Bunk Beds - Solon,OH

ok- bunk beds a good idea although be prepared for "I get the top!! No I get the top!!" Our twins started out in toddler beds and then moved to the bunks side by side. They asked for them to be bunked around their 5th birthday. Origianlly is was Joshua who wanted the top, then it was Jacob and they were ok with the switch. They like to change it up every month or so. They don't jump off the top it is impossible with ours, but we have had a couple of bumped heads and a ladder accident...but the nice thing with twins is that they give up their spot for the hurting twin without any compalint at all so the twin that is hurting is comfortable...ahhh I LOVE TWINS!!!!! Good Luck! As always, boys will be boys so always be prepared for the jump off the top or the ladder...but rules are rules too!!! :o) Bunking the beds give them so much more room to play in their room and keep the toys out of the living area!
Good Luck!
A.

Hi K.,
We had bunk beds for our two boys when they were younger and no problem with them getting hurt. No jumping off of them or anything like that.
The biggest complaint I have is making them. It is a chore and a half to get the sheets and blanket down that back side, that's if you have it next to a wall like we did. I have some friends who've complain about the same thing, but I had never thought of that before we got them.
In our case we needed them for space issues, but if it were a choice I would not get them again.

We had bunk beds for our boys and girls but I think they were school age when we got them.
We never had any injuries from them.
Also we have a bunk bed that our grandchildren sleep in when they visit, ages 2-10, without incident.
It has nice high rails on the top.
JUst teach them how to climb carefully etc. and you should be ok.

I'd look around online, but I think a whole lot of kids end up in the ER every year from bunk bed accidents. And I can't imagine a kid seeing a bunk bed and being able to restrain himself from jumping off. We had a trundle bed growing up, which always seemed safer.

Hi! I too have all boys. 3 in fact and all 3 have been in bunkbeds since they got out of their toddler beds. We seperated and put them together. I understand your fear of BB's. We have always told our boys that having a bed is a luxury and if they can not take care of it and use it for its intended purpose than they can sleep on a mattress on the floor. We have never had a problem with them not listening. Good Luck with your decision.

We put our girls in bunk beds when they were 3 1/2 and 18 mos. The older one slept on the top for awhile. Then the younger one started sleeping with her up there. They still have them, now they sleep together in the bottom. They have jumped off the top bunk, hung by their knees from the rails and created an airplane like slide with blankets to slide down. They have yet to hurt themselves. Kids will be kids. Kids have been sleeping in bunk beds for ages.

boys or girls kids will be kids. I have the fondest memories of my brothers bunk beds. We would put the bottom mattress on the floor and "push each other off". Luckily no broken bones. ---the mattress idea was my mothers and we were only allowed to do this with her there. (to be sure we were not throwing each other off LOL)
I think it depends on the personality of your children, the space in your home, and the supervision that will be given.
Enjoy!

hi K....my boys had bunk beds, they were alil older tho, 7 & 5. And yes boys will be boys, they did jump from the top, but not often. but hey..have you looked around at all the different types of bunk beds? There are some neat ones out there. I know IKEA has one, that the bottom bunk is actually on the floor, while the top bunk is only then bout 4 feet up. Not too high for lil boys who get the urge to jump. :) GL

I am a mother of 2 girls ages 3 and 7. I had the fear of bunk beds as well. I purchased a trundle bed. It is much safer than a bunk bed

Most childhood type folks will say no top bunk until a child is 4 or 5 years old and I agree. My son has had a bunk bed in his room since he was 3 but he slept on the bottom. Now (age 7) he's on the top and LOVES it. It's his own little world up there. Yes, he's jumped off the top a few times... just like most kids jump on the bed or off a normal bed. He's been told not to do it and has stopped (although every once in awhile it happens). BUT - it's no more dangerous than when he jumps off the platform on a playset at a playground or off the swings or from a tree branch. He likes having the extra bed there for when nephews/neices come visit (he hasn't done friend sleep overs yet - no interest yet).

My older 2 sleep in bunk beds at my parent's house, too, because that is what they have in a guest room for kids. My 4 year old is on the bottom.

