Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Flip

Original poster

At what age do you think it's safe for a child to use the top bunk by themselves?

22 replies

ilovespinach · 14/01/2009 12:06

A long way off for us as our dc's are still small (nearly 3 and 1). I'm thinking ahead as we have only a small childs room

....At what age do you think it's safe for a child to use the top bunk reliably by themselves? DS1 who's almost 3 can climb up by himself but I wouldn't trust him to get down....

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Dropdeadfred · 14/01/2009 12:07

most bed companies state they are not for use by dcs under 6 yrs old. My dd did go in one with a proper full length guard though when she was 5

PestoMonster · 14/01/2009 12:07

My dd1 went into the top bunk at 4 years old. I did, however, still put out an old cot mattress beside the bed every night, just in case she should fall off the ladder in the night.

claricebean · 14/01/2009 12:10

DD2 went on the top age 5 and was fine. We will put our youngest 2 in bunks once they are 3 and 5.

Original poster

ilovespinach · 14/01/2009 12:13

thanks we've got a couple of years to wait

OP posts:

NAB3lovelychildren · 14/01/2009 12:26

Mine was nearly 8 and I still worry as he falls out of bed a lot. On to a wooden floor and doesn't wake up!

Gorionine · 14/01/2009 12:32

DD1 started to sleep on top bunk when 4yo. I had a lot of friends, familly, telling me what a terrible mother I was.

Fact is she never fell once, and the son of a friend of my SIL apparently killed himself falling off the bunk bed at 8yo. My understanding of this second hand story was at the time that he was playing on the bunk though not sleeping. Still horrible though but I have never heard of other similar stories (might be because I do not want to!)

fortyplus · 14/01/2009 12:34

You have to think of what the child will be like when they're half asleep! I think the bed companies' recommendations are sensible.

bigTillyMint · 14/01/2009 12:42

DD has had a loft bed since she was 4.

DS has been climbing up and down to it since he was 2 1/2.

We have never had any accidents!

BUT, it is a real pain if DD is sick / ill in bed - not that easy to comfort her, etc when you've got to climb up a ladder!

FAQtothefuture · 14/01/2009 12:44

"You have to think of what the child will be like when they're half asleep! "

true - but many adults (myself included) would be no safer when half asleep

FWIW - DS1 went into the top bunk when he was 6 (which is when we bought the beds). DS2 moved up to the top bunk last summer when he was 4 1/2yrs old.

Fennel · 14/01/2009 12:50

Mine all have from 4.5 but we have been careful, checking how sensible they are about climbing up and down. not bouncing. etc.

ThePellyandMe · 14/01/2009 13:01

DS1 has been in a top bunk since 4. We have had no problems whatsoever but he was a very sensible 4 year old. Now ds2 who is now 4, I wouldn't trust at all because he never stays put, is in and out of bed in the evening and often falls out during the night.

NAB3lovelychildren · 14/01/2009 13:04

TBH it isn't all about if the child is sensible. Mine is just one that falls out of bed, a lot!

bigTillyMint · 14/01/2009 13:20

How does he fall out?

My DD's has a rail and the gap by her head is about 1/2m long!

BlueCowBackToWondering · 14/01/2009 13:26

since age 4.

RoseOfTheOrient · 14/01/2009 13:30

DD was 4.5 yrs here too - I put a couple of old quilts under the ladder bit, in case she fell off the ladder climbing down. (she never did - and there was quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing to our room at night, as they had been co-sleeping up til then) There was a full rail to stop her actually falling out of bed.
DS was 3 and in the bottom bunk.

jellybelly25 · 14/01/2009 14:18

Dd1 was about 5ish when we got a high bed I think, never fell out of anything slept like a log. Me, my sister, dd2, would be hopeless as all talk walk wriggle etc in sleep.

FAQtothefuture · 14/01/2009 14:57

I once fell out of a bunk bed at school (aged about 15) it had a high side rail and a very small gap...

We worked out that I must have ended up with the duvet wedged up against the rail like a ramp and I rolled up and over

jellybelly25 · 14/01/2009 15:03

Lol FAQ that's the sort of thing we did as kids. I keep finding dd2 in various places in her room at the moment having turned cot into bed. She was once sleeping in the netting bit of the door guard (can't get a stair guard to fit our stairs so put it on door) like a little hammock

ummadam · 14/01/2009 17:28

from my experience in A+E...... girls about age 10, boys about 45!

Hulababy · 14/01/2009 17:30

Just ordered bunk beds for DD and she is 6y. Was told this was really the minimum age it is recommended, but I do knwow plenty of children who have gone in a top bunk earlier, esp where space is an issue in the home.

I think it depends on the child as well.

SheherazadetheGoat · 14/01/2009 21:14

we bought a loft bed for dd but when we put it up i had a complete wobble and refused to let her in it. she is 5

MilaMae · 14/01/2009 21:53

We have an Ikea bunkbed for my 5 year old twins which I chose because the bars come up high. They tell you the thickness of mattress you can go up to(I got the thinest to be safe). They've been fine so far(fingers crossed).

Just stayed in a youth hostel for a night, the bunkbeds weren't nearly as safe-low bars and thick mattress. So I think the height the bars come up and thickness of mattress are important in making a decision re age.

Flip