With little kids (under 5) I have the rule of one at a time with full adult supervision. After that a max of 2 kids at a time, no flips or somersaults, and no games where they try to mess up ech others bounces. Also the 2 kids need to be similar in weight. I fully supervise until I am comfortable that the kids understand the rules and even then I keep an eye on them. Also watch for fatigue because that is when most injuries occur with any athletic activity. If the kids start getting clumsy it is time to get off.

Other rules: No using the trampoline when it is wet. Leaves and other debris must be cleared off before using. No shoes.

Other than that, go for it and let them have fun.

I've had one for 4 years now, and I have a 5, 3 and 1 year old. We've never had any problems with injuries, probably because we set out rules for it from the beginning and if the rules are broken the kids are off. Plus, we have a safety net all around it and 6 feet up. It's a lifesaver, the kids love it and it makes them crash at night! I'm not sure where you heard that insurance companies won't insure injuries from trampolines, that's not true at all for our company. That would be like them not insuring injuries from swing sets or pools. It doesn't make sense. We love ours, the kids love it and my husband and I get on there with them too. It's a nice workout. I would recommend one.

I'm a paramedic & we had a call for a child that got stepped on while jumping by someone else & let's just say it was the worst break the doc had ever seen. I personally wouldn't get one but that's just me. I would also check with your insurance, some will not accept it.

Good luck with your decision :) Just make it a great & safe summer whatever you decide!

you are going to get views from both ends. we don't have a trampoline but friends do. i feel they are just as safe as any thing you have in the yard. you need to have rules that need to be follow-that you as parents and adults need to make. and have supervision.

Hi S.! My parents have a trampoline and I have always worried about injuries. They do have rules and it has worked out really well.
This kind of put it in perspective for me..... my brother in law used to jump out of trees with a rope tied around his waist and jump off the house onto a mattress (while his mom and dad were not home) so I think a trampoline with all the safety measures, rules for their protection and good supervision is okay!

We owned two - my kids have outgrown them. But we had no problems (tried to enforce the rule of no more than 3 on at a time). We had the safety net. Look for a good sturdy one if you do plan to get one. The one area of concern we had with our first trampoline was the padding around the outside - it tends to tear and fold back, so potentially a leg could go through there. So make sure that part is good and check it often. Also make sure getting on and off is safe - might require a little stairway or a good solid chair next to the entry point (keeps the kids from pulling on the netting too). I also reminded my kids that the netting is there for safety - not for bouncing off of, climbing, leaning on, etc. This was hardest to enforce with neighborhood kids who seem to come out of the woodwork when you have a trampoline. Make sure if they jump, that their parents know that you are not supervising.
My kids were never brave enough to try the flips, so I think that helped keep the injuries down.

I work in an orthopedic clinic and all I can say is Google "trampoline injuries" - after reviewing a few of the >400,000 hits, you should have your answer.

Injuries occur when the body miss judges where the surface is in space. It's kind of like when you are going down the stairs and you think you have one more step left. However, your actually at the bottom - or you think your at the bottom but you actually have another step to go. Rules or no rules, you can not alter the fact the jumping surface is in motion and not stationary.

If you still decide to get one, please read the recommendations from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. http://www.aaos.org/about/papers/position/1135.asp

Just an idea ... it's a lot of work, but my in-laws have one that they dug into the ground. The tramp is flush with the lawn and the kids have a lot of fun and we don't have to be as concerned with them falling off. Of course, we do enforce rules. The only thing I'd recommend if you do this is to be sure it gets proper drainage -- when it rains, it tends to collect under the tramp.

A friend of ours has one and my 4 yr old daughter and my friend's 4 yr old son were on it- with a net, being supervised. That didn't stop my friend's son from falling off the trampoline through the little hole at the bottom of the zipper area. Just after reading these posts it seems clear to me that no matter how many rules you try to enforce with a tramp- accidents can and will happen and they sound like pretty serious ones to me.

Insurance companies vary on whether they insure them and what kind of rules they have (some require a fence around it) so you would just need to check with your company. We have never owned a trampoline, but I must admit I can't stand them and I hated it when my kids would jump on them at friends' houses. The neighbors had one for several years and it caused a lot of problems, but thank goodness no major injuries. Several close calls. My husband is a product liability attorney and trampolines cause a lot of litigation. The most serious problem is head and spinal cord injuries from flips and improper jumping. The biggest dangers seem to be flips and multiple jumpers on at the same time. There were an awful lot of badly bumped heads on our neighbor's tramp from kids jumping and falling into each other. They are very safe if used properly (safety net, no flips, one kid at a time), but then the kids say they are "boring." You might want to think about whether you are prepared to provide the proper supervision. We had a rule that my kids couldn't jump on it without adult supervision so when my neighbors weren't outside and the kids wanted to jump I would often have to supervise. At first the neighbors enforced some rules and supervised, but that went by the wayside pretty quickly and they were pretty lax about the safety rules. The neighbors eventually got tired of it and the padding, net, etc. wore out from the exposure to weather. Personally, I think there are safer ways to get the kids outside and exercising, but I admit I have a big bias against trampolines. You might want to think about where you put it too--the one in our neighborhood was two houses down and the neighbor in between us wasn't very happy that the tramp was placed right outside her kitchen window so she could see the kids jumping and hear their screaming when she was making dinner and doing dishes. Sometimes the neighbor kids were on it late at night too. She would often call me to tell me when the rules weren't being enforced and then my kids would lose tramp privileges for awhile. Good luck.