At what age are Bunk beds OK?

[EQ_Bo_07]

We have tight quaters and with 2 kids I am thinking bunk beds are in our future.

What what age have your kids started using bunk beds?

I saw that recomendations are 6 years old, but that seems to be too old.

[SnuggleBuggles]

6yo is what I have always heard too. It doesn't seem too old to me at all. My niece broke her arm twice falling off her bunkbed (she was 9-11yo) so I guess I have seen the risks play out.

Beth

[WatchingThemGrow]

We have a bunk set, but we're using just one of the beds now (actually a bottom tall piece as the headboard, a smaller top piece as the footboard). We'll use the other bed flat on the ground for DS2 the same way until someone is 6 and I feel like they are responsible enough to have them.

[JBaxter]

6 is the only recommendation I have ever heard.

[KrisM]

My parents have them at their lakehouse and we started letting DS1 sleep on the top last year at age 5. But, it was only a few nights the whole summer and it was in the room we were sleeping in, too. I'm way more comfortable with it this year when he's 6.

[ilfaith]

We have a twin over full bunk bed. DS1 and DS2 actually slept together on the bottom mattress from just before they turned 4 and 2 until a few months ago, so DS2 was going on 6 when he moved up to the top bunk (he claimed he got tired of his little brother kicking him all night).

So far nobody's rolled off during the night.

[belovedgandp]

We moved our boys into a room with bunk beds when they were 5 1/2 and 2 1/2. The younger one is not allowed up the ladder at all. The older one was 3 months shy of 6 when he moved to the top bunk and I felt fine with that. I would not have trusted him much younger than he was.

[mom2ethan]

We got bunk beds last summer when DS was 6 and DD was 4. They are doing fine with them, but it would not have worked for us to get them when they were any younger. DS was not ready before he was 6.

We have just recently allowed DD to get on the top bunk (to read or play with DS) without DH or me there. The top bunk is still off-limits during playdates.

[Melaine]

I was thinking about getting the twin beds that convert to bunk beds. That way we could start using them soon and then convert to bunk beds when it seems safe...I would love to have the extra space of bunk beds, or even two loft beds.

[MommyAllison]

My DD is 4.5, and definitely not read to sleep on the top bunk (we don't have bunk beds yet). She still gets up at night a few times a week, and she is totally out of it in the middle of the night - I think she would forget that she was higher up and fall off when she tried to climb out of bed. 6 is the recommendation I've heard, and the youngest I'd be comfortable with.

That said, we have several friends whose kids are in bunkbeds much, much younger (one as young as 2 when they started sleeping on the top bunk!!).

[Momof3Labs]

We have bunkbeds, and I would consider 6yo a minimum. It's not so much the sleeping, in our case, but the climb up and down (when you are sleepy, especially) can be a bit precarious. Goofing around on the top bunk can be really dangerous, too, but we strictly forbid that.

[chickadee]

Whatever age you decide, I would second the not goofing around on the top bunk rule. A coworker lost her grandson when he was playing and got tangled in something while jumping or falling off the top. It was very, very sad and not something I will forget. I grew up sleeping in a bunk bed and loved it so it was a bit shocking when this happened and I hope it is okay to share.

[maestramommy]

My parents started using a bunkbed I think when I was 4. I was on the top, one sis on the bottom, another sis on a twin. I had a wooden railing. One day I was leaning on it while talking to my sis (we were supposed to be napping), and it snapped, and I fell out. Really did something to my jaw. For days it hurt to chew anything. I think the only reason my parents put us in bunks was because we were living in a two bedroom apartment (grad student housing).

I would like to put the kids in a bunkbed now, but Arwyn likes to jump on beds, and she just wouldn't understand that you can't do that on the top bunk. She did it once at a store, and I thought to myself, we are not getting bunkbeds for a LONG time. She also likes to climb so I can't imagine her not somehow getting to the top bunk, whether we allow it or not. Laurel's behaviors are shaping up to be even more daredevily, so it's gotten me even more adamant. I'm thinking we'll have to wait at least 3 more years, unless Laurel mellows out before that. Right. :p

[swissair81]

The 6 year old thing is only for the top bunk. I have a bunkbed for my girls- 7 & 3. My older dd sleeps on the top & the younger sleeps on the bottom.

[love_a_latte]

Well, feeling slightly abashed after reading all the other replies, I'll admit that my two moved into bunk-beds six or so weeks ago. DD, who is four and a half, is on the top, while DS, who is two and a half, is on the bottom. The only incident so far has been DS rolling out of his bed one night, dropping eighteen or so inches, and falling back asleep by the time I made it to their room. Goofing around is not allowed on the top, and DS is only allowed up when DH or I are in the room.

The first couple nights I had DD call for me if she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and I watched to see how she handled getting in and out. After I saw that she did OK I told her that she could do it by herself.

They are really low bunks, the top of the mattress on the top bunk is a little under five feet high, which is one of the things that made me OK with getting them so early.

ETA. I just measured the bunks, as this thread had me thinking about it, and the top of the top mattress is four feet, two inches up.