I know lots of people with bunk beds. I say go ahead and get them for your boys but keep them both on the floor until they are 4 or 5 years old.

hey girl - we have bunk beds for our 2 boys - we had them bunked for a couple years, and then split them up into separate rooms. Ours had a rail on the top bunk, so we never had issues with them trying to jump off the top bunk. actually after we separated the bunk beds, my youngest fell out of bed in the middle of the night & broke his collarbone! I don't there there is any guarantee that they won't get hurt, but if you teach them the rules & enforce them, I think you should be fine! :)

HUGS!
~T.

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Three boys, one girl, three bedrooms, small house. It required bunk beds and infact we purchased trundle bunks. The boys chose who slept where. There were those "boys will be boys" times and we had to remind them of the rules. Because our house was small and a ranch I could hear/feel the jumping from almost anywhere. It really worked out well for us and I would do it again in a minute. There was more floor space for them to play in their room when they were younger and as they grew there was more space for all of their sports equipment etc.

Bunk beds are a great way to give children more room in thier bedroom as they get older.My sister and I had them once and we loved them.Yes we jumped from them and thankfully our ceiling was low enough that we couldn't stand to jump so we were never hurt doing so. They say boys will be boys but girls do a lot of the same rough houseing that boys do.You may get a arguement about whom gets to sleep on the top bunk.With us girls my sister was always on top as she was always so small and felt the cold more so since heat rises she was on top.My only fear was she would wet the bed.LOL.
Good Luck.

Children will be children and girls will jump off of top bunks just as easily as boys will. I had a single son and he wanted bunks after the second house fire so we let him have them, he was in third grade and he jumped off of them until he hit his head on the corner of the dresser. My biggest concern wouldn't be the jumping, it would be the fight about who got to sleep in the top bunk!!!!

I have bunk beds for my oldest......Do you have a ceiling fan? Something to think about. But, we have not had any problems. I did break my arm when I was a kid from playing on the top bunk and falling off. We have one that has side rails on the top bunk and a removable ladder. When he was younger we used to take the ladder down during the day, so he wasn't playing unsupervised on it.

Having mentioned the ceiling fan, we have decided with the girls to get the "loft bed" and put a mattress on the floor underneath it. That way it is not so close to the ceiling fan. Something to think about.

We just bought a set of bunk bed for our kids. It is now mandatory that they are manufactured with an attached rail on the top bunk. Most of these rails set a decent height above the mattress. I would think it would be difficult for them to stand on the top bunk (when stacked) and jump over the rail. Not all sets have a complete rail on one side though..... they have a small opening at the "foot" of the bed where the ladder connects. This is how our set is. We are currently using the top bunk as a transition bed for our two year old son who was climbing out of his crib. We decided to go this route b/c well we basically wanted to bypass the toddler bed (we never bought one for our daughter) and move straight to a twin size.... only problem was he rolls. We of course do not have them stacked, but from day one we have emphasized to both of our children that they may NOT jump on the beds or off the beds.... all in hopes that when they do eventually get stacked some years down the road that we do not have to worry. So far so good.... no trying to jump over the rail & he's been in the bed for two months.
One thing that I would definitely look for when searching for the perfect set for your boys.... try to find a set that has the traditional wooden slat bottom to it and does not use bunkie boards! I have friends who have had to replace the bunkie boards several times. Our set has the same type of wooden slats to them that our queen size bed has. Hope this might have helped a bit. Sorry for the rambling....

We actually just moved our 3 and almost 2 yr old into a bunk bed. So far, they haven't jumped out or anything, they've been pretty good about it. If you don't have alot of room, they really are a pretty handy way to deal with sleeping arrangements. Just make sure you get one with good strong railings. And be careful about having them by windows with blinds, they can hang themselves in the cords and I imagine it would be easier for them to do from a higher spot.

We built two bunk beds because we were not happy with the bunk beds we found in the stores. We had a metal one that my children 8, 6, and 4 broke, and yes these are girls so they can be just as rough. We took 2x4's and 2x6's to make them and they are very sturdy, you can hardly move them across the floor. But they will not be able to break them. We have had my 3-year-old fall from them but no injuries thus far. We also built a trundle bed under one of them so at night we pull that one out and let the 3-year-old sleep on that. We have a 13-year-old in one and 8-year-old on the top, 6-year-old in the other top and 4-year-old on the bottom with the 3-year-old on the trundle and it works out quite nice! Space was an issue for us and this has worked out very well! I don't have a problem with making beds as they have all been taught how to make their beds every morning. The 3-year-old even pushes the trundle underneath. I have painted them really fun colors and even put curtins on them so one looks like a fort. They love it. One is High School Musical and the other with purple and gray butterflies matching the curtins. You can make them really fun. Anyway, hope this helps! Mother of 7 beautiful girls.

