Bunk Beds
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Dec 2005
Hi. I'm not a member but wanted to add a caveat to those considering bunkbeds for their kids. I've worked in the injury prevention field. Kids can strangle on the corner posts of bunkbeds - they can hang by their overall straps, lanyard cords, drawstrings, or anything else that they can tie on. Bunkbeds have a voluntary, not mandatory, standard that the corner posts should not be higher thatn 1/4". Many bunkbeds do not meet this criteria, so check carefully before you buy. Many times, you can remove the decorative piece or saw the top off of one that you like. Hope this is useful.
Anne H.
March 2004
We have a 2 & 4 year old, and the 2 year old is currently in a
crib, with her older sister on a twin futon bed. We are trying
to have baby #3, but I am conflicted on how to fit them all in a
bedroom when the future baby comes along. My thoughts:
bunkbeds, with the oldest kid on top (she'll be 5 by then), and
the will-be-3-year-old on the bottom, at least at the beginning.
But how do folks keep a young toddler off the steps of a
bunkbed? If our kids are 6,4, and 1, how do we keep the 1 year
old from climbing, playing, & falling off the top bunk? Put a
baby gate in the bedroom doorway? Take the ladder off the bed so
the oldest kid has to be lifted up? Put a babysafe ''fence''
around the whole bed? The room is about 12 x 13 feet, and I'm
convinced there is a creative way to fit 3 kids in there, with
bunks and/or loft beds, and still leave areas for play and
storage. Any advice on how to do this will be much appreciated.
Planning ahead!
Hi - I have 1st hand experience w/ 3 kids in one room! I have a
4year old, 21 month old, and 10 month old. The 4 yr old is in a
twin bed, the toddler in a toddler bed, and the baby in the
crib. I would NOT recommend bunk beds, as the reasons you said
earlier and possible hazards that could happen. i.e, climbing,
jumping, etc and it is not fair to make a 5-6 year old
responsible for keeping the stairs put up. I plan on getting a
trundle bed soon for the girls then switching the crib for the
toddler bed. Its a matter of organizing and staying on top of it.
(Which is hard!) I have a 5 drawer dresser that the girls share,
1 each for tops/ panties, then pants/ socks, then they share the
PJ drawer. The baby has a small dresser with his clothes in it
then of course they share the closet. I also put some deep
woodent shelves in the closet for storage of toys, etc. Ikea has
some really good ideas too, and their beds are a small size.
Email me if you would like some ideas, and I can share what I've
gone through. GOOD LUCK!
Lynde
Our solution for a similar situation was to remove one of the
rungs from the bunkbed ladder. My older child can still use the
ladder, but his younger brother can't yet manage it, at 2 1/4
years. Once the younger one graduates to the lower bunk (he's
still in his crib), we'll probably replace the rung.
Wendy
June 2003
My seven year old and her three year old sister want bunkbeds.
Are the ones from Ikea reasonably safe? Are there other good ones
in the 300-500 $ range. The Pottery Barn Kids ones are gorgeous
but way, way, out of our price range.
Thanks.
We looked around at a number of places including IKEA and ended
up getting bunk beds at a place called Berkeley Kids Room, on
Shattuck Ave. They have a huge range, some quite expensive, but
some at the lower end (look upstairs). The ones we bought were
pretty inexpensive but we've been happy with them -- they seem
very sturdy. We saved some money by buying the mattresses
elsewhere.
Hannah
We don't have a bunkbed from Ikea, but a contractor friend
of mine made a very good point that I'm passing on. Be
careful of the amount of particle board in the bed (Ikea's
furniture has a lot of it) as particle board contains a lot of
chemicals that you wouldn't want your children exposed to
for 8+ hours at a time while they are sleeping. Good point I
thought. A friend of mine got a great bunk bed in excellent
shape on Craigslist. Good luck.
Amy
We just bought a really cute bunk bed from Berkeley Kid's Room
on Shattuck. They are more expensive than Ikea, but the one we
wanted from Ikea was out of stock and they said they didn't know
when they'd have it. The one we bought at Berkeley Kid's Room
was about $500.
katrina
I saw some reasonably priced bunkbeds at Gorman and Sun, 2599
Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley, that seemed more solid than the Ikea
bunk beds. Give them a call 510-848-6094 to see what the price
range is, as I can't recall.
Sima
We bought the cheapest bunkbeds IKEA had -- in 1994
while living in Europe We were very happy with them. I
preferred solid construction (not the ones that come apart
into twin beds) due to my own earthquake fears. We also
bought the cheap foam mattresses, which held up well. I
liked knowing I could just replace them if something really
disgusting happened to them. The IKEA twin fitted sheets
we got fitted the bunkbeds perfectly -- but seem a little small
for regular twin beds.
We will be putting the beds back up for the next kid in
another year or so, and expect them to last until he doesn't
fit anymore.
The only thing I would have done differently would be to have
oiled or painted them before assembly -- we couldn't wait,
and there are some grubby spots to get rid of ...
