Bunk (loft) vs. Twin bed.....

[Kyras mom]

Today we went to buy a bed for our 5 yo DD. I intended to purchase a Young America brand twin bed. We ended up purchasing a bunk bed (it's actually a loft bed with one bed on top, desk, and drawers below. The brand is Bolton (well made solid birch). It has a ladder to get to top. I know the recommendation is 6yo to sleep in top bunk. DD went up and down ladder fine in the store.

Now I'm having buyers remorse. I'm still worried about drowsy middle of the night visits to the potty and having a misstep on the ladder. And changing the bedding would be a challenge. Then I googled "bunk bed injuries" and read that "36,000 children/adolescents are treated for bunk bed injures every year".

The bed won't be delivered for 4 - 6 weeks.

If you have a bunk bed, what are your experiences? Have you had problems, i.e. fall offs or ladder issues?

Should I :
1) Stop worrying OR
2) Call store. Change purchase to regular twin bed.

WWYD?

[caheinz]

Hmmmm. We have the Kura bed from IKEA. DS1 has been in it in loft form most of this year (he'll be 5 in ~3mos).

That said, it has a low loft and a canopy that keeps the sides from being exits. But, there's still a ladder, and he's been able to navigate it without issue, even for late-night potty breaks.

We did add handles to the top, which makes it a bit easier for him to pull himself up.

And I know we're not the only ones with just this setup at this age....

[AngelaS]

My oldest started sleeping in a bunkbed around age 6 and never had issues in the middle of the night. My now 6.5 yo is currently in the top bunk and also does fine if she gets up during the night.

I think in the long run you'll appreciate and extra space under the bed. Yes, changing the sheets is a PITA, but you learn to deal with that.

[o_mom]

I wouldn't do a bunk bed, but I also know several kids IRL with injuries from bunkbeds (one a broken arm, one with internal injuries), so that colors my view.

ETA: Both of the ones that I know the circumstances of happened when the child was alone on the bed and simply trying to climb on or off the top bunk via the ladder - no horseplay involved.

[C99]

Hmmmm. We have the Kura bed from IKEA. DS1 has been in it in loft form most of this year (he'll be 5 in ~3mos).

This is what we have for DS1 as well. He has been in it in this set-up since he was 4.5. We don't have handles on it, and the canopy tent is more for decoration than safety, but DS1 (and even DD, who is 3.5y) has no problems going up and down. That said, I am not sure I would do a full bunk bed. The KURA is only about 3' off the ground.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We're YA full-bed lovers here. The one you got sounds nice, but if it is going to keep you awake at night, that defeats the purpose of getting DD a nice bed so everyone in the house can get good sleep.

[nov04]

I wouldn't judge another parent for having a bunk bed, but it wouldn't be the right choice for us. Our kids are crazy enough on the ground, adding some height to that scares the crap out of me. My sisters had a bb as kids, it was only luck that kept us out of the ER.

[lizajane]

ok... i realize that everyone has to go with their own feelings on safety... but here is our story...

we have a VERY wild, active, no-impulse-control 5 year old. he climbs, jumps, runs, twirls... you name it. his little brother, 3, copies most of the stuff he does, but when alone, is fairly calm.

imagine my horror when i learn that DH has PROMISED them bunk beds.!!!!!

fast foward... we have bunk beds. schuyler is on top, dylan on the bottom. it made THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE EVER in the room. they can now play in a room that was just full of beds. it is so so so much nicer to have a room for them that they can actually use and not just sleep in.

we have not had ONE SINGLE problem with our wild child ignorning the rules. not ever. and believe me, this child is not a rule-follower. we flat out told him that if he 1) stood up on the top bunk 2) jumped on or from the top bunk 3)climbed on the top bunk (instead of using the ladder) that the beds would be taken down and turned into twin beds. period.

he climbs the ladder and crawls into bed. he climbs down (maybe jumps off the 2nd lowest rung, not a big deal.) he never plays on the top, and neither does dylan. dylan crawls up there with him, but they don't play rough up there. i am SHOCKED. i thought these beds would be a disaster. but instead, i LOVE them.

our ONE problem was when a friend tried to stand on the bunk and touch the ceiling and she cracked a support board. she did NOT fall or get hurt. that was the one time that i forgot she hadn't seen the beds before and needed the rules.

[jenmcadams]

Our son has been in a low loft bed from Flexa since he was three. He's a pretty active kid, but it has super high rails (and we have a low profile mattress) and he's fine. We haven't had any problems and he loves the fort under his bed. My DD would love love love a lofted bed with a desk, but she has a more typical twin bed with trundle set-up in a larger room and we can't justify the expense right now...I know you've already made your decision about bed type, but for us, the Flexa (another similar company is Maxtrix) beds are great quality and super flexible in terms of being able to start low loft and move up to mid-high lofts with desks or bunk beds

[AngelaS]

All the children I know who've broken a bone falling off the top bunk (two arms and a femur--three different kids), were on the top bunk with a sibling. Therefore we have the rule that only one child is allowed on the top bunk at a time and they're not allowed to play up there.

[hellokitty]

One other thought with bunk beds is that it may not just be your own child that gets hurt. My friend's son has a bunkbed. When we went over to play, my son tried to climb up. I am not sure if he slipped or if another child pushed him (there were three other older boys up top), but he took a tumble down the ladder. He was ok, just kind of scared, luckily, I think he was still on the ladder when he fell off (not the top bunk), so it was not as big of a fall as it could have been.

My brothers grew up sharing a bunk bed, BUT they were not very hyper/high energy kids, so they didn't goof off that much on the bunk bed. My kids are high energy and very hyper, I would be afraid of accidents for sure. They already shove each other around and play rough on the ground, I can't imagine how it would be if they were six ft up.

[Tondi G]

we have twin over full bunkbeds from PBK and so far LOVE them! I have a 7 year old and a 3.5 year old. I came in one night to find my 7 year old in the bottom bunk and my 3.5 year old up top. I didn't wake them and make them switch and my 3 yr old managed to get down in the middle of the night and join me in my bed.... no falls on the ladder with a sleepy 3 year old!

I always tell my boys... no messing around up on the top bunk.... every stays seated up there and take your time (no pushing) on the ladder! With my crazy wild boys I am thankful we haven't had any issues. There would be very little room for the kids to move around in their room if we didn't have bunk beds!

We are happy with ours. I think if you lay down some rules you will be fine! Good luck!

[Kyras mom]

Thanks everyone! We are going to stay with the loft, and enforce rules: No goofing off on top and ALWAYS go potty before bed.

[MelissaTC]

DS has been sleeping in a low loft bed from Flexa for at least 3 years now and no issues at all.

[kransden]

What a timely topic! My dd has a loft bed with a slide from JCP. She is fine with it. Today I had a kid party. One of the girls started jumping up and down on the top of her loft bed. I almost had a heart attack. Now I know to tell ALL the girls no jumping like monkeys on the bed! :)