I have a 5 and 6 year olds. Is this a good age to get bunk beds? They are still using their car beds that use the toddler mattresses. They still fit in those but after changing their sheets I started thinking those can't be all that comfortable getting older but that's all they are used to. We don't have space for two individual twin beds where we are living now but bunks would fit.

that's about right. I was 6 and my brother 4

some people like trundle beds better
but you have to have room to slide the bottom bed out
cheap ones suck
a little room to slide it back sloppily made cuz unless you've brought forth unto this earth a Felix Ungar that's what will happen


most kids will probably prefer bunk beds

I know a cabin where a 5 and 2 year old will bunk it for week long visits. 2 yo stays on bottom though and has to be careful sitting up to not bump head...
g=

I was 4 when I got bunk beds, which replaced my baby bed. I didn't start sleeping on the top bunk until I was 9 or 10, though, basically not until I could get up to and down from the top bunk without using a ladder because the original ladder, which was very cheaply made and literally fell apart, had been discarded several years prior.

When I was about 11 my cousins cabin had two triple bunk beds in one of the bedrooms, what did I care I was just 11. Kinda like submarine duty!

Trundles wouldn't work for the reason you mentioned and we just dont have the space. But I hadn't thought about them. Thanks for the expanded thoughts!

Also we only have a 7 ft. ceiling in their room. I am going to check on that tomorrow but does anyone know if that's enough clearance to sit up in bed? Definitely don't need them standing up on the top bunk.

7 ft. is a bit on the low side, but with the right bunk bed setup can work. Also, is there room for one of the types that have the top bed at a right angle to the bottom and just overlaps the foot of it? Those can provide a bit more flexibility on headroom for both kids.

I slept in the upper berth of a bunk bed when I was 23. I also had a footlocker and SGT. Dokes to wake me up in the morning.
The upper bunk would get pretty warm in the summer if the ceiling is only 7'.

we got bunk beds last fall, kids were 2 and 6

EDIT: 8ft ceiling, we go this for around $350 IIRC shipping included. Similar stuff in local stores was 800

[www.amazon.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2012 06:42AM by space-time.

Most stores and manufacturer's recommend a minimum age of 6.

My son pestered me for a while to loft his bed (think bunk bed without the bottom bunk). It was about $100 worth of poplar and a weekend's worth of work.

Given that, you can split the headroom any way you like.

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

Twin 5-year-old no. 1 just moved into his bunk bed last weekend. No. 2 will as soon as school is done and I have time to build her a loft. They both have played up there, along with 2yo sister. She can get up on her own, but needs help getting down (I wouldn't let her sleep up there, but she does fine with occasional visits). No problems.

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lipskidder
Also we only have a 7 ft. ceiling in their room. I am going to check on that tomorrow but does anyone know if that's enough clearance to sit up in bed? Definitely don't need them standing up on the top bunk.

Measure the height of the tallest child sitting up on a mattress (measure the thickness of the mattress too). Then double that and add the height of the current bed frame. You might want to add another 6" to allow for growth of the kids.

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Thanks, peeps. I was told that my parents waited until we were 6 and 7 when we got ours. But I went to a party for one of their classmates and they have bunks and hear they manage well. But then they are girls and mine are boys and love jumping a lot.

Lip,

I'm not a fan of bunk beds. As a kid, we had them in the cabins at summer camp and believe you me, falling off one at night was an unpleasant experience. I was 7, 8 and 9 in the years I was in the cabins and it happened once when I was seven. Never again. Also made making the bed a pain in the neck.

Are you sure there is no way to do twin size beds? Or a trundle bed? When I wanted bunk beds at home, my parents flat out refused due to safety issues. Instead, they bought me an oak captain's bed with drawers. While I was disappointed initially, over the years I came to truly love and appreciate that bed.

The bed was purchased 32 years ago or so, still has the same foam mattress and is by far one of the most comfortable beds in their home. It still looks brand-new despite being used regularly since the day four big burly guys carried it up a flight of stairs to the second floor of their house.

Robert

My sister and I had bunk beds when we shared a room- I was probably 7 or 8 and she is two years younger than me. Those lasted for several years.

I also attended overnight camp for many summers starting when I was 11. Bunk beds there, too. Never any problems.

Obviously, a restless sleeper won't do well on the top bunk.

DM

Commercial bunk beds come with safety rails for the top bunk, so rolling out shouldn't be a problem anymore.

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Acer
Commercial bunk beds come with safety rails for the top bunk, so rolling out shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Heck, we had the safety rails way back in the early '60s, and I was either 5, or possibly younger when we got ours. Four brothers sharing 1 large bedroom, two sets of bunk beds. Us youngsters got the top bunks, while my two oldest brothers had the bottoms.

We never fell off, except maybe when we played Tarzan, and tried to swing from one top bunk to the other.

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We are living in someone's basement. Space is VERY limited so trumble bed won't work even if we made the space. Having two boys a year apart means there are many equality issues. Bunks are one thing to fight about who sleeps where but when one is practically on the floor every night will be a problem. I wish I can fit two twins in the space we have but we can't. Either bunks or keep them in their toddler beds for a while longer.

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