What age for bunk beds?

[charmcitymama]

I am thinking of going this direction for my kids and was wondering what ages you all thought would be appropriate for the top bunk.
TIA

[Spring Sun]

I think it really depends on if your litle one can stay in bed on his own or not. Can you put his mattress on the floor for a while first and see if he falls out? And you should have a guard rail on the top bunk for sure.

[Breathless Wonder]

Here is a thread:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=201469

And one more:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=225047

[RiverSky]

Well, the AAP suggests that 6 is the minimum age for the top bunk and I would agree. We waited to get a bunkbed for my DS until he turned 6 and that was just about right. My 4 year old has wanted to sleep up there but I know that she gets out of bed in the middle of the night frequently and is very incoherent in the middle of the night and is likely to fall right off or get injured going down the ladder.

[RiverSky]

AAahhhh!!! That was my 1000th Post!! I'm a senior member! Yay!!!

[charmcitymama]

Haha Congratulations!

OK, I don't need to click the other threads, we have YEARS to go...my dd is only 2.5 and one hasn't hatched yet. So, no bunk beds for us.

Thanks, everyone!

[elmh23]

I know you still have time, but I just wanted to let you know our plan (keep in mind dd is only 14 months so things can change.) We will be getting bunk beds that can also be used as seperate twin beds. Then, when dd turns 6, we'll bunk them.

[flapjack]

We started with bunk beds at 4 and 2- the biggest one is on the top and has never, ever fallen out of bed. The little one is on the bottom and now, at 5, falls out of bed at least once a week even with a guard rail.

[phathui5]

My ds, who is five now, started sleeping on the top bunk when he was four and never had a problem. Dd, who's two, sometimes sleeps on the bottom bunk and mostly sleeps with us.

[Silvercrest79]

We got bunk beds when DD1 was 4 1/2. These are the style that can be two seperate beds or bunks which is great since we won't always have to use them as bunks. It does have the top rail and the ladder is part of the bed itself (the ends of the beds form the ladder). She's never fallen out and only slipped coming down the ladder when she was going too fast and hasn't done it since. DD2 will climb up there (much to my dismay) but only for a few minutes at a time, thankfully she doesn't have any desire to sleep up there. Her "big girl bed" is of course the bottom bunk but she's only slept in it once or twice by herself. It is higher off the floor (we have to store stuff under it) and now that she is fully potty learned she can't really get in and out in the middle of the night by herself. She'll happily sleep in there with me or her Aunt if she's spending the night. Otherwise she sleeps with us or next to our bed in her "little girl" bed still.

[mamaduck]

I let my 5 yo. play on the top bunk during the day, unsupervised. He's really agile and capable. However, he's a different kid when it is the middle of the night and he's groggy and its dark. So I would not yet let him sleep up there.

[midstreammama]

We got bunk beds for our two oldest when dd1 was 2 months shy of turning 7. She does great. The 3yo usually sleeps in there but, often wakes up and comes in our bed.

They do like to play on them which concerns me a little. But, for the most part they are okay with them.

[zinemama]

We got a bunk bed when my oldest was 2.5 and I was pregnant with #2. My oldest started to spend the first part of the night in the bottom bunk right away - it was his first experience of his own bed. He kept coming in with us for a few months, and then gradually slept through the night in the bottom bunk. He moved up to the top bunk at 4 and a half. Now my 3yo starts out the night in the bottom bunk.

Charmcitymama (Hey, I used to live in Charles Village!), I don't think you're necessarily years away from the bunk bed, unless you really don't want to put your dd in one anytime soon. We got ours at Ikea. It was the most modest sized one they have and it's been great in our small house.

[nonnymoose]

I'm looking at bunks for my 2yo, who'll be 2.5 when his brother arrives. Obviously he'd stay in the bottom bunk for at least a couple of years. Our big problem is that the boy(s) room is also the guest room, so I want to get a bunk bed where I can fit the trundle that's underneath the daybed in DS's room now. I considered a twin over full bed, but it'd take up a lot of room. Then again, if someone did fall off the top bunk, it would be a much softer landing. :lol

[merpk]

Well, we don't have them, but were visiting friends this summer and my 3yo pushed her 3yo off the bunk bed ladder :( and broke his leg :( ...

And no, the 3yo doesn't sleep in the top bunk.

It's not easy to keep the little ones off the ladder and the top bed, even if they're not sleeping there, so you'll have to be vigilent, so you might want to consider that.

[mamabain]

my four year old has been in hers since about her birthday. hasn't fallen out or even come close. we have a rule that there is only one child allowed up there at a time and there is NO playing on the bunkbed. it is a single on top, double on the bottom bunkbed pushed up to our queen for the big family bed. we also have a railing on it. i don't know how i'd feel if our bed wasn't pushed up to it.

that being said, the reason we got the bunk bed was because the neighbor's 5 year old was playing around and jumped off and severely broke his arm. YIKES!

[annethcz]

I know that I'll be in the minority, but our DS started sleeping on the top bunk when he was 4. Shortly after that, we got bunk beds for our girls, and they started sleeping on them when they were 3 (top) and 1 (bottom).

We've never had anyone fall out of a bunk bed on accident, although I'll admit that they do sometimes play on the bed and jump off. I take a different approach in that I allow my kids to climb and generally find that if I don't get in their way, they are very capable. Perhaps my kids are different than most, they tend to be ahead when it comes to gross motor skills (my youngest started walking at 8 months- by 10 months she could climb onto the dining room table and kitchen counters). Yes, bunk beds can be dangerous. But so can play areas/swing sets, and we have one of those too.

Honestly, having bunk beds has worked out really well for us, despite the fact that we allowed our children to use them at a young age.