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They teach BWO's at her gym? Strange as USAG doesn't encourage them, or bridges, until age 5.
Hard to know really. But as a parent of a child who had spinal fusion surgery my inner voice tells me caution is better than not. There is no need to be doing BWO's at age 4, frankly many kids who end up in the elite ranks don't even start gym until much later than 4, so there really is no rush. Seeing your kid taken out of all sports for two full years is heartbreaking to say the least. I would not wish that on any kid. It is very cute seeing them do advanced skills that young, but the main question remains "Is this really good for their spines?". You only get one back, it has to last a long, long time.
Yes, overuse really young and misdiagnosed back pain for years. It was a mess that took a long time to fix. What I know for sure is no preschooler of mine would be bridging, in fact the whole bridging things gives me shudders. Some gyms just do not look at upper back and shoulder flexibility and for kids with very flexible lower backs they easily compensate and trash their spines. There is no going back and fixing it later once the damage is severe, My dd will live with this for her whole life. She is 16 and has been dealing with this for 5 years. You really have to question is it worth allowing little kids to do skills that they are not ready for. You only have to google "4 year old doing BHS's", to see what I mean. They are mostly a horrific mess and just steadily trashing their spines.
There is a 7-year-old in my daughter's group who is already having back pain, apparently at least in part because her mother encourages her to practice bridges at home with incorrect form. Whenever she complains about it, one of the coaches reminds her, "That's why you should not practice without your coach!" Sometimes I wonder why she doesn't tell this to the mom.
I sometimes wonder if this is locational, because I hear a lot of people say their gyms don't do them, but every gym I personally know of lets kids do them. My daughter was doing skills like this at 4-5 and I remember it being no big deal. I know 3 year olds who do them and back handsprings, and 4-5 year olds who do back flips.
Oh, another point:
breastfeeding is safer than formula feeding.
natural childbirth is safer than getting an epidural.
extended rear-facing car sears are safer than turning the car sooner.
using a booster seat until your child is 65 lbs is safer than not doing so.
cloth diapering is safer than disposables and using organic body wash is safer than using Johnson and Johnson. (carcinogenics are found in disposable diapers and J&J baby products. Carcinogenics are ingredients linked to causing cancer.)
waiting to give you kid solid foods until 6-12 months is safer than giving them solid foods at 4-6 months.