BTW -- we have always used duvets with covers for the kids.
They are super comfy and much easier to keep made up
than regular bedclothes. I don't know how quickly tucking
covers in every day on a bunkbed would become odious.
Heather
Our neighbor bought their bunkbeds at Costco. They have
pictures of them online on their website. They are actually
using them seperately as two twin beds, but will use them as
bunkbeds when the kids are a little older. They are very please
with them.
Ali
Is a bunk OK for a 4-year-old?
Any opinions/experience related to the issue of letting a 4-year old sleep
in the top bunk of a bunk bed or loft? We've started our search for a
"real" bed for our daughter who's been sleeping in a toddler bed. A
loft/bunk is the best solution for us in terms of solving problems of
limited space (and other issues), but she'd have to go in the top, and some
stores we've visited say don't do it until they're 6 years old. Others say
it depends on the child--if they're comfortable and competent climbing up
and down, it's fine even if they're younger than 6. The thing is that our
daughter is fine with it (loves it!) during our visits to stores. The
question I have is whether she'll be fine in the middle of the night? (And,
no, we don't have any friends or relatives who have bunk beds where we
could do a sleep-over to test this out.)
If any of you have put a younger child in a bed that requires a ladder to
get down from, or have any insights or different ways to look at this, I'd
love to hear about it! Judy
We put our daughter in the top bunk when she was around 5, I think (baby
brother got too big for his toddler bed and they were out of space). Never
had any trouble whatsoever (and haven't since with the littler one sleeping
up there out of preference though they now have their own rooms). One
caveat: we always let her know that if she wanted help getting down, she
could have it and she took us up on the offer. Instead of getting out of
bed at night to find us if she were scared or needed to pee, she'd yell at
us from the other end of the house. Didn't bother me much (I always wake
up if they get up anyway) and that way I didn't have to worry about her
missing a step in the dark and her semi-wakeful condition. This is a bed
with a partial rail about 6 inches higher than the mattress top and about
four feet long (so there's an opening at either end slightly more than a
foot long). Nina
About the loft bed, our daughter has been sleeping in the top bunk of a
loft bed for 1 year. She is now 3 years, 10 months. At first she needed a
little help going down the ladder but it wasn't long until she could do it
easily by herself. Her younger sister Emma (now 2 years, 11 months)
considers it a big treat to take a nap there when her sister isn't home. I
would take the 4yo to the store to look and she what kind of interest she
has in climbing the ladder and being on the top bunk. Panda
To the person who asked about bed rails for the bunk bed: Toys R Us sell a
bed rail that slides under the mattress and the other part flips up and
locks in place. It has a sturdy mesh that keeps the child from falling out
of bed. Ours works great, we use it on the lower bunk actually to keep the 2
yr old from falling out. On yours it would come up between the mattress and
the wood edge. I think it was about $20. You can still use a ladder with it
as it runs about 3/4 of the length of the bed. R.
We faced this dilemma too and were strongly advised not to put a child unter
6 in the top bunk (our daughter is 3 1/2 and also loved going onto the top
bunk in the shop). Frankly, I might have disregarded that advice if it had
not been for the younger one who would definitely have tried to climb up to
the top and who would definitely have fallen out. So now we have one of
the beds set up and are waiting to install the full bunk bed until our
daughter is 6 (and the younger one 4). Interestingly, the bed is so large
for her, that she does tend to sleep perpendicular or diagonally in it,
which makes me think that she might still fall out of it one night - and
then I'll be glad it is only 15' off the ground.
Hilary
Another word on the bunk-bed controversy. It is common practice to
consider a bunk-bed when the first kid is, say, five or six and the
littler one is perhaps two or three. We were on the verge of making
such a purchase ourselves and I did some homework on the subject. The
children who, statistically, are at the greatest risk of the greatest
injury, tend to be three-year-olds, tend to be boys, and injuries occur
most often from children playing on the upper bunk and falling off
because they are so busy playing that they forget where they are and
tumble off. This scenario is far more common than a child rolling off
the top bunk. Additionally, for those that do purchase a bunk-bed, it
is advisable to purchase the type of ladder that is screwed in to
between the upper and lower beds, and totally vertically. While the
other type, that is removable and at more of an angle, is easier to
climb, it is for exactly that reason that it is a less safe choice. The
ladder that is more upright demands more attention, and kids have to
climb it with both hands. Thus they can't play around and fall off
while climbing as easily.
A neighbor of my sister's purchased bunk-beds on a recent weekend. Her
two-year-old son couldn't seem to climb the ladder when they set the
beds up, so she relaxed a bit and left her two kids unsupervised. The
next day, she was in the kitchen, heard a thud, and found her son
unconscious on the floor. Ambulance called, resucitation, trip to ER.
The child is fine but the lesson has been learned, painfully. No bunk
beds for us until our son, now 3, is at least six. Deborah
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Last updated: Dec 13, 2005
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