Let Your Kid Jump On The Bed

This may seem like crazy advice and the last thing I want to happen is for anyone to get hurt. So, you should know that I AIN'T NO DOCTOR. Nor do I have any special degree or knowledge of this sort of thing. So, I could be completely wrong.

However, my opinion is based on personal experience. I have a 2 year old boy (28 months to be exact). He has always loved to jump on the bed for as long as he could stand. I have always let him do this as long as he was 100% supervised. My wife and I are always careful to make sure he stays near the center of the bed and that he doesn't do anything crazy.

I figured that it was no different than him jumping on a mini trampoline and he seemed to have so much fun doing it that I never made him stop. And, when you think about places for a person to land when jumping, a soft mattress isn't exactly the worst place you think of.

I know that people don't want their kids to jump on the bed because of fear that they will fall off. Again, I stress the "supervised" part of this equation. Some parents may be scared that their child will jump on the bed unsupervised if he is allowed to do it when supervised. All I can say about that is that my son has never done this. Perhaps kids only jump on the bed unsupervised when they are NOT allowed to it otherwise.

Jumping on a springy surface is good exercise too. It strengthens the legs and core and helps with balance and athleticism. You can play games on a bed that you could otherwise not play. For example, my son and i like to play "drop kick soccer ball." I won't explain the rules- I think the name says it all.

Some people may judge me as a parent who simply does not want to say no to his child. To that I say this: I say no to my son when it makes sense- not simply because everyone else thinks you should. I simply try to weigh the facts that I know of the matter and base my parenting decision on this.

My family lives in a condo. So, we don't have the luxury of simply going in our yard to play and run around. Sure, we go to the park and plan activities for our son. But one indoor activity that needs no planning and is lots of fun is something most parents probably do not condone.

Well, I not only condone it, I endorse it. Not with shoes on and not all the time but as long as our son is young enough to enjoy it, jumping on the bed is kosher with me.