Youngest Age for Top Berth of a Bunk Bed / Loft

my daughter has a childs loft bed that sits about 4 feet off the ground (i think). she has been in it since she was 4 (shes 5 now). shes never fallen out and i remind her to move closer to the wall and not the edge. but for a higher teen type one i would get one of those safty bed rails to give her extra protection. though i would be more worried about her falling down the ladder in the dark then rolling off the bed.

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my daughter has a childs loft bed that sits about 4 feet off the ground (i think). she has been in it since she was 4 (shes 5 now). shes never fallen out and i remind her to move closer to the wall and not the edge. but for a higher teen type one i would get one of those safty bed rails to give her extra protection. though i would be more worried about her falling down the ladder in the dark then rolling off the bed.

The JPMA "rule" is 6 years old, and that's assuming that the child is mature enough to sleep and not do anything stupid. Older for a less mature child.

My youngest brother had to sleep on the top bunk when he was 4 because our other brother wore leg braces and couldn't get to the top after those were put on. He slid under the rail one night between the bottom rail and the mattress. My mother is a light sleeper and could hear him coughing faintly - he was literally hanging from the top bunk by his neck - his chin caught the bottom rail and held him in place. He would have hanged to death if my mom didn't hear him. She's a crusader and got a news crew to come to our house and do a story and the manufacturer recalled the rails and changed the design.

Anyway...freak accidents happen. Make sure that the rails are really wide and have no room for limbs or bodies to get trapped or better yet, get one with solid sides. But not before age 6.

I think it really depends on the child. I guess about 6, but I wouldn't get one for my son, he's just too impulsive and not likely to get much less so.

In addition to maturity and reliability not to do stuff like jump off of it... consider whether or not your child stays in bed all night. If your daughter gets up to use the restroom in the middle of the night, i wouldn't have a loft bed because she'd be climbing up and down while not fully awake.

The actual height of the loft probably doesn't matter (unless she'll bump her head on the ceiling) since the risk of injury is there really from ANY height. I assume she'll have a bed-rail, so won't be falling out in her sleep anyway.

We looked into bunk beds and I think it was reccommended to be at least 12.

I got a low loft bed for my daughter when she was three and it had high sides. She now has a bunk bed with a full/twin combo and I added a bedrail so she won't roll out while she is sleeping. She is now 5.

Gamma G how very sad about that happening. It was most likely where his head was hit not the fall itself.

The manufacturers' minimum recommended age for bunk beds is 6. My boys thrash in their sleep so we waited until they were older than that. I actually HATE bunk and loft beds for a variety of reasons, but my parents have one at the family cabin in the room in which our family sleeps. I think it somewhat depends on the child, but I wouldn't even consider letting a child under 6 sleep up there. You might want to look at the specific manufacturer recommendations for that loft bed since it is maybe higher than a traditional bunk.

My longest lifetime friend had a son who fell off the top bunk and died. He was in elementary school and was not doing anything that would be considered roughhousing, goofing off, jumping, playing, etc....he just fell off and hit his head, there were other people in the room and he was fine until he hit his head. He simply was distracted and overstepped. He was declared dead later at the hospital.

I would not let any child be on a top bunk until they were perhaps in Middle School or Jr. High. An age where if they started to fall they would have some chance of being able to grab something and break the fall.

Otherwise I would never consider putting a child of any age into a bunk bed.

Gamma G's example is very tragic. I don't want to be insensitive, but there will always be tragic accidents. You can't shelter your kids from everything in life.

Our oldest was 4 years old when we bought the bunkbeds. He slept on the bottom bunk until he was about 4 1/2, I think. That's when little brother was bigger and ready for the bottom bunk.

The newer bunkbeds have the top bunk resting in almost a little hole with raised sides all around. That made me feel much better. Just teach her to be smart and safe and she will be fine.

My bunk bed set which I'm willing to send u a photo cuz I'd like to sell says 5years

Because of how our boys' room is set up, we had the choice of my 2 year old being able to climb on a bookcase and therefor push on the screen of the window or the 4 year old on the top bunk of bunkbeds - we took the 4 year old on the top bunk because it seemed safer. He did fine. Most of the time they have a bed rail on it anyway which makes falling out while sleeping pretty difficult to do. The only open spot on ours is the little width of the ladder. Check out the beds then see how safe they seem.

I just took my 3 year old in for his checkup last week and our pediatrician has a poster put out by one of the Pediatric societies, saying that 6 is the minimum age for a top bunk. And you're right, these versions ARE higher and therefore more dangerous. My nephew feel from his at 8 years old and received a concussion :(

We got my six year old bunk beds for his birthday. His three year old little brother routinely sleeps with him on the top bunk. They're fine! They both understand not to jump off of it or anything, and the rails are high enough to prevent them from rolling off. Ours has the staircase with built in drawers on the side instead of a ladder. They love them!

I was in rooms to go yesterday and the recommended age is 6. So I would just go with that.

We did have bunk beds for some of our kids but I would NEVER use them again. They are not safe, yes many things in life are not safe but if you know it then avoid it if possible. I mean my goodness I used drop rail cribs for all 8 of my kids and now they are not 'safe'??? So bunk beds are not 'safe' but they also cause kids to be hotter up so high, falls and if you have more than one child in one they don't sleep well but play usually. Not all kids I know and you did say this is the kind with the desk under it. It's you decision as to when your child is able to not fall out or play on the bed as a climbing/jumping game. Probably a girl wouldn't do this as much as a boy though.