Bunk Bed? Is It Safe?

We have the Stairway bunk bed from Bunk Bed King. We thought the stairs would be safer than a ladder. My girls have been safely sleeping in them since they were 2 and 4.

http://www.bunkbedking.com/bunk-beds-stairway

We had one when my son and daughter shared a room, during the preschool/early elementary school years. They loved it! Not only for sleeping but playing. They spent many happy hours hanging blankets to make a fort or cave.
I think you treat it like anything else you don't want your son to climb. Teach him early, and keep the door shut until you feel he can be trusted to be safe :)

So your concern is the little one, who hasn't arrived yet, climbing.......not your 8 year old in the top bunk? Put a gate up when he reaches that age. Lock the girls room door when they aren't in it. If they want together time in the girls' room(which I highly doubt 'cuz of their ages) make sure to instruct the oldes not to allow him up there. As for safety, I had a bunk bed for the girls and it was fine. Top bunk has gaurd rails and there were no accidents. My youngest actually had an accident with a regular bed, bouncing up and down on it.

Bunk beds are safe. Kids will do crazy things on and around them but that comes with the territory. There are bunk beds with stairs that lead up instead of the traditional ladder style.

http://www.mybobs.com/Coloradostairwaybunkbed

I grew up with bunk beds. I had the top bunk. When we got older we took them down and I was a fanatic about rearranging the room.

As for falling from the bunk, I only fell out once. I was clowning around over the head rail and fell head first into the barrel toy container. I was so stuck head first and had to work really hard to get myself out. My mother was right there watching me struggle. She had told me several times to stop hanging over the bed like that but I refused. Lesson learned.

We had tiled floors but mom situated furniture around the bed that would soften any falls. We also had a thick rug on the floor just in case of mishap which never happened except for my incident and I was about 9 years old. At that point we had the beds for about 3 years or so.

I hope this helps you in making your decision. I love bunk and loft beds they free up floor space which can come at a premium.

My kids slept on bunk beds until they left home to get married. No one ever got hurt and we had little ones that would climb the ladder to the upper bunk.

We had a barrier on the upper bunk so the kids wouldn't roll over and fall off. We never had a problem. The kids would play on the upper bunk for hours. It was their plane, their fort, their cloud, their castle and a multitude of other things that their imagination took them to.

Good luck to you and yours.

Before Genna was born my boys had to share a room so we are talking moving an almost two year old, later to be found out Autism spectrum, kid, into the room with his 13 year old brother. We got bunk beds.

Not only did my son never hurt himself, nor did he even climb up to the top until he was 8 and his brother moved out of the room, but neither did Genna.

That was their big brother's bed and for whatever reason when they are young they respect that more than the words of parents.

So we are talking a two year old using the bottom bunk, newborn growing up around this and yet no one even climbed up there that wasn't supposed to be up there! No one got hurt, no one died, no one did anything but sleep in the bunk.

Sure, kids can get hurt with bunk beds, they can also be hurt in the back yard, the car, kitchen counters apparently though I am still trying to figure out why putting a small baby in a chair on the counter counts for common sense. :(

My point is a lot on things in life can hurt your kids, most things never do. In my experience bunk beds are generally safe.

Angeles brings up a good point, regular beds can be dangerous too. Funny thing, two accidents in a regular bed resulted in stitches. I think it is easier for kids to let go and be stupid in a regular bed because they appear safe. Oh, both were head to nightstand accidents. Both my older daughter, both in hotels, both on soccer tournaments, both showing off her cool moves as a goalie, go figure!

Teach your girls to close their door once your baby is mobile enough to get in there. You want to do that anyways because I BET that they have a bunch of toys that will be choking hazards for an infant/toddler. Their room should be taboo for baby brother.
If you don't like the closed doors, install a baby gate that the big girls can open.

If you have tile floors I would get a nice think rug with a foam underpad for under the bed.

Good luck.

My boys have had bunk beds since they were 6 and 3. I don't let them play on their beds, they are just for sleeping. There are rails on the top bunk, so I didn't need to worry about anyone rolling out of bed. We have hardwood floors, but they have an area rug next to the bed that would cushion a fall somewhat, if by some fluke a fall occured. I do a lot of babysitting, and when I do have little ones roaming around the house I remove the ladder, and I usually keep the door closed as well.

We have them at my parents' cabin and I hate them, but it looks like I'm in the minority. For safety purposes, generally the recommended age to sleep on the top is 6 so your 8-year-old should be fine on the top. My boys liked to use them as a jungle gym. It is also difficult to make them and to change the sheets.

i bought a wood look foam mat from one step ahead for their room as i also have tile

I had a bunk bed 40 years ago when I was little and LOVED it. And I was an only child...lol! My kids have their own rooms, but they want bunk beds and have been asking for them for YEARS! They are 12 and 9. I think the appeal of it is you can keep all their stuffed animals on the bed they don't sleep in and they can play on it as well. Your girls will be old enough to watch your son if he's in their room and tries to climb up the ladder. Until then, they can just keep their door closed with a safety handle on it. I think the girls would have fun with it. Good luck!

I will tell you that my best friend from the summer before 7th grade lost her elementary school aged child when he was sitting on the top bunk and simply fell off. He was not wrestling, roughhousing, nothing, he was sitting there and lost his balance when he started to move. He hit his head when he fell and he died.

I will never have bunk beds in my home nor let the kids sleep at anyone's home that has them. I could not live with myself if anything happened to them and I knew that the beds were dangerous.

I know that millions of people use them every day but we don't see how many children die from falling off or from getting tangled in them.

I say do something else.

This style may be an option. Notice the bed on the right slides under the corner unit to make more room when the kids are not sleeping. This style is also girly enough to satisfy a little girl and mature enough to not be childish for a tween.

I know you can find sets like this much less expensive. You could even build one with your own bookshelves and Hollywood frames.

http://www.thefurniture.com/ASHL-SD-MSTL-TWIN-BD-B149.html

Yes. I think they are safe. Yes we have one from IKEA. I haven't seen our particular model there in a while, but I like it a lot. The side railings and sturdiness were key things I looked for and was surprised when I found that at IKEA - also in terms of additional safety, you could always use the tethers that people use for dressers to ensure the bunk bed can't accidentally get pulled over by some strange climbing technique (kids can do strange things) so that is just a super paranoia option.

I think the key with your little boy is IF he is a climber, make sure you watch him closely and make sure your girls know it is important to shut their door and if needed, put the door knob protector (what is that called??) on the outside of their door.

I truly love our bunk beds. They save space, they are cute and surprisingly no one fights over or on the top bunk:)