Bounce House Injury Experiences

I don't know of anything serious or fatal, but the children must be well supervised while jumping. My in-laws are forever renting those things for birthday parties, and the kids love them. But almost everytime, somehow the thing starts losing air with the kids inside and it's a mad rush to get them all out safely. Once it was because the fuse blew and the electricity went out, another time it was because some little snot decided it would be funny to unplug the fan that keeps it inflated. But I think they can be loads of fun if properly supervised. I know if my son is in there, I'm standing on the outside watching the whole time.

A "death trap?" Wow, dramatic much?

I've been in the Army for nearly 10 years. At least twice a year, our Family Readiness Group (FRG) rents a bounce house for barbecues and Christmas parties. I've not seen anyone break anything. The worst thing I've seen is a child bonk heads with another child and come out crying. Which could happen ANYWHERE.

Do yourself a favor...don't ask Debbie Downer about this kind of stuff. I can only imagine the horror stories she has about childbirth. Gods forbid anyone tell her that they're preggo! LOL!

I'm a pediatric physical therapist and very opposed to backyard trampolines for that reason. I don't have a problem with bounce houses, though, if they are used wisely. We have rented them before and they are lots of fun. My suggestions to keep it safe are: make sure all kids remove their shoes, designate a parent volunteer to stand by and monitor kids' behavior to stop any unsafe flipping or tackling by big kids around the little ones, avoid getting it wet inside, and if your party is very large you might want to try to have some other activities so ALL the kids won't be in there at the same time. Enjoy!

Sounds like a fearful person. You can get hurt walking down the street.
We own a bouncehouse. Never had a serious injury, we use it for all the kids bdays.
We have been to about 20 bouncehouse bday parties, no injuries, plus about a dozen fairs with them. No injuries.

Oh gees, your co-worker is one of those who live in fear.

Can injurues happen? Of course, just like they can if you ride your bike, walk across the street, etc.

My no 17yr old grew up with bounce house parties, going and hosting. We never had any injuries.

You control the number of kiddos in the house and you supervise them. Easy peasy.

You co worker needs to get a life and stop living in fear.

I know you asked for those in opposition to bounce houses, but I love em. Personally and for my kids parties;)
The most extensive injury I have ever seen is bumped heads and that is usually from running around OUTSIDE of the bouncy area from excitement to get in.
I did a quick google search of injury statistics - you ar going to laugh - the serious injuries are from houses not securely anchored that fly away with 1. kids in it or 2. then land on someone!! Who knew?!
Suprisingly, no fatal accidents:)

I have taken my kids to some parties with them, and gone to some events in Chicago that had them. None of my kids ever got hurt. The only time I have actually heard of an injury is when there were just too many kids in there. We went to a bbq a couple of years ago. The hosts had one and a trampoline. They limited the number of kids and the age so if you have little ones, make sure a lot of big kids will not be in there too so they can all have fun.

Never had a problem with one. I ran the elementary school carnival for 2 years and we rented 2 every year.mwe made sure it was monitored and only the advised number of children at any time.

Also rented then
M throughout our daughters childhood and honestly never once had a problem.

Just set rules about the behaviors.

My kids have been to a few parties that had them and no one was injured. They also have them at the parish picnic, again 20 some odd years that I have gone, no injuries.

It is not like they can't happen but injuries can happen anywhere.

Hmmm, well, I used to rent one, until I realized it was cheaper for me to buy my own.
My M., sister and I all went in on one, just to have for all the birthdays.
Our kids are all alive and well and have never been hurt, in uh, the inflatable house of air.....

My kids daycare has one of those about once a month for some kids birthday. There have been no accidents, but they are always closely supervised. No kids jumping near the door, make sur ehtey stay out of each others way. At equally sized kids jump together, (i.e. don't put a wild 8 year old with a 2 year old).

I broke my foot turning it the wrong way from the side walk to the grass. I guess I need to learn to levitate in order to avoid all injuries!
Just supervise the bounce house and make sure the age limits are appropriate and absolutely no rough housing.
I've rented them twice for a b-day party, and my friends used to own a franchise that rents them. Never heard of a serious injury.

Yes there have been injuries.
They can and do fly away in high winds.
Yes if all the kids stand on one side it will fall to that one side and could trap a kid.
If you place it on a hill, it WILL move/roll down the hill.

If you monitor how the bounce house its behaving, you'll be fine.
If you ANCHOR it to a flat area, you'll be fine. The one that flew away last summer hadn't been anchored, because the parents didn't think it was really necessary.
If you monitor the kids while inside, you'll be fine. Don't just let them play unobserved.

Just be sure to have water and towels for after because some kids can get SWEATY in there!

They are dangerous, but not as dangerous as trampolines. Like others said:

Make sure you anchor it.
Keep it inflated (I've seen one deflate with young ones inside).
Segregate the older from the younger kids.
Monitor how many can use it at once.

Have fun!

(For an interesting take on this, though, check out Seattle Mama Doc.)
http://seattlemamadoc.seattlechildrens.org/why-i-hate-the...

We've never had a problem. However, the big kids can get rough with the smaller ones so you just have to have an adult watch. My son can bounce for hours... he loves those things!

I broke my arm in one, but that does not mean they are all death traps or injuries waiting to happen. We just take my son to one of those party places that are FULL of bouncy houses (Pump it Up) vs. having one in our home. It is actually very reasonabley priced IMO and worth looking into for future partys. So, on to your question about this party - no I would not bring one to my home personally.

i havent personally but i would imagin dangers thats why people (profeshnals) watch and let kids take turns, broken necks mmmm not sure but arms and legs. i have heard of kids falling out breakin body parts.
then i seen a VIDEO of a bounce house not being properly put into the ground and strapted down and it flying and bounceing away and kids got hurt. or they deflait wile kids are still in them.... i was thinkin bout haveing one for my kid but im havein second thoughts tooo.
i hope i was helpfull let me know what you do...thanks N..

I've never known anyone to get hurt in a jumper. I've rented one for parties, and we owned a small one for awhile. No injuries.

Limit how many kids are in them. We went to a party once, and my son and his friend crashed heads into each other. There was a lot of crying. But there were too many people in it to jump safely, I think. I would let him in one again as long as I was personally watching him to make sure he was safe.

There was a recent incident of a bounce house getting blown away in high winds and some people being injured at an event out our way. Make sure the bounce house is very securely anchored.

I let my kid bounce in them, but when he was smaller I called him out of them a couple times because much bigger, wilder kids were bouncing in there with him. I had once heard of a 3-year old getting killed at one of those bounce places when an adult fell on him. Why they let an adult bounce around a bunch of little kids, I have no idea. Just a little piece of paranoia to keep in the back of your mind. Sorry!

My son hurt his ankle badly in a bounce house about 18 months ago. He came down on it funny and severely sprained it. We seriously thought it was broken because he wouldn't walk on it for nearly a month. We took 2 trips to the hospital for x-rays of the foot and ankle. All of that being said, I still take him to bounce places and we haven't had a problem since.

Just supervise the kiddos. The only injury I know of was a boy who broke his collarbone at my friends kids party. Here's the "BUT"...
It was towards the end of the party and the house was (in my opinion) too full of older boys being very rough. The adults in charge should have prevented it.
When we have a larger group of kids with a range of ages we separate them and let the little kids have time to bounce more gently.
Don't deny your son the fun, just use common sense.