Double bed for a 7 year old

[Poppets14]

My daughter currently sleeps in a mid sleeper but the ladder is damaged and it’s not very good quality so need to get her a new bed.
Her room is quite big - I’m thinking of getting her a double.
I’m future thinking to when she has sleepovers it’ll be easier. Also I can get in with her to read.

My husband thinks she’s too young.

What do you all think?

[quote toomuchlaundry]@Sewannoying I suppose I was thinking that DS stayed in his cot bed until he grew out of it, so about 5yo. Had blankets and sheets rather than duvet, so easier to throw in the washing machine than a double duvet. He wasn’t reliably dry at night until about 4 so had a few accidents but also had a waterproof layer that went on his mattress which helped. Not so easy when they are spread out in a king size bed. Also at that age not so reliable to vacate the bed and get to the loo in time with D&V bug[/quote]
I guess it might depend on the child. DD also stayed in her cot bed until quite late, but we had an (appropriate) duvet from about 15 months. And I can count on one hand the number of times she had accidents, so it never caused us a problem. Likewise d&v - not a common issue for us.

My kids were not reliably dry at night until around 7. The summer my DD was 5, I think I laundered all her bedding including duvet nearly every day during the summer holidays. The cheapo synthetic asda single duvet that dried in a day, was a life saver! She's 15 and still has the same duvet. I offered her a John Lewis feather duvet and she didn't like it because it was too noisy!!

@userisi

Smaller beds saves space, as commented above and resources (less washing). So what other reasons might there be why people think children 'need' wider beds?

Why are you on mumsnet? Why do you watch Tv? Why do you give presents at Christmas? Why do we do anything if it isn't a basic need?

I prefer a bigger bed, I asked my son if he wanted a bigger bed in his bigger bedroom and he was thrilled. We don't need it, but I have lots of things I don't absolutely need as I'm sure you do too.

Obviously

Maybe I worded my question in a way that was difficult to understand. I could have written something like: "In a country with little space and small rooms in average houses, where might this common aspiration for a good that would be more feasible to have in many other rich countries, with bigger homes, yet where there is no aspiration for such a good – have come from?

Your personal situation, with an apparent big house and apparent lots of space for a bigger bed is not really that relevant to the general question.

Thinking further I wonder if it is yet another indication of the UK’s aspiration to be like the US, but without having the means and space. (Similarly, so many UK inhabitants appear to see it as natural for 17 year olds to aspire to have their own car in a way that is not common in many other rich European cities and countries, although there’d be more space for that too in countries other than the UK.)

@eateroffood or maybe you're just over thinking this whole thing. Honestly how do you get from wanting a bigger bed to it being about people wanting to be like the US?! We spend a huge proportion of our lives in bed, it really isn't difficult to understand that a bigger bed is generally more comfortable for many people, out of preference not need, and thus they just want to be comfortable in the thing they spend around 8 hours a night in, and perhaps they want extend that comfort to their child if they're able.

I suspect most people who have the double beds have the room for them, but if they don't who the fuck cares, if that's what they want to prioritise does it really matter?! Why is it being made out to be some kind of moral issue?!

[quote userisi]@eateroffood or maybe you're just over thinking this whole thing. Honestly how do you get from wanting a bigger bed to it being about people wanting to be like the US?! We spend a huge proportion of our lives in bed, it really isn't difficult to understand that a bigger bed is generally more comfortable for many people, out of preference not need, and thus they just want to be comfortable in the thing they spend around 8 hours a night in, and perhaps they want extend that comfort to their child if they're able.

I suspect most people who have the double beds have the room for them, but if they don't who the fuck cares, if that's what they want to prioritise does it really matter?! Why is it being made out to be some kind of moral issue?!

[/quote]
I simply find it interesting that something that has definite negative effects on space, in a country where space in homes is, on average, a very limited resource, is so highly valued. (People apparently find it better use of space to have space for a double bed for small-ish children, than to have space for a hallway where there is actually space to put some shoes away and hang some jackets, for example.) To me, that is a strange priority, and am interested in where it might have come from. I proposed that it might have come from the closer links to the US than many other countries in Europe has had (the aspiration to have such links have been promoted widely politically so I shouldn't need to evidence them). But it is a question. If you don't find it interesting, feel free to ignore :-)

However, you mention something else that is completely oxymoronic to me, and that is the quality of beds. Yes, beds here may be big, but they are so badly made, comparatively. One big-hard-ish mattress, often nothing else on it (no mattress topper) - to me, that is an uncomfortable bed, but that seems to be what people expect. And tied in with this is the expectation that you need new beds every 5-10-ish years. My bed would cost £3000-4000 new right now and it will last me 30ish years. I'll probably buy a new mattress topper in the middle. My brothers and sisters in law couldn't believe that I (we) spent so much on a bed, but some of them have bought new crap ;-) ones more than once since we got ours!

So completely agree with you that a good bed is a great investment in good sleep, but the £500 pound beds so many people seem to get don't cut it. I'd 100 times rather have a good, smaller bed, than a crap bigger one. A bigger size is not a sign of quality.

They’re too small for a lot of teenagers, I was six foot by 13, a single bed is only six foot three long, so you have to either find a very very narrow pillow, or have it half hanging off the bed to actually lay flat and not have your feet danging off the bed. In a double at least you can lay diagonally if you’re tall.
Do people sleep completely straight or something? Many people over six foot share a double with a partner so less space than in a single but the same length.

Please think ahead as they will need doubles when they're older. We moved them from a shared room to two other rooms so one each. Took out the doubles in those rooms and put their bunks into one room each. Now they are 13 and 11 and ready for doubles so we have to go and buy them again. I honestly don't know why we didn't just keep the original doubles.
I was in a single until I was 22, DS 15yo is in a single. What do you mean by ready for doubles?

Ds has been in a double from the age of 5. He has a big room so it made sense to and when we have people stay over, they use the double in his room and we put a camp bed in our room for him to stay in.

I find double beds for kids weird and don't get it.

A big part of that is generational. To me, double beds in kids rooms are a sign of poverty. I know that mostly isn't the case now, but it really was even just a few decades ago.

I also think extra play space is more important.

I also wouldn't want to be the future partner of someone who's grown up having a whole double to themselves, they'd hog all the space!

@Hollyhocksarenotmessy especially if they have got used to sleeping diagonally!

When I was a kid (probably mid- late 80s) and went to friends houses, the only friend who had a double bed was a girl who lived in a multi generational household and the double bed was shared between 2, possibly 3 people.

@SnackSizeRaisin

I would stick to a single. Otherwise they will end up being unable to sleep in a single bed, or to share a double with someone as they will think they need loads of space. Plus the sheets are easier to change.

This. This is what happened with ours.

Too young for what? If you have the room it makes perfect sense to get a bigger bed. They’re not just for adults or couples!!

Double beds make so much sense if your child's room is doubling as a guest room.