This Mom Is Completely Over Trampoline Park Birthday Parties
She straight up doesn't let her kids go anymore.
One mom is totally done with going to the indoor trampoline park and straight up refuses invitations to kids’ birthday parties if they are taking place at one. She wonders if other moms are totally over the overstimulating and possibly dangerous indoor trampoline parks or if she’s alone in her thinking.
“I can’t be the only parent who doesn’t allow their kids to go to these places, right? We’ve let ours go twice in the past (reluctantly, for bday parties) and the second time a kid at the park left on a stretcher. We said no more,” she began.
“I’m confident in this decision but still feel terrible denying my kids birthday party experiences. Can anyone commiserate? 3 of the 5 invites this year so far have been to these places 😞”
She also wanted to know if she should explain to the parents why they are declining the invite to the trampoline park or if the reasoning should be left a bit more vague.
The opinions were pretty split with some parents being totally on board with the indoor jumping while others agreed with the OP about how unsafe these environments can feel, especially for younger kids.
“I’m surprised these things stay open tbh. one of my best friends is married to a pediatric neurosurgeon, and after the stories i’ve heard, nope, no thank you,” one user said.
Another echoed, “I’m married to an orthopedic surgeon. Trampoline parks are strictly banned for our kids, although he (reluctantly) allows bounce houses occasionally. It sucks to say no, but those places are so dangerous.”
“The one near me has ‘tot time’ for ages 6 and under and birthday party invites we’ve gotten at the trampoline park are scheduled during that time. It’s not perfectly safe, but I certainly feel much better in an environment where there aren’t high schoolers bouncing around,” one user wrote.
One user suggested that the OP try to get parents away from the trampoline park trend by starting a newer trend of her own.
“I think a lot of times a child will be invited to a birthday party at ‘the local place’ and then it becomes the ‘birthday party location’ for 90% of birthdays in your area. The best chance of changing that, IMO, is to find other more acceptable places and meet with friends there. Once people find other cool places that their kids enjoy, you might steer some parties in other directions. Are there any laser tag places nearby? Pottery painting? Roller skating?,” they suggested.
“You can't bubble wrap kids. I always let mine go,” one wrote.
Another said, “I just talk to my kid about the risks and the importance of following the rules and playing within her limits. She got a concussion at a soft play place so like... meh. Kids are gonna get hurt regardless of what you do. Just teach them not to do stupid shit.”
Regardless of where you land on the trampoline park discourse, the science is pretty clear.
There were over 800,000 reported injuries associated with trampolines between 2009 and 2018, according to a 2022 study published in the journal Pediatric Emergency Care.
More than 36,000 of those cases resulted in hospital admission. More than one-third of injuries involved bone fractures. The most common injury site was arms and legs, though more than 1 in 5 children suffered head and neck injuries, including concussions. Children suffered a variety of other injuries, such as damage to internal organs.
There are a lot of ways kids can get hurt on trampolines. Children collide with one another while jumping at the same time. They can land wrong on the trampoline, which is especially dangerous if they are trying dangerous maneuvers such as somersaults or flips. If the trampoline is elevated, kids can fall off the trampoline and on the ground. They can hit the springs or the frame. If there are multiple jumpers at once, one jumper can land and send another into the air, who could crash into someone else.
This can all be especially more likely at a bustling indoor trampoline park with unsupervised kids feeling reckless.
The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement in 2012 to strongly recommend against the use of recreational trampolines in kids. The academy reaffirmed this in 2020, citing the frequency of injury as well as the possibility of severe, irreversible injury, notably permanent neurological damage from injuries to the head and neck.
Read the entire thread here.
