Bunk Beds

For those of you with bunk beds, when did you feel it was safe to set them up? We have a set of bunk beds and I am anxious to get it set up but I don't know when it will be safe to do so. It is not that we are setting it up for one of the kids to sleep in, but it's just to make room for valuable storage space the bed is currently taking up. I am afraid that my kids, who are intrepid climbers, will find a way up to the top bunk and fall and hurt themselves. Thanks for your input.

 

We are currently using bunk beds.

Our Pediatrician did not suggest them, but if space was a concern- he said to try to avoid them until at least age 5. The logic being that under 5- their head is the heaviest part and if they fall, it is their head that they will most likely land on. After age 5, they start to be more proportionat and at least if they fall, they are more likely to land on an arm or leg. We were living in a 3 bedroom house and the time and they had a very large room, so we kept the beds apart.

That said, we moved when they were 4 years and 10 months old. Due to space (small two bedroom apartment) we put them in a bunk bed so we could fit a dresser in their room. So far they have done great and there is no way we could have fit 2 beds in that room (we could have fit two in the master bedroom, but then we could not have had dressers either!). I am glad we waited as long as we could--they did not have the impulse control and/or gross motor skills to get safely down the ladder- especially when they get really tired.

We have wooden stacked bunks with a footboard ladder and trundle underneath for storage. We also had to dismantle the ceiling fan since the child in the top bunk could 'reach' it and I did not want them to get whacked with the fan blades.

 

We are using bunk beds and have never had a problem. DS sleeps in the top and it has a railing that is like 16 inches high and goes the whole length. When we set them up we just stressed no playing on them and watch for a few days and have never had anyone hurt on them. We also don't have toys in beadroom so they are only in there for sleeping.

 

We are buying bunk beds for the girls after the first of the year. My girls are super excited about them and have already decided who gets the top bunk. If there was any doubt that one or both of them would get hurt, I definitely would hold off. You could buy the bunk beds that separate and just not set them up as bunks until you knew they were mature enough.

 

I didn't put the twins in their beds, bunked, until they were just over 5. They turned 5 in May and we moved the end of June, setting up the bunk beds in the new house. I was worried about the climbing and them jumping off. I still worry about it, but at least at this age they are old enough to realize the consequences and remember them. We have to occasionally stress the importance of not climbing or playing on the top bunk.

 

Mine were in bunk beds at 3yrs old and we've never had any issues.

 

We built ours after they were 5. There is no way they could fall while asleep, but like you said, climbing at playtime was a concern. We stressed over and over that it is not a jungle gym--and that works for OUR kids. But anytime the cousins are over, I end up banishing them from their bedroom. I've told those kids, but they just do not get it for some unknown reason.

 

Mine just turned 5 and I still won't do it. I'm not as worried about them playing on it (they are not terribly adventurous and generally tend to follow rules) as about them climbing up & down at bedtime or if they have to go potty. It would probably be fine, but I figure we've waited two years already, we can wait another year and then re-evaluate.

It would be nice to have the space, though. We can fit two beds and a dresser in their room, but just barely.

 

We have bunk beds too, but haven't put them up yet. I'm still scared :blush: I am hoping by the summer Ithey will be ready.

 

I don't think I would put a child in a top bunk until at least 5, like others have said it would be the climbing up/down during the night (while half asleep) and playing on it in the day that would worry me.

However, if you only want to put it up to have more floor space, is there anyway you could put it together without the ladder? Then it would be out of the way and they wouldn't be able to climb up.
If you think that they're good/determined enough climbers to scale a bunk bed without a ladder then I just would not put it up, it doesn't seem worth the risk of injury for the small bonus of extra space.

 

My boys 4 have been in their bunk beds since they were just over 2 1/2 and we have never had any accidents, the only issue now is that they wanna sleep together on the top and it's getting too small for them. They can't stand to sleep apart so I don't know how I'm gonna get them in their own beds.

 

I have this same problem too .. so I'm going to try to fit the beds side by side. (kind of defeats the purpose of bunk beds) but they want to be next to each other.

 

Glad to hear that mine aren't the only ones! I think it's really sweet though. We are redecorating their room right now and when it is finished, we are putting theirs side by side too. I would really like to just sell the bunks and get them a full size! They love sleeping "up high" though, lol. We will see how long it lasts!

 

they have full sized loft beds! that might be an idea!

 

Those would be great ! Imagine all the floor space ?? Hmmmm

 

Here is a set with stairs instead of a ladder which is pretty cool.

http://www.simplybunkbeds.com/twin-over-twin/wood-bunk-beds/stairwaytwinovertwinbunkbedfreemattress.cfm

 

OMG!! That would be awesome!! I will definitely be checking into those! :thanks:

 

SO and their grandfather are getting together to build ours a set of "mini" bunk beds. They will be a lot lower to the ground and will have a built in rail on either side of the top. But when I say mini, I mean the top bunk probably won't be much more than 5ft off the ground, with the bottom bunk almost on the ground. It won't cost very much since they are building it (and it gives grandpa a project, lol) and when they are ready for big bunk beds, will do that in a few years.

 

OMG that IS gorgeous !

 

There are several furniture stores areound here that carry those, so I assume since I live in a pretty small area you could probably find those about anywhere. We actually considered purchasing those, but you can't separate them (or at least not the ones I have looked at), so if you are buying bunks that may have to be separated somewhere in the future, you may want to consider more traditional bunks.