Ready, Set, Jump: Bouncy House Safety

The Joy of Bouncing

What is it about jumping that brings such joy to kids? When Darling 1 was just a few weeks old he starting bouncing in my lap; he loved to bounce, bounce, bounce. Darling 1 was such a bouncer that we bought him a Tigger Halloween costume when he was 3 months old. Both the Boys still love to bounce whether it's at Skyzone on a trampoline, on a bed at home, or in a bouncy house.

Nearly every mid to large size town now has a inflatable bounce structure business that's all about jumping, climbing and sliding. These are prime birthday party locations; great indoor play areas when the weather is foul; and fun for the whole family. These structures have made appearances in thousands of yards for all kinds of celebrations; they're present at fairs, festivals and carnivals; and a sure thing at church events and school activities.

Safe Jumping

So, what's the big deal? It's fun to jump; the surfaces aren't hard or sharp; and the kids are safe, right? The answer is tricky. Lately, the seemingly innocent and fun bouncy structures have been getting a lot of bad press. A preliminary search quickly found these incidents: a gust of wind has picked up a bouncy house and flung it into a roof or several yards over or straight up in the air; kids summersault or fall or jump into each other; kids knock into people standing outside the bouncy structure; and kids are exposed to lead in the plastic of the bouncy house. In each of these accidents, people were killed or injured, some were catastrophic injuries.

A Collapsing Bouncy House

This past weekend, we attended a fun end of the summer party in the backyards of our friends and their neighbors who live behind them. Partygoers wandered back and forth. There was live music in one yard, food in one of the houses, drinks at both houses, and a bouncy house in one yard. The Boys immediately gravitated to the spectacular, Toy Story themed, giant bouncy structure. There was a slide, a basketball hoop and several "rooms" for jumping. We finally cajoled them to get out to come eat.

Later, when it was dark, they asked to go back to the bouncy house in the other yard. DH went with them and about 10 minutes later, I walked over to check on them. When I got past the shrubs that divide the yard, I heard Darling 2 crying and saw DH crawling in to find him. At that same time, I noticed the spotlight that had been trained on the bouncy house went out, along with other outside lights. I went around to the side where Darling 2 was to check that he was OK and with DH.

It was then I noticed the bouncy house was deflating... and quickly. Then, it dawned on me, the breaker had flipped with the bouncy house compressor, spotlight and outdoor lights all on; it was too much for the breaker. By this point, the kids were screaming because they realized it was coming down. I yelled to the people standing by the house to flip the breaker and get a flashlight. Since DH was in the bouncy house, he was able to grab our Boys and corral the rest of the kids and get out. He told me the kids were having a hard time trying to get out because the top was falling on them and the deflating floor had big sink holes and gaps in it and it was totally dark.

All the kids did get out {as well as DH}. No one was injured. But that was enough excitement for us. We were done with the bouncy house. And it made me start thinking about bouncy house safety. I had heard a few stories of the structures taking flight after a big gust of wind or on a windy day, but with just a little digging I found a lot more.

This week I'm going to be discussing the various dangers, liability issues and rules for staying safe when it comes to inflatable bouncy structures. Should you boycott them altogether? Well, that's up to you, but I know that I will for sure never rent one for my yard, and I will think twice before allowing my kids to jump in one. I'll be back with more tomorrow. Over and out...

Anna

Comments

[pb]

Oh wow! That was scary and glad DH was there to rescue quickly!

[Andrea V]

I'm sorry to hear about your scary experience! We rented a bouncy house this weekend for our son's birthday party, as such, I feel compelled to comment. While I know that these scary situations can and do arise, I believe that with proper adult supervision and installation of the house itself a fun time can be had by all. We were given detailed instructions by the rental company and followed them to at T, including not plugging anything else into the outlet that was being used to keep the house inflated. We did not let any children in the house without at least one adult standing at the door to police that activity. There are countless activities that 'could' be dangerous without proper supervision, I for one don't feel the need to boycott or even limit my kids participation in these fun activities as long as the proper precautions are taken. The kids (and adults) had so much fun this weekend in the bouncy house... we are already planning the next time we can rent one!