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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

3 year old and 10 month old in bunk beds?

60 replies

someonesmum7 · 29/03/2026 17:05

We live in a 2 bed and currently our baby is 6 months and in our 3 year olds old cotbed it’s beside my side of the bed up against the wall and I have to climb into bed at the bottom.

DD will be 3 next month and by time we are thinking of doing this DS will be 10-11 months.

DD currently in a single house bed, she had a 4x4 kallax unit, chest of drawers and wardrobe. We can get rid of chest of drawers but need kallax for toy/spare bedsheets etc storage, no room in any other part of the house. Realistically we cannot fit 2 single beds in unless one is pushed under the window which I don’t like.

The only thing we can think of is getting a very low bunk, the one with a floor bed on the bottom for DS and the thick 2 or 3 stairs up to the bed on top (some of these even open up for extra storage). DD doesn’t ever get out of bed she just shouts for one of us however I know this could change. We will add additional safety rail to top to make it higher and also one to the bottom to stop baby rolling out.

Bed will also not be anywhere near the window.

Again, I’m not talking about the high bunk beds with ladders. I’ll attach photos of what we are thinking. Yay or nay?

TIA

3 year old and 10 month old in bunk beds?
3 year old and 10 month old in bunk beds?
3 year old and 10 month old in bunk beds?
3 year old and 10 month old in bunk beds?
OP posts:
PinkFrogss · 29/03/2026 17:08

10 months is too young to be in a bed, I wouldn’t even be considering it. Can you not keep DD in a bed and move the cot into her room?

Octavia64 · 29/03/2026 17:09

10 months is way too young.

Toodaloos · 29/03/2026 17:10

Sorry 10 month old vs the steps is not going to end well. It’s not high but the temptation is there for them. Even a 2ft fall off the top bed can be nasty if they’re unlucky. I have friends whose kids have broken collar bones falling off the sofa and they were much older than 10 months old.

someonesmum7 · 29/03/2026 17:11

There is no room, it’s huge and DS is long and already in 12 month clothes at 6 months old. I don’t mean I’d give him a duvet or pillow or anything until at least 12 months, he’d still be in his sleeping bag.

OP posts:
YomAsalYomBasal · 29/03/2026 17:11

The guidance is that 6 is the minimum age to be on the top bunk, and I’d agree with that. Even the most sensible small children move about a lot and do silly things!

someonesmum7 · 29/03/2026 17:12

Thank you, DH is good at building stuff because of his job and thinks he could build a safety rail with a locked gate on it so DS physically couldn’t get out.

OP posts:
someonesmum7 · 29/03/2026 17:13

Thanks everyone, we will scrap that idea for now then. DS will just have to stay in with us for a couple of years at least.

OP posts:
PinkFrogss · 29/03/2026 17:13

What was the original plan for them both - has this changed and if so is there any way you can get back to the original plan?

Otherwise I think you just need to keep for in your bedroom. Its inconvenient but not unsafe.

newornotnew · 29/03/2026 17:13

Years too young for a raised bed or bunk beds.

ObjectiveTent · 29/03/2026 17:14

Have you looked at bunk cots?

Plantlady10 · 29/03/2026 17:15

Could a fold-up bed work for the youngest?

Fullofpudding · 29/03/2026 17:16

Absolutely not. The baby needs to be in a proper cot and even with a side rail your older one will probably want to climb out.

user2848502016 · 29/03/2026 17:16

You can’t put a 10 month old in a bed like that! They will need to stay in your room until they’re closer to 2. It would work when they’re 2 & 5 if you put the youngest on the bottom

Tiptopflipflop · 29/03/2026 17:17

If you do find yourself looking at bed guard/rail type arranged have a read up on the risks of positional aphixiation so you can mitigate against that.

someonesmum7 · 29/03/2026 17:21

PinkFrogss · 29/03/2026 17:13

What was the original plan for them both - has this changed and if so is there any way you can get back to the original plan?

Otherwise I think you just need to keep for in your bedroom. Its inconvenient but not unsafe.

Original plan was for the wardrobe and chest of drawers to go and get another kallax unit fixed high on the wall for their toys, move other kallax under that one and put their clothes folded in it but I hate not being able to hang clothes up for them so they’re not creased but think it’s the only way we can do it unless we put a bed under the window which really freaks me out even though we are in a new build with secure windows and good safety locks etc I don’t want anything under the window that they climb to get onto the windowsill full stop. My best friends sister fell from her bedroom window at 4 years old and is brain damaged and paralysed, it was a freak accident and her windows were locked but she managed to push it down to lean out of it to call for her mum hanging out washing.

OP posts:
someonesmum7 · 29/03/2026 17:21

ObjectiveTent · 29/03/2026 17:14

Have you looked at bunk cots?

Never heard of these will have a look thank you!

OP posts:
LIZS · 29/03/2026 17:22

Not suitable for that age. Can you squeeze a single and cotbed in there and move everything else out?

PinkFrogss · 29/03/2026 17:25

someonesmum7 · 29/03/2026 17:21

Original plan was for the wardrobe and chest of drawers to go and get another kallax unit fixed high on the wall for their toys, move other kallax under that one and put their clothes folded in it but I hate not being able to hang clothes up for them so they’re not creased but think it’s the only way we can do it unless we put a bed under the window which really freaks me out even though we are in a new build with secure windows and good safety locks etc I don’t want anything under the window that they climb to get onto the windowsill full stop. My best friends sister fell from her bedroom window at 4 years old and is brain damaged and paralysed, it was a freak accident and her windows were locked but she managed to push it down to lean out of it to call for her mum hanging out washing.

Edited

I’d get rid of the cupboard then, at that age there’s not really much to hang up. Or could you find a much smaller cupboard?

Simplesbest · 29/03/2026 17:28

Im doing this soon..my eldest was in mid sleeper top bunk by 3 and sibling went on the floor bed bit at 1year when they left our room. Kept the bed and will be doing it again with my current 2yr.old and 6 month old. We never had an issue. Does depend on how physically capable your three your old is. Mine was walking at 9months and crawling up and down stairs before that so he had a couple years practice. He always came down backwards. I put a bed guard all the way along the bottom bunk and it was boxed in at the ends so baby never came out until we took him out.

Rounder888 · 29/03/2026 17:40

Can you swap rooms for now? We are doing this once our 4 month old will be old enough to go in with sister who will be around 3. Going to move them into our bigger room for a couple of years, then swap back once they are big enough for bunk beds (or we move)

EmbarrassmentLovesCompany · 29/03/2026 17:47

What would it look like with both kids in your room, and a double bed in the smaller room? Could you fit in enough storage in one room or another for that arrangement?

Sprogonthetyne · 29/03/2026 17:52

Take everything out and put two beds in, with toy boxes, or draws for cloths under the beds. Cloths that needs hanging can go in your room.

boulevardofbrokendreamss · 29/03/2026 17:52

That will not work.

SparkyBlue · 29/03/2026 17:58

I put my baby straight into a normal double bed at around 1 . It was bunks with a double on the bottom and her seven year old sister on top. Seven is a lot different than three though

SomethingUniqueThisTime · 29/03/2026 18:00

Far too young.

A family member was A&E paediatrician - not an over-protective parent at all, however she would never allow her DC bunk beds (at any age), she saw too many admissions where children had life-changing injuries from falling.

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