Trampolines?

[admin]

We actually just ordered a small one for indoors that has a bar on it. My dd is 5 though and she's used a small one at OT (supervised) for a long time. It has helped her with balance (but she's always been pretty coordinated). I like the bar one because it has the potential for weight bearing. Let me say too that these aren't of the size where she can jump and roll or do anything like that. Basically it is about a 3 ft wide one and all she can do is jump up and down. She's a pretty kid and doesn't jump really high.

[admin]

ooops...well yes she's pretty, but I meant to say she's a pretty cautious kid....

[admin]

I am afraid to buy a trampoline for my girls b/c I know several people who are friends of the family that got hurt while jumping on them. I would let them jump in one for a little while if I was watching non-stop. I wouldn't buy one though. The girls have a SpongeBob bouncer that we blow up in the backyard for fun. It only hold up to 4 kids and it is a small size. They love it. They even take their blankets in there and during picnics they love to lay and look up at the sky under the blanket or on the blanket. They never came close to getting hurt in there. Let's hope it stays that way!
~Krista~

[admin]

The reason trampoline was a no for our child was because at that particular time her shoulder was very unstable. I was told that we could let her go on it if she wore a compression brace that would give her shoulder some stability and also if she did it with no other kids at the same time bumping into her, etc. Let's remember that every child has different issues and that some will be allowed to and others won't.

[claudia]

This opens up an interesting pandora's box...our closest friends just got a gigantic tramp with an enclosure and my kids just LOVE it!! I told my friend and my kids what my rules are, mostly they involve the number of kids in/on the tramp at a time. The injuries that I have heard of are of the head to head type, mostly because there wasn't enough room for the number of kids enclosed. We don't allow more than 3 of the big kids on at a time. My kids will get off if a fourth kid wants to get on.
As for Juliana, she also loves to jump. We had a small indoor tramp with a bar that she used to jump on all the time. Her gait issues included the inability to land on two feet. She always landed on her right (unaffected) side and then added the left. The tramp helped her jump properly. She has twisted her ankle (left, of course), but not badly enough to get off!! She goes down, cries, gets an ice pack, and then gets back on... we have offered to not have her go on it, but she really enjoys it.

Now, as to not going on it from a bpi standpoint. Aside from tackle football and ice hockey, and monkey bars if your child has an unstable shoulder... why not? We can't bubble wrap these kids. The more you set them apart, the more apart they become. I always aim to have Juliana enter a situation without anyone recognizing what is different about her. Obviously, the counselors at camp have been educated, but I don't run and tell every one how "specially" she has to be handled. Last summer she was the only girl in her age group at camp (54 girls) to try the rock wall! Why stop her?? I let her try everything.

As for the bouncy castles, when Juliana had less function in her arm than she has now, I always sent an older sibling in with her (often they have rather challenging climbing situations to get to the slide) to help her get up. If I didn't have sib with me, she would do her best and sometimes would have to come out without going down the slide. But she still enjoyed the jumping.

just my opinion,
claudia

[BIGJAVSMOM]

I have always heard of the terrible risk of injury to anyone using a trampoline. But the chance of injury is everywhere... bikes, razor scooters skates etc. I think all of your responses are so right.

Marlyn

[CW1992]

Claudia - I agree completely!
Let them loose and they will learn their own limitations. We got a huge tramp for Christmas with a safety net (a must!) and watching Britt and her friends doing flips and jumping makes all of us happy. I feel that she has better balance now because of the tramp and she is doing flips and landing it! It has strengthened her up in so many ways and it is fun for her and all of her friends - therapy that she doesn't even realize! Just like Claudia - I never ever drew attention to Britt's injury. I was worried that people would be scared of her if I drew too much attention and I wanted them to see HER - not her arm.
Anyway - trampolines are great for balance, muscles, and mostly FUN! I'm hoping to someday be able to flip like the kids - I can do the 'butt buster' but no flip yet - I'm chicken!
Christy

[Tammie]

we have a trampoline and joe joe loves it. besides jumping on it, we play duck, duck, goose...i'm not going to hold him back because of his injury. but each parent has their own decision to make.

[jennyb]

Hi all
We have a trampoline, almost everyone my kids play with in NZ has one too. When we got ours, I went on the internet and typed 'trampoline safety' into google, aaaargh it was terrifying.
But after I'd had a full panic attack I decided that in fact almost everything that's fun is potentially dangerous-not just to bpi people, either. New Zealand has the worlds highest rate of child drownings but I wouldn't dream of stopping my kids swimming in the ocean or rivers.
So I followed all the trampoline safety guidelines (don't put the tramp near fences or trees,sink it in the ground so the mat's level with the ground, that means less space to fall plus stops little kids getting under the trampoline when other kids are on it, no more than 2 at a time jumping, no big and little kid mix, springs covered with protective cushioning etc etc check the internet there are lots of sites about this).

I have a total bpi and a flail arm, but I really enjoy jumping on the tramp myself. I have landed awkwardly a few times but have not damaged my arm or shoulder. My shoulder joint is not stable and I have limited ROM but in fact I think the jumping actually helped with that! Doctors generally do not like trampolines, they also dont like horseriding, rockclimbing, rugby football, gridiron..... I do worry when the kids are on it but I guess that's my job!

Any other bpi adults enjoy a bit of trampolining??

[Ginne]

Each parent has to find their comfort level with what they will and will not allow their children to do (injured or not) and this is one of those things.

We bought our oldest a tramp last year for her birthday/christmas (the darn things w/enclosure are almost $900 up here in Canada) and never even thought of disallowing Missy on it and she was only 17months. She really didn't do too much, bounced up and down a few times then got off.

This year however, is a different story! At 26 months, we have to plead, cajole, threaten and occasionally get in the darn thing and chase her around to get her out!!!!

She does not bounce very high (Nikky calls it popcorning when Missy starts to bounce ). Her favourite thing to do in there is play "Ring around the Rosie". When it gets to the part of "..we all fall down" she does a face plant onto the mat and bounces back up to her feet. Scares the crap out of me every single time...but she laughs her head off and askes me to "do again".

We have some hard and fast rules: she MUST wear her splint/brace or no going on it; no more than 3 kids(9-10 yr olds) at a time, no hard or high bouncing allowed while she's in there (unless daddy's holding her in his arms) and definately no roughhousing!

And most importantly, she must always be helped into and out of the enclosure and have someone inside with her at all times not just standing on the outside watching.

-Ginne