High sleeper beds - are they a good idea?

[JasperAteACarrot]

Dd is 8yrs and in the smallest bedroom (not a box room but not loads of space). She would like a desk in her room but there isn't space at the moment.

What are your experiences of high sleeper beds. We like the look of this but with a straight ladder not sloped so that she also has somewhere a friend can stay over.

Anybody offer any good/bad experiences with dc and high sleepers? Thanks

We've just bought our son (10) an IKEA high bed and he LOVES it

So much more room now, he has the box room too. His has nothing underneath but we ahve popped his desk and a lamp under it, and a beanbag for 'hanging out'

We've got one. Ds loves it but it's a right pain in the backside to change the bedding. I, however, am a big fatty of larger proportions so a smaller person may find it easier. Despite that it's a lovely thing to have. I'd get one.

I've trained my son to do the fitted sheet. I drag the rest donw to do at ground level

Ah yes, bed changing, I hadn't thought of that. I'm teeny so no way I can reach and dd wouldn't be able to lift corners of mattress - guess dh will have to do it....what a shame . I won't be able to kiss dd goodnight when I go up to bed though either

DD has one. I too get DH to change the fitted sheet as I find the angle of leaning from the top step bad for my back. When I go to tuck DD in at night I have to climb the step to hug her though. There are 3 sets of steps on her bed one where her head is and one at the foot of the bed.

Dd has one. We got a really sturdy one on ebay. She loves sleeping up there (2 years on) and the extra space is handy.

If she's not feeling well she sleeps on the pull out bed below so we can get to her. There was one memorable night when she was sleeping at the top and I heard those dreaded words "Mummy I feel sick". She got as far as sitting at the top of the ladder before throwing up spectacularly - you can cover a wide range from that height

JasperAteACarrot - you can climb up the ladder and do it, I do :)

They are great for a while but once the school work starts coming in at 13/14 the desk is no use. We got rid of the high bed at that stage and got a bed with loads of underbed storage (prob ikea). The bed is along one wall of the room and the proper desk and small chest on the other. Hardly any floor space,just a 'path' between.
I also think that as they get bigger,boy or girl,it can feel very claustrophobic up there,especially if there is a risk of banging head on ceiling.
Ie the sitting up height can change a lot (hips to head).

my ds chose an ikea one which is really high, and he hates it. but he didn't admit that for ages, just always wanted to be in my bed... so we have now bought another ikea bed (cheap) which fits underneath and it looks like bunk beds. so it's fine. i think the problem was partly the ceiling issue, plus it's a bit wobbily, even though we've tightened everything up correctly.

DD1 has one, bought in a sale. There is very little room between her and the ceiling oops.
She's now taller than me and certainly can't sit up in bed. She declares she doesn't care and don't you dare buy me a lower bed. She has a shelf for books, a light and charger leads for iPods and CD players. Her lap top sneaks up there too. It's her little world.

She does have a proper arm chair underneath. She's sometimes does HW on a lap top tray sitting there, sometimes on the desk under the bed.

We just bought one of these for DD2 (8). It is very like the one in your picture, but came from Dreams. She was so happy when she first saw it assembled that she burst into tears, and she loves sleeping in it (and has DD1 for "sleepover" regularly). It was ideal for her, as she has quite a small room.

We have fairly high ceilings so she can sit up in bed. We put a little shelf on the wall above the bed. I do have to clamber up to change the sheet, but I'm training her to do it.

I guess at some point she'll grow out of it, but hopefully not for a while.

I'm of the smaller ilk. I have 2 high sleepers and bunk beds to negotiate. I step on the lower bed to kiss the one on the top bunk and the high sleepers have futon chairs below that I stand on. Being little means climbing up to do the sheets is not that bad..if I was taller I'd bang my head!

I've just bought a mid-sleeper for DS (5) and he loves it. I avoided a high sleeper because of the issues around sitting up in bed and me having to change the sheets up there. This is about 4' or so off the ground.

We've arranged it bunkbed style in an 'L' shape with his little sister's bed at the moment and have a tiny 'den area' under it too which they both love.

hi dd got one at age 9, it's a little like this but the ladder is stronger, with proper slats.

I went for a basic one because i know that she will utilise the underneath bit differently as she gets older. right now we have a bean bag, a den and posters under it. At Christmas it was covered with snowy tinsel, and lights for a narnia effect.
She loves it up there. I hate it, makes me dizzy! Changing the fitted sheet it a bit of a faff, but it does take my weight! Also, its not too 'in your face' with it being a light grey metal colour.

high sleeper

Harbingerofdoom - why would the desk be no good for teenagers? It's precisely that time of life I had in mind when I bought the bed for DD2. With five in the house they all need a little corner for homework. The desk on her high sleeper is pretty massive and has shelves above.

I had one from about 9 to 17 - I loved it. When I was younger all my cuddly toys were up there with me, and as I got older I could hide up there with a laptop/phone and be away from everyone. Quite often I would go to bed and find a little nest made out of the duvet and pillows and my sister on her phone there because "it's cosier than my bed" (she's older).

Mine was the highest Ikea one, and a double not a single so that the mattress could be used when I got a normal bed afterwards. The best thing my parents did was to put shelves on the wall and then put the bed up against the shelves (if that makes any sense at all). The top shelf was just below the line of the top rail of the bed (so stuff didn't fall onto me) and had a lamp/books etc on. I then had photos on the one below that, and then the two below that had work because they could be reached from the desk. I think I've made that sound far more complicated than it is...

My two (6 and 7) are in these high sleepers with desks and sofa bed/chairs under - they absolutely love it.

Mind you, before we put them in separate rooms a few months ago, they'd been in bunks since the eldest was just turning 3, so for them it was no deal having a ladder and all that...

They love having the shelves and places to put all their things. A little desk lamp means they can sit at their desks and draw quietly (which they both absolutely love doing).

It's a bit of a shag changing the sheets to start with, but I've got a technique now, so not too bad. Luckily my two very rarely have a nighttime accident - if you have a child who has regular accidents, this bed may not be for you. I would not want to be doing the sheets every 2-3 days!

We have high ceilings so we hope that these beds will last them quite a few years before they outgrow.

My kids have got high sleepers. I agree with the bed changing issues - it's a pain in the proverbial! I would say that the sloping ladders are better, we have one of each and the straight ladders are much much harder to make beds with, the sloping aren't too bad although obviously more awkward than a regular bed.

The kids love them though. We bought the white ones from flexa and they are very good quality.

www.flexa.co.uk/Shop-Online/Bed-combinations/High-beds/1/5

CVersial The one that DD had only had a desk the width of the bed (3ft?). There was also a fold out futon bed/chair underneath.
Body size and ceiling height were not a problem.
Desk size was. When you need 2Xbooks,A4pad,laptop,printer and all the other clutter for school. Add onto that make-up and all that junk.......

I forgot to mention that they also do lots of accessories for the beds, magazine pouches, pockets, clip on tables and lamps etc. which are lovely. We have got all the towers and and play curtains too but they've got a bit old for that now so we have taken them off which is a shame as they looked very cute!

RBunty sooo lovely, that didn't exist 10 years ago :(

I think they are ideal in small spaces. But, I think that having the cabin bed meant the end of bedtime stories for my son.