bunk beds: at what age are they safe?

[ElliesMomma]

so, what age do you think is safe for bunk beds? thanks.

Edited by ElliesMomma - 5/28/11 at 11:52pm

[MoonStarFalling]

My kids were 6 and 1. It worked out fine for us. I had a rule about the little one not being on the top bunk. DS was known, a couple times, to help her get up there. Honestly, after the first couple months the top bunk was rarely even used.

[tanyalynn]

My kids have been fine playing on the top bunk for quite a while now (DD is currently 7, DS is 4.5) but sleeping up there was a whole different ballgame.  DD didn't have the awareness, when she was half-asleep, to get down the ladder safely til she was 6.  Both kids were fine during the day long before that, but it wasn't til she was 6 that I felt her coordination and self-awareness were sufficient for her to sleep up there.  Before that, the kids slept on the bottom bunk together. 

[jajah]

My daughter has been sleeping on the top bunk of this:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10123996

since she was 3. We have the tent over it as well. She's done fine going up and down alone! (It's not as high as typical bunk beds, though.)

[jodieanneanton]

Our bunk beds say the top bunk "is for use by children 5 or 6 and above."  Depending on the individual, I would say 2/almost 2 would be a good age for the bottom bunk user with a guardrail.   Of course, you'd still have to be constantly reminding the little one that the ladder is not for his/her use. 

Perhaps, your eldest can use the ladder only for going to bed??  Play on the top bunk of our bunk beds is not recommended.

[liberal_chick]

We have a loft with a full underneath it for our 5 year old and 22 month old.  Ds1 sleeps on top with no issue.  Ds2 sleeps on the full on the bottom.  Because the ladder goes straight up, ds2 is unable to climb it yet (but he can do the one outside to our swing set, which is angled).

[sweetcheeks]

My older two were 4 and 2 when they got bunk beds. DS1 had no problems getting down from the top bunk during the middle of the night and we never had any problems with DD climbing up there (but she was/is my listener). We just had a strictly enforced rule of absolutely no standing on the top bunk. We took them apart a few months ago as we finished our basement renovation and each kid now has their own room. Just in the knick of time as DS2 was starting to climb the ladder and he's just too wild of a child to be trusted on the top bunk at all!

[mom2happy]

I would say 6 for the top bunk. I guess it depends on the kid though.

Does he/she sleep walk, have a lot of bad dreams, wake up a lot to use bathroom, wet the bed (those sheets are hard to change up there)........ etc.

[Grace and Granola]

We did bunk beds when my boys were 4.5 and 3.  The 4yo was absolutely fine up top and would have been fine earlier, I was more waiting for the little one to turn 3.  I knew there was no way that I could keep him from being up top with his brother, and I was just afraid of him getting up top and being wild and jumping.  even the 3yo had no trouble getting up and down though.  It was just a matter of a few weeks of me monitoring them and making sure they knew how to be safe before I was relaxed and easy about the whole thing.

[dawncayden]

Ds was 3 when he started sleeping on the bottom and 4 when he started sleeping on the top. He's an EXTREMELY physical kid, so I never had any worries about him being up there. All kids are different. Some of his friends come over and I'm a bit weary about them being up there and they are almost 5.

As soon as or second son could climb he was up there too (around 1), but not to sleep obviously. He's only allowed up there if I'm in the room. I put the ladder up there lying down if I don't want the youngest up there through out the day.

I imagine the youngest will be sleeping on the bottom when he's 2.5 year or so.

[Llyra]

We got our bunk bed when my DD1 was 3 1/2 and the twins were a year old. At the beginning, DD1 slept on the bottom, and the top was used for stuffed toys. I took the ladder off, so that nobody would get hurt. When DD2 outgrew her crib, she moved into the bottom bunk, and we put in the ladder for DD1 to sleep up top. DD1 was 5 1/2, and DD2 was three. I don't allow my younger two to climb the ladder without supervision, and I only allow one child up there at a time-- DD1 cannot bring friends up there, for instance. DD's never attempted to stand up there-- I don't think it's occurred to her. If she did, we'd have a rule about that, too.

I also have an extra soft guardrail installed up there. It's more for security than safety. Plus we have grip-tape on the ladder, and have lights installed along the side of the ladder (little LEDs) so that it's visible in the darkness. I feel like DD1 (who's 6 1/2 now) is very safe up there.

I think my cutoff age would be 5, for a child who is an able climber, but who is also mature in terms of impulse control and following rules. If the child is less mature in either of those areas, I'd want to wait until I saw that maturity.

One thing about bunk beds-- they're a royal pain in the neck with a child who's sick. Or who has trouble getting to the bathroom on time to pee. Okay, so imagine a child with stomach flu, who needs to get up to puke. She sleeps on the top bunk, and doesn't make it all the way down the ladder. You've never SEEN such a mess. We've also dealt with issues of peeing while on the ladder, too. Yeah. So I think if I had any choice, I wouldn't do bunks, just because of those few awful nights we've had sometimes.