Summer is a great bounce house season as everybody knows, both kids and adults love bounce houses and other inflatable bouncers at the birthday parties and events. We have talked about the safety of bounce house many times, in addition to the fracture, sprain and strain their various extremities while jumping up and down, the summer heat is also a potential risk to children while playing in a bouncy castle.

Many parents and rental business owners are unaware of the potential heat dangers of bounce houses, people are more worried about sprains and fractures from an accident. Now I'm telling you that in hot summer weather, let your kids jumping around in an inflatable structure can lead to serious heat-related illness. Just imagine that would you let your child play in an oven?

A new study from the University of Georgia in Athens (UGA) team found that the temperatures inside a bounce house can exceed ambient outside temperatures by up to 6.7 degrees Fahrenheit (3.7 degrees Celsius), peaking at up to 8.1 F (4.5 C) higher. Over a five-hour period of measurements, researchers found that at the hottest time of the day, the temperature difference between outside the bounce house and inside could vary between 8 and 10 degrees F. They observed peak internal temperatures exceeding 100 F (38 C), nearly 7 F (3.9 C) more than outside temperatures. This heat boost is enough to push conditions into the danger zone on the hot summer days. The heat index in a bounce house reached levels where serious heat-related injuries such as heat exhaustion, muscle cramps and heatstroke.

Children are more sensitive to heat than adults and parents need to carefully watch their children for signs of overheating when active on hot and humid days. Signs there is a problem may include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and flushed, moist skin. These heat illnesses like heat stroke can be deadly and occur in children. You can imagine that the microclimate environment in an enclosed bounce house under the sun is similar to closed automobiles. I don't need to tell you how many reports are about children who have left alone in parked cars and died. Both constitute a solar-heated microclimate environment with limited ventilation. So I can tell you that bounce houses under the summer sun can be as dangerous as hot cars.

The researchers recommend that parents and bounce house operators should limit the amount of time children spend inside the inflatable structure on hot summer days, and make sure the kids drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Keep a close eye on the bouncing children, force them to take breaks frequently and watch for signs of overheating like fatigue, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and flushed, moist skin. Get medical attention if necessary. Besides, parents should dress their kids with loose and lightweight clothing in hot weather.

If you are aware of this heat risk of bounce houses for children, you will know how to take care of your kids in summer. And for the bounce houses, you may want to rent or buy inflatable structures with more ventilation for hot weather use. Therefore, the best bounce house for summer parties and events should be large, sun shaded, with multiple mesh netting walls. These designs for inflatable play structure have more ventilation and ideal for summer use. Of course, the best way to prevent children heatstroke is always a water slide! They are more popular than jump houses at summer parties and events.