How can that NOT hurt?

My boys have been practicing headstands against the wall or using their monkeybars for balance help for quite a while. Then they started raising their hands off of the floor and literally standing ON THEIR HEADS. They love being upside down so much that it's now progressed to swinging by their knees on the monkeybar dome; and I don't mean a little sway -- we're talking full-on swinging. They're trying to swing and release and land on their feet but our dome isn't high enough so they end up doing a faceplant. Or, they try to swing at the same time and crash their heads together or kick each other on the way over. They laugh and laugh and do it again. It's disturbing to watch but they're clearly enjoying it and they haven't been hurt yet. Sometimes it's so hard to know what games to ban and when to let them experiment.

 

I guess if they are still laughing and coming back for more, its all in good fun ardon:

Meara loves to stand on her head too. No hands, just on her head. I used to cringe, but now I realize she isn't hurting herself (she throws her legs up and balances them on the couch or a chair and then takes her hands away).

 

I guess as long as they are not hurting thenselves then let them play. Boys will be boys!

 

Typical 4 year old behavior I think.

When Alice ended up cutting her forehead so bad that she needed stitches, the babysitter said that she really didn't cry, even when she was cleaning the blood up, Alice was more angry about being held down in the ER than anything else.

 

I know what you mean! These two love to stand on the 4th or 5th step up and jump the rest of the way down - they laugh and laugh even if they land wrong and if one lands on top of the other that is even more funny! Strange thing is they will cry if the other one looks at them but I guess a forceful landing on one's head is the funniest thing ever!

 

Yikes! That particular game would strike terror into my heart. I don't worry that much about bloody noses or even the possibility of broken bones (fortunately, so far we haven't had any of those yet) -- and I know your boys are much more acrobatic than my girls -- but I would really worry about them landing on their heads and doing serious damage.

A&S both really love to do headstands too, but we have a rule that they have to keep their hands on the ground, and they have to tuck their chins and come down forwards. Obviously we can only enforce this rule when we're in the room while they do it, but I think the repeated instructions sink in after awhile.

When they jump on the neighbor's trampoline, we also have a rule that they have to land on their bottoms or knees, not on their chests or faces.

I know kids will be kids and I'm sure the rate of serious head & neck injuries among 4 year olds is probably quite low, but there are some games that just scare me too much to mess around with.

 

Alice just started screaming a few minutes ago, and she had fallen on her bed (wooden corners) and ended up with a little bit of blood in her mouth. She also smacked her cheek, right below the eye, so I'm sure that she's going to have a black eye. She cried for all of 1 1/2 minutes until I let her turn off the light. Then she started laughing. So no permanent damage.

 

Yeah, how can that not hurt! I don't know, I have no experience in having physically adventurous kids. Get them signed up for gymnastics . I do notice though that if they are playing and want to keep going, if someone falls they tend to shake it off. But if I react or they are starting to get tired or whatever, that's when the fall is a big deal. Mine tend to be a bit dramatic about injuries though.

 

I try to prevent rough play because with my 4, it is inevitable that someone WILL get hurt, and then I have a hurt, crying child. I dont mind a little ACTIVE play, but I really try to limit them piling on top of eachother and just acting crazy.

 

I know what you mean - sometimes it looks like it MUST hurt! Sounds like your boys are especially adventurous. Jacob does the hands-free headstand all the time in his crib and it totally freaks me out, too.