Poor liitle man.

[lou33]

I've just spent the night in hospital with ds1 aged 4 1/2, after he broke his arm in 2 places yesterday afternoon. After being told a thousand times not to climb on the top bunk (dd1's), him and dd2 still did, which ended up with ds falling over the guard rail and onto the floor. An ambulance to the hospital followed by morphine, x rays and a stay overnight so the arm could be manipulated back into place under a GA. All this with hardly any fuss, apart from the crying because of the pain.

He's now is a cast from armpit to knuckle for about 4 weeks, so lets hope the heatwave cools a bit for him.

I'm sorry to hear that your son has broken his arm, hope it wasn't too stressful for you and him.

This is exactly why I don't want bunk beds for my kids, I couldn't trust them not to throw themselves off. They seem to specialise in ignoring me at the moment. I'm thinking of getting a double bed for my daughters to share as we haven't got room for 2 single beds.

I hope he doesn't find it too hard to cope with the cast and is on top form again soon.

oh lou - sorry to hear that... I hope it cools down soon.... plaster in heat is a nightmare - my brother broke his lag badly and had it in plaster through a horrible hot aussie summer - not nice.....

Big brave boy - by the sounds of it....

hope he is feeling a little better soon

POOR YOU ALL!

What would your verdict on B beds be? Was this unusual do you think? Or inevitable,
dh refuses them for this reason

Oh poor baby. Hope he's not too uncomfortable, Lou. Really don't envy his cast in this heat. Hope the pope's prayers for rain work soon!

Aww poor thing- hope he's not too uncomfortable....

Lou, I hope he gets better quickly, poor little guy! I hope the weather cools down a lot too. He sounds really brave!

Codswallop - it's pretty much inevitable with bunk beds and little children. They are not recommended for under 6 years old for this reason. DS1 has safely had one of those mid-height beds with a slide since about 2y 8m and has never fallen off it. DS2 (2.5) fell off it about a month ago (only got a bumped head thankfully). I found Mr Sensible, DS1, jumping from the top of the bed onto a double air mattress yesterday so I was glad it wasn't true bunk beds!

Lou33 - give him my best - poor little thing. Hope you're coping OK, and him of course! What colour cast did he choose?

Aw, I'm so sorry. He sounds very brave.
Hope you're all managing to sleep well tonight.

hi lou,sorry about your ds,hope he doesn`t suffer even more because of the heat!
we have bunk beds and ds 5 sleeps at the top,we always take the ladder away to avoid dd 3 climbing up,but she still managed to get to the top once,so far no accidents,you watch now for the curse of mumsnet

Aw, poor little boy, hope he's not too uncomfortable and the pain eases soon, lou. (And that it cools down!)

DD1 fell off her top bunk aged about 8, we had a SOLID OAK old-fashioned school desk just below, she hit it with her cheekbone - ouch - but it broke her fall and all she had was the bruise. Bunks - all high beds - are dodgy but what can you do? Ideally we'd all have a room for each child with a single bed but a) we don't and b) they like bunkbeds.

Our bunks have a detachable ladder but even so the kids could and did climb up the ends when under 6. DD2 had a high bed aged 8 and carted DS2, aged a few weeks, up the ladder to that to play with him - I had palpitations when I found out and the whole street heard what a bad idea that was.

But most people with bunk beds get by without injuries. I'd be interested to see stats if anyone has them!

lou33 - big sympathy , one eldest jumped off the toddler slide and broke her arm and dislocated her elbow and had to havr arm pinned, then a couple of years later dd2, fell over a tub of flowers and fractures her elbow and had the same manipulation under a general. They heal amazingly quickly. You can get some really good plastic bags from the chemist with sticky tape round the top so they can have a bath.... go for the leg size as its quite awkward if their arm is plastered in a bend. This was after trying a bin bag, and then spending 5 hours in A&E waiting for it to be re-plastered. Hugs to him and hope he feels ok.

Oh, the poor thing. Hope he is coping well and the weather is cooling down for him.

poor you, lou33. my dd (5.5 yrs) had her cast taken off on Friday after 3 weeks, following a broken wrist (fell of a mini-trampoline). I felt so bad for her in the heat (and in fact she was meant to have the cast on until tomorrow but I couldn't bear her having it for another weekend so persuaded them to take it off 5 days early). She is absolutely fine now - they heal so fast its amazing.
Large freezer bags with sellotape around them are good for bathtime, protect from splashes etc although I wouldn't necessarily recommend total immersion as the water does find its way in somehow. Other tip is to put a pillow under the arm while they sleep to raise it and cushion it a bit, otherwise the weight of it is a bit uncomfortable.
I think it is meant to be cooler by the end of the week - I'll be thinking of him, poor boy!

poor little chap! best wishes to you all.

Wow! Am amazed at such a lovely response, thank you all.

The bunk beds are in the girl's room, they are aged 11 and 6 1/2, the top one being for the oldest. I have lost count of the times I have told dd2 and ds1 not to climb up there, and have rushed in screaming get down to them. It was going to be one or the other of them though, as I have found them mucking around plenty of times. It seems dd2 got a bit enthusiastic and pulled ds by a limb, which ended up with him over the top.

Having said that we have had bunk beds for about 4 years, and this is the first (and hopefully last) accident we have had with them. The ladder is a fixed type so we couldn't take it away.

Helen and PPH , thanks for the tips, I will try both out. He didn't get a choice of colour for the cast, it's bog standard white, but i have promised to jazz it up with silly drawings when it is properly dry.

I said to dh I am now considering converting the bunks into 2 singles, but am not sure if we have the space. It's a bit like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted though. Ds has said he never wants to go near the beds again, and dd was very shaken so got the hint about messing around I think.

Dh has taken ds to the cinema today to occupy him. The girls have moaned, but they are able to do so many other things, and he can't. It still feels baking here though.

Oh Lou - bless him - right am emailing you now for your address i have just the thing for a 4 year old boy .........