Are you an engineer, carpenter or clever creative thinker? Help me brainstorm!

[SinkGirl]

We need safe beds for our twins who are 3.5 and still in cots due to disabilities that would make it unsafe for them to be out of bed. One twin has a cat net over the top to stop him climbing out. It’s a short term fix.

There are various safe bed options which are thousands, but crucially their room is just slightly too small to fit two single beds in it. We can’t fit our bed in there either so can’t swap.

We are on a waiting list for an assessment from social care but it’s a six month wait.

We want to get some special bunks beds built in which can’t be escaped from, but which can be converted later so they can be used normally if they are able. But I can’t think how to design them.

This is the best thing we have found, it fits on an Ikea bed. I was thinking we could have the beds cut down in length a bit so they’d fit in the room but then the net would be too big, and I’m not sure who I could get to adjust this.

Does anyone have any brilliant ideas? Any out of the box suggestions?

Sorry, i haven't got any ideas but I have heard great things about this charity -

www.remap.org.uk/

The only thing I'd caution is to check safety regulations wrt things like the distance of bars. It's smaller than you think as it's too account for a toddler wriggling their body through backwards and getting stuck - bodies can wriggle through much tighter spaces than a head would fit. I'd probably buy a copy of the safety standard for cot beds and give it to whoever you get to design the bed. There have been deaths associated with custom made beds that weren't built to safety spec, probably because the person making the bed simply wasn't aware there was one.

If you have cot beds which are full bars but convert to junior beds these should fit until around the age of 7 unless your twins are very tall - perhaps an ikea hack?

Thank you - yes me too! I have contacted them but honestly I feel bad using up their resources when we could afford to pay someone if we just had an idea what to do! Maybe if we can’t think of anything then we could get them to do it and then make a large donation for their time, buy the materials ourselves etc.

We were looking into converting our loft but it’s a more complex job than we imagined and about £15k more than we can afford at this point so back to the drawing board!

Mosquito net might work in a similar way to that netting too if you can recreate the frame of the ikea kura that's based on to the dimensions you need.

Is a bunk bed safe with such a young child even if you do try to make it escape proof.

Why are they in cots? Is it the escape risk or some other reason?

If it is purely escape risk would floor beds and a high gate on the door be possible.

Trying to be out of the box rather than creative - Have you looked at 'small single' beds rather than standard singles?

Assuming you have a double bed, would it be an option for you to change (temporarily) to a queen size bed and swap rooms with your twins?

They’re in standard size cots at the moment (120cm long) - luckily they are small for their age! They are expert climbers though, plus awake for hours through the night so them escaping stealthily is a concern. I completely agree about the safety standards though, that is a worry. That’s why I’d prefer something like a mesh cover like the one above - but who would one contact about something like this, I assume sewing heavy duty mesh like that is more of a challenge.

Balls. Just realised my post above might seem like a begging request - I categorically do not want money, was just explaining! In fact I will give you money if you can come and build me something suitable 😂

If the room is only very slightly too small could you remove the skirting boards to fit in the beds? It's what I had to do to fit bunk beds in our box room.

Also, totally not what you asked but have you tried melatonin for the being awake at night? My DS(8) who is autistic had just started on it and its a miracle!

Social care suggested we use floor beds for six months to “prove the need” (eg let them get hurt basically). Unfortunately it’s just not safe without significant changes which we would need advice on. We need a video monitor in there, plus they are quite reliant on a projector which plugs in - as soon as they are out of the bed one chewing the cables, the other is scaling the radiator, windowsill, fireplace etc. They don’t have any understanding of words or danger so I can’t tell them not to, even if they hurt themselves they don’t stop. We could get alarm pads for the floor so we knew when they are out of bed but they’d never sleep. They need inhumanly small amounts of sleep as it is.

Happy to get smaller beds, but they’d need to be enclosed and I can’t find anything.

I’m wondering if someone could hack two of the Ikea beds together, so that one is at floor level at the other on top with the frame added again to the top, and someone could make us nets similar to the ones above that would fit the adjusted frame. It’s just finding someone who knows how to do this that’s the challenge!

Could you put them both into a small double? A 4ft bed?

They won’t give us melatonin until we’ve seen the sleep clinic but apparently the waiting list is a year at least. I may not be alive by then, but fingers crossed!

The problem is that the room is quite narrow, with a chimney breast and alcoves that are slightly too narrow for a single bed, plus one has a radiator in the way. The plan when we bought (they were babies then) was toddler beds then bunk beds when old enough but that’s all gone to pot now. There’s a long wall which is ideal for single size bunk beds, or you could fit two toddler beds in an L shape.

In a couple of years we could get the loft done or move, but right now we need to find a way to make do!

Sorry just read your update. Could you get custom made play pen and put a large mattress on the floor temporarily to see how they cope?

Can you give us a sketch of the room with dimensions?

Nets would have to be pretty sturdy to keep them enclosed. You would also have to check the flame resistance of materials used - you don't want anything that would burn or melt.

Cot Beds are longer
www.argos.co.uk/product/9359329

This is 155cm long

I’ve suggested that, but they boys don’t interact with each other at all and don’t really like having the other near them - there’s really no way to know until we try. But even then we would need to find a double that they can’t just get out of due to the safety issues.

There is a product called a safe space which is basically a (£10k) tent that lines the room. We could fit two small floor mattresses in that and there would be nothing for them to climb or chew. We could get something like that if it’s the only option, or we could try to get social care to fund one but that would be a battle. So I’m just trying to make sure I’ve exhausted all others options first.

Could you get something like this caravan awning to fit over the whole bed or cut it down it and staple gun the edges to the walls around the beds?

Honestly, the people at REMAP thrive on challenges like this, so I really would go that route. You can give them a donation as you wish, and source the materials they need, but they will do all the thinking, designing and looking around for you

Would retractable safety gates work? If you can fix them to the bedposts at one end and make a sturdy fixing point at the other that might do.

Yes a big play pen is one option I’m looking at - we had one from a company called Tekplas which was great but was 75cm tall and DT1 learnt to vault out before he was 2 so it would have to be very tall!

Will see if I can dig out the floor plan with exact measurements on it.

Bad news about the melatonin. We got it prescribed by the GP but they had to get approval from a paediatrician first, took about 3 weeks.

One child with autism is hard enough, I can't imagine how hard it must be with twins. I often read your posts and think you sound like superwoman :-)

Possibly with the tent type thing. We bought these for trips and thought they might work well... DT1 found the weakness however! (That’s not their room by the way!)

Maybe I should contact REMAP again and then assuage my guilt with lots of donation!

Thuka do shorty beds that could be adapted. Midskeeper as an example but they also do shorty singles www.rainbow-wood.co.uk/product/thuka-trendy-3-shorty-midsleeper/

This is a bit left field but what about an extra large pet travel crate?

I know, I know it feels wrong to suggest a dog tent but it is secure, it is tough, it is breathable and you can definitely put a foam mattress cut to size inside.

Some thing like this:
www.bitiba.co.uk/shop/dogs_accessories/dog_carriers_cages/folding_dog_kennels/637902?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6Y_khbuB6AIVEdreCh0S7gcIEAQYCyABEgK9x_D_BwE