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Parenting

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Original poster

Would you let. 4 year old sleep in top bunk?

23 replies

Belle15 · 31/10/2013 14:59

We are very low on space and little one has now outgrown her cot. Looking at getting bunkbeds for her (22 months) and her 4 year old brother to sleep in.
Would you or are they too young? He sleeps soundly and rarely gets up in the night. Just worried about him failing from top when half asleep

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Original poster

Belle15 · 31/10/2013 15:00

Also would you go for wooden or metal? Thanks in advance!

OP posts:

Doinmummy · 31/10/2013 15:00

Yes I would. Unless he's a real fidget and could possibly fling himself over the rails.

Original poster

Belle15 · 31/10/2013 15:01

Thanks doin, think he's unlikely to do that. More concerned he would forget he was up there and just climb out as if a normal bed!

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LoofahVanDross · 31/10/2013 15:02

I had a 5 year old DD in top bunk. It was fine. But boys are different and I don't know if I would have wanted my DS's in top bunks at 4, purely because they jump around on their beds. My brother leapt from the top bunk to a single bed and broke his arm!

You know your DS though, and they do have kind of raised sides, and if that is what you have to do, then you just have to go with it really.

bigTillyMint · 31/10/2013 15:03

Yes, DD did at that age. She had a wobbly metal one from Argos, but we upgraded to second-hand strong wooden Stompa beds from ebay - they are fantastic and still in use for DC aged 14 and 12.

Oh and DS didn't share her room, but did like climbing up the bed (any way - not necessarily on the ladder) aged about 2 1/2!

theignored · 31/10/2013 15:03

Yes we got bunk beds and our oldest ds went on the top bunk at age 4. He's not fallen off and the rail is pretty high so.he wouldnt roll out.
We went for solid wood ones, so they last longer and the metal ones always tend to squeak

shrunkenhead · 31/10/2013 15:03

Wooden looks nicer, just make him promise not to fall out.

bigTillyMint · 31/10/2013 15:04

Meant to say we never had any accidents at all.

However, being sick over the edge results in a huge mess, and stripping the top bunk is a vile chore!

OneLittleToddleTerror · 31/10/2013 15:05

I don't think girls don't jump on beds. Mine does all the time. She's a known daredevil though and I have to sign an incident form every week for nursery.

She knows she's a girl though. She also likes me putting her hair in pig tails.

NoComet · 31/10/2013 15:06

DD1 yes, she had a half height bunk for her 3 birthday.

DD2 no way, she falls off mattresses on the floor.

Original poster

Belle15 · 31/10/2013 15:07

Ah thanks all! Will order them
Now! Argos have got
Some lovely solid wooden ones for £165 which seem a bargain!

OP posts:

plipplops · 31/10/2013 15:10

I would DDs (4 and 6) have a wooden bunk from John Lewis and they take turns at the top, have never fallen out.

Patchouli · 31/10/2013 15:12

Are you doing to be able to make sure the little one doesn't keep climbing up?

NoComet · 31/10/2013 15:14

and yes, I do recommend a camp bed in the kitchen for bunk owners who are likely to be sick. It's no way fair to expect a child to climb down a ladder feeling yuck and really difficult to work out where the mess is likely to end up when you have storage or a sibling underneath.

Also our living room adjoins our kitchen so I could sleep on the sofa and keep an ear out for ill Dcs and they could easily get to the down stairs loo over entirely tiled floors. (This was definitely preferable to scrubbing the landing carpet).

MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic · 31/10/2013 15:23

DS1 was about 4 when he first went into the top bunk (is now 15, so survived...) We kept a spare quilt on the floor around the ladder for the first couple of days just in case he came a cropper climbing down half asleep but he was fine. Actually, the only time we had one go over the top was when my DSis was babysitting and they were playing some odd fishing game over the side and DS1 accidentally threw himself over... A few tears and two black eyes and a really embarrassed aunt but he was fine

For sick days we kept a spare mattress under the bottom bunk so they could camp out on the floor rather than the top bunk - started doing that after DS2 threw up out of the top bunk and managed to get DS1 on the head. Fun night.

MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic · 31/10/2013 15:26

Oh, just noticed that thing about girls not jumping on beds... I wish that was true because then I wouldn't have had DD in a full leg plaster over Christmas a few years ago after she sneakily went and bounced on my bed and broke her leg!

lljkk · 31/10/2013 15:32

No, DS2 fell out of a mid sleeper when he was 4yo. tried again when he was 5.5yo & fine.

foreverondiet · 31/10/2013 20:04

Could he get down to go to toilet in the night?

NoComet · 31/10/2013 23:00

If girls didn't jump, dance and do gymnastics on their beds, I wouldn't spend a fortune on kitchen halogen light bulbs.

Yes DD2, I am looking at you.

Yes and it's also you who has, I believe, fallen out of DD1s high bunk.

I only believe, because they didn't tell me until years later. DD2 was only 3 or 4 and wasn't allowed up there to fall off. Fortunately she fell on a spare quilt and the DDs decided I was better off not knowing.

As mentioned up thread, DD2 does have a record of falling out of bed when asleep too.

However, she co-slept odd bits of the night from birth to at least six (if ill or having a nightmare) right on the very edge of our bed and never fell out.

greenbananas · 01/11/2013 18:32

Totally depends on the four year old in question. There's no way I'd trust ds 1 in a top bunk, but my friend's little boy had no problem.

Scrounger · 01/11/2013 21:20

We fixed up an extra rail at the top so that it had a bit more height and we have a night light on so that if he needs to get out in the night he can see OK. He was 5 when he had first had one. We got ours from a discount shop, it is a Next one for half price - bargain. Wood definitely.

Having read this thread he can sleep on the bottom bunk if he is feeling queasy. Yuk.

crazykat · 01/11/2013 21:37

DD1 is 5 and is on the top bunk as DSD is a bit old for the top. She's been fine but was used to climbing up and down when DSD was here.

DD1 will be sleeping on the bottom bunk if she's sick though.

emsyj · 02/11/2013 15:52

We've just got this one, which is quite a bit lower than a standard bunk. The rail is also quite high. I would let DD1 sleep on the top (aged 3.5yo) but she's too scared! I am, however, much more concerned about when DD2 is big enough to share her bedroom, as she is a proper daredevil and I don't see how I will prevent her getting up and climbing the steps in the night. I would be more worried about your 2 yo on the steps really.

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