Bunk beds/mid sleeper with mattress on the floor

[Chaosonthehorizon]

So have been propelled into the two eldest sharing (5 and 3) because twins are arriving next year. We need them to share for at least 18 mths if not longer (dependent on house move or not), would you bother with a mid sleeper and youngest on the mattress on the floor underneath the mid sleeper or an ikea kura with the same config? Feels safer than bunks as eldest not up as high and much cheaper but will the smallest end up hating being on the floor? Anyone done this? Thanks

I am sure my older two had bunks at that age. We just made sure they could climb the steps properly.

Ideally a mattress shouldn't be placed directly on the floor as mattress need ventilation. Plus it could be a bit drafty. I am sure the bunk bed option would be fine.

Good luck with your twin pregnancy.

I’d go for bunks too. The 5 year old should be old enough. My three always shared in one room, and they’re older teens now.

Can you get your hands on a second hand kura, and buy a new one. Use the mattress base plus extra side panels to make a bunk from the kura- it really will be better if you can get the bottom mattress an inch or 2 off the floor.

I had a high sleeper and one of those child beds underneath when mine were that age. The child bed was small enough to for underneath and quite low. I think your 3 year old would probably be quite happy with a mattress on the floor but you can have problems with damp and mildew if you put mattresses direct on the floor.

You know your children best. Full bunk beds were a no-go when our 2 were that age. The older one still wet the bed and the younger one couldn't be trusted unsupervised not to climb up to the top bunk and fling himself off. You can try removing a rung to stop this but he was a better climber than the older one so it just wouldn't have worked. But with other DC it's fine.

Some high sleeper brands like Thuka do modular systems so you can buy a midsleeper and turn it into a high bunk later. However they are massively more expensive than a Kura. I think your best bet is to get a Kura and find a way to lift the mattress off the floor a little. Maybe even just some slats on the floor would be enough, or consider a basic futon base? Don't forget IKEA beds are a little longer than UK standard so you may not be able to reuse the mattresses. But IKEA mattresses are very reasonable and fine for little ones, I think.

I wouldn't be getting full height bunks because DC do silly dangerous thing 🙈

How about midi off-set bunks, much nicer. Another options is juniors beds as they take up less room and could be passed down on the twins in the future. Ikea do extending junior beds that will fit most DC up to 10.

We have the set up that Coldrain describes: a Kura mid-sleeper with another slatted base and mattress underneath. This means the 2 year old doesn't fall out, and the mattress gets air around it. DD has been up top since 4 with no issues, but obviously it depends on the child.

Congrats on your twins!

Thanks everyone! Two Ikea kura beds from eBay, a day off for DH and two happy children! Also got the trofast toy storage cheap from a neighbour which we are using as steps. So now what do I do about bedside tables for glasses, water etc and also lights. The underneath bed is dark and the bedroom overhead light isn’t actually that great. Eye problems in both so we need very good lighting for reading. After that I just need to work out book, toy and clothes storage!

You’ll get loads of ideas from Pinterest!