From what age are bunk beds ok/safe?

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

This is a long way off, but am trying to plan ahead.

What's the safe age? I've heard its 6.

Do I need to wait until my youngest is 6, so they are both at the "safe" age (I can't imagine him being obedient enough to never get up on the top bunk).

TIA

My eldest was nearly 5 i think when she went into the top bunk. Youngest was nearly 3.

At first the rule was that she didn't climb up or down without me or her dad there, but it soon became obvious that they were both quite capable of getting up and down,on their own (not nesercerily using the ladders either).

Technically you are correct, they both need to be 6. But I think you need to bear in mind the characters of the individual children, and your circumstances.

We got bunks when dss were 1.5 and 3.5 yrs. DS1 went straight into top bunk, and we had no problems.

Having said that they had (and still do have) a small minimalistic bedroom - beds, wardrobe, that's it. So they didn't spend any time playing in there - just sleeping.

HTH

I've heard 6, but I think a lot of families start much earlier due to practicalities. If you have several children under 6, it can be hard to find the floor space to give them all conventional beds.

I think our DS was 4 when he went into the top bunk. He never fell out (when asleep).

My 2 year old has no trouble getting up and down from DD1's loft bed (which is much higher than a bunk).

Thanks folks, in practical terms, we could do with bunk beds sooner rather than later. Glad to hear that they can be used successfully earlier.

What we really need is dh turfed out into the shed instead of bedroom 3 being an office .

LOL puff - we've got a 3 bed house and our two boys are in a room together with the 3rd bedroom being an office. They started out in seperate rooms but the 'office' is so cold that we had to move DS1 into his brother's room - as it happens they LOVE it and I wish we'd done it earlier.

Incidently we were talking to day about getting a bunk bed when DS2 comes out of his cot - which will probably be later this year, when DS1 will be almost 5

Ds1 is already in a cabin bed, and he's not even 3 yet. It has supports round the top and the ladder is at an angle rather than being vertical. He's absolutely fine in it.

please warn your children of the dangers though. ds1 and ds2 (9 and 5) both climbed up on ds1 midi bed, messing about tugging on either end of a pillow and hey presto ds2 has backflipped over the end resulting in concussion and a 5 hour wait in casualty
That'll teach me to sit downstairs drinking coffee of a morning