Does your teen have a cabin/loft/high sleeper bed?

[MrsKintner]

And if they do is it sturdy, good quality, lots of space?

Trying to buy a high sleeper for my 13 year old and every single one seems to have such mixed reviews I can't tell what is good and what is crap.

We're replacing a very rickety, noisy bunk bed so something sturdy is essential.

DD had the IKEA High sleeper with the desk and wardrobe underneath, it was great and very sturdy. She's 5 ft 10 though and it had to go, she couldn't sit upright as her head hit the ceiling. Changing the sheets was a bit of a nightmare, my parents bought DDs mattress and it was a really good one but that made it thick/ deep and unmanageable to put the sheets on.

So I'd go for a mid sleeper rather than a high sleeper if I were you for longevity, ease of changing bedding so it isn't a two person job and to double as a place to sit as a sofa if friends are round which you can't really do with a high sleeper.

She now has a small double ottoman bed from next which was better quality than expected. Plenty of beds will be on sale in the January sales so I'd hold off of not an emergency.

We have this one Julian Bowen JUPITER MIDSLEEPER-WHITE, Particleboard, Single https://amzn.eu/d/0xFUkeo it was a pain to build but is going strong a few years later. The under bed drawers I feel could have been slightly better but overall stury and loads of room for storage.

Had anyone gone for an ottoman bed, where the whole bed lifts up, rather than drawers underneath?

Yes, we’ve got a double and a single. Both from ikea.

They’re great!

The only problem we found with the high sleeper (it was an Ikea one, and very sturdy with a decent ladder, desk and wardrobe) was that by the time the child was 12/13 years old, they bashed their head on the ceiling every time they sat up in bed.

We got rid at 14 in favour of a normal height bed. The "boxed in ness" to prevent falling and lack of height to ceiling became too restricting. We sacrificed a desk but DC didn't really use it. Now they can sit really comfortably on their bed and feel they have space to work there, rather than having both desk space and sleeping space but not sitting comfortably at either. I know lots of people feel a desk is essential but in our house they go largely ignored.

European brands can be very sturdy - ours was Thukka - but IKEA length. I think the extra length is good for an adult sized person, if you can physically get it into the room.

We had this one built in - 6 drawers underneath.

I bought my two high sleeper beds with a desk below, lasted 6 months before we realised it just wasn't ideal as they were growing fast and head space was becoming an issue. Complete waste of money - not to mention time building them! They now have cabin beds with storage and a desk - game changer and still have space.

Just think at 13 it will probably have a very short shelf life as they will want a normal bed soon. Also it's very hot in a high bed being so close to the ceiling. Can you make anything else work? A study bed or something similar to give you the space you need? I would consider one at age 8ish but definitely not at 13. Most 14/15 boys I know have grown into men!

My oldest had the metal ikea one with the desk under. Very wobbly, didnt like it. Ive recently done my younger boy age 10 bedroom up, i got a second hand XRocker bed with desk underneath for £100. So sturdy! Its amazing. Definitely recommend one of these

We bought a second hand mid-sleeper bed for DD6 that was originally bought from M&S. It's a normal single size bed and very sturdy (I've slept on it myself as a tall adult carrying a few too many extra stone!)

She has the smallest bedroom so will have no choice to stay in the bed until she is much older.

Older DD11 has just switched from a high sleeper bed from Argos to a normal single bed as she was just too tall for a high sleeper. You can just feel the difference in quality between the Argos and M&S bed.

Depends on ceiling height, they've only worked for us with extremely high ceilings. Otherwise you need somewhere to sit and relax and for 1 other person at least at ground level so you might as well have the bed at ground level too.

I agree with some others that a 13 year old will quickly outgrow a high sleeper.

We bought a Jay-Be one like this for our daughter when she was 5. It was brilliant and meant she could always have a friend for a sleepover. I would definitely recommend it. However, I wouldn't be buying one for a 13 year old. My daughter had definitely outgrown it by the time we bought her a new one at 16 because she wasn't comfortably able to sit up in bed without hitting her head on the ceiling.

If you have high ceilings, you will be fine.



We had one made by a carpenter, it was a while ago but it’s a great piece of furniture. It has middle deep drawers and two large cupboards either side. Once DS hit 14 we got him a double bed. We removed the drawers and they are used as a seperate chest of drawers and then DH converted the cupboards it in to a giant desk. It was expensive but around the same price as one of the top of the range stompa cabin beds at the time. DH conversion was a brilliant idea.

We are just getting rid of my 13 year olds mid-sleeper, we bought a very sturdy one when he was about 4 but he is 5 foot 9 now and probably over the weight limit. I've looked at the various high sleeper options but I just don't think any of them are designed for a teen that is adult man sized so I think it's safer to go for a standard single.