As much as I would like to be reassuring here I need to tell you about the game tornado. This is played by having one child jump on the top bunk while another child, or two, cower on the lower bunk yelling "oh no the tornado!" My brother and sister and I once played this game when we were all old enough to know better. Great fun until my brother, who was the tornado, jumped off the end of the bed and fell to the floor where his clavicle snapped.

My 2 never did jump off the top bunk because they liked to make forts with sheets on the top bunk and I told them it would come down and never be put back up again. They never tried me on it.
Good luck.

Bunk beds can be great for kids sharing smaller rooms, but my experience as a grandma who raised three girls is that the only way I'd ever have them again is to have the kind that has the twin size on top, and a full size onthe bottom...I think it may have saved my 2nd daughter's neck (really) when she was about 4 years old. Also, I would not even considerit until they were at least 4, but probably 5 years old. And just something to think about....NEVER EVER EVER allow them in the room with a bunk bed and a belt, rope, twine, cable, curtain pulls that loop, etc. The scariest thing I ever witnessed was when my kids had some n'hood boys over to play, andthey were in the room for about 3-5 minutes without me, and I walked in to find them stringing up belts and purses and putting their heads in....WHEW! Not pretty. Good luck!

My older two boys who are now 8 and 7 have been in bunk beds since they were 2 1/2 and 16 months old. We have never had a problem with them falling out, they have in the last year or so began leaping from the top bunk onto their bean bags, but no one has been hurt (yet). The only complaint that I have is making them, but hey the extra space is worth the hassle. Just a couple of months ago they wanted them unbunked and they are having a good time with that now. So I would advice you make sure you can bunk and unbunk them for options down the road. On a side note, I have four kids and they have all been out of their baby beds by 15 months old and all have done great in "big beds". Best wishes for an easy transition.
Also we got our solid wood bunk beds with a Book case kind of headboard for both at an auction for $200.oo and they were brand new with the mattresses included, so you may want to watch for that.

I put my 6 year old in a lofted bed (he is on top bunk with a reading area below). The bed has a railing attached to it so between the height of the bed and the railing there is little room for him to jump off. He would have to climb over the railing and let himself hang down to get down. Neither of which he would ever do because he is very "danger aware". I didn't feel comfortable until he was 6 and even for the first few months I was very concerned about him getting up and down the ladder and such safely. He's been in his bed for 9 months now without a single accidnet.
When I was younger we had a railing that slide under the matteress and I would fall out of bed weekly from the top bunk in my sleep. I don't think they make that kind anymore but be sure the railing attaches to the bed.

My boys were 17 mos. apart and we got them bunk beds when they were 2 and 3. They didn't want to sleep apart, so they both slept on the bottom bunk. They never did really sleep in separate beds. To this day (they are now 10 and 9) they still will sometimes sleep in the same bed. We have a loft with BOTH beds up and I'll find them in the same bed in the morning. If you have the option of having them sleep together on the bottom until they are ready to decide who gets the top/bottom, then that's great. I think I read once where the "experts" said not until a kid is at least 7, should they have a bunk bed. I can see why that recommendation is valid. My boys both are heavy sleepers and getting in and out of bed at night in the dark and half asleep is kind of scary. Also, on a couple occasions, I found my younger son curled up at the bottom of the bed-where the ladder is-close to the end where he could have rolled off. You know your boys more than anyone else and you do what works for you. Good luck with your decision!!

I have a 8 and 6 year old boy, a 3 year old girl and a 21 mo. old boy. My boys and daughter sleep in the bunk bed as it is a double on bottom and single on top with an attached single loft. We really needed to get them due to space issues and I am glad that we did. It is a pain to make them but I only do this once a week when I change sheets - other than that my boys have to make their beds. I was concerned mostly about my youngest climbing in the top and falling out. So it was crucial that the bunk beds that we picked out had removable ladders. This way they are taken off during the day and the little ones cannot get on top. It works out well.

Best of luck!