Bunk Beds - Lincoln, NE

I got a low loft bed from IKEA when my daughter was 5 years. The top bunk is only about 4 feet off the ground. My son then slept on the bottom "bunk", just a mattress on the floor. This has worked out great for us. They do still sell the bunk at IKEA, just walk through the kids bed section to find it.

I think the recommendation is that kids not sleep in the top bunk until they are 6. We have bunk beds at the family cabin and my boys end up using them as a jungle gym. Lots of climbing and jumping. Maybe kids get used to them when they use them as their regular bed. Good luck.

Hello Angie,
We didn't have as much luck with the bunk beds.. not to be a downer...my boys are 6 and 4 and share a room. By boys are both risk takers like their father. We also have a 2 year old girl. We have used the bunks unsuccessfully for the past two years. We found our 4 yr old climbing up to the upper bunk to bug his brother. Little sister couldn't go into the room alone or she would always climb up to the top bunk and hang over the side of the rail. (Our ladder didn't come off). They were also jumping from the top bunk. The sheets were very difficult to change. We had some issues with the stomach flu and couldn't make it down the ladder and out of bed in time. I also felt that my boys were hot in the summer with minimal air flow. Thankfully we did buy the bunks that could be separated. We now have two twin beds in their room and they are both LOVING their independence. My older son loves to just flop on his bed to read a book; he wasn't able to do that as easy before. I would suggest finding bunk beds that could be separated, incase you find that bunks just don't work out. Good luck!

L.

A Little about me:
Married SAHM of three amazing kids

I think they recommend being age6 or older for the top bunk...

My cousin has her girls in bunkbeds. They started out when the youngest was 1year on the bottom and the oldest was 3 on top. They've had no problems. She's strict about everything once the child turns 1yr. she takes away the bottle,crib,pacifier you name it.

If your boys aren't wild and will listen to the rules about being on the top bunk it should work. It's just dangerous to have rough housing and playing up on the top bunk.

I bought bunk beds for my son when he was two. It worked great in the small room and his sister used the bottom bunk when we had our 3rd child. Thing I found was hard was the changing sheets. It would always be easier if I pulled the beds out to get behind it.

You don't say what age your children are, so if they are under 4, I would put them both on the bottom until they are at least 4 years old.

I am not sure of your boys age but here is a different twist. My dad built my girls bunk beds. We didn't have room and they were in toddler beds. The top bunk fit a toddler size mattress and not nearly as high as a normal bunk bed because they didn't need as much room for clearance. Also it didn't need rails because he had built the sides up on it. It worked great. Now I have a total of 5 girls and we use 2 regular bunk beds. I have my 20 month old and 4 year old on the bottom bunks and my 8 year old and 7 year old on the top bunks. Good luck!!

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a child be 6 years old before sleeping on a top bunk. Depending on your child's personality, you may think he is ready sooner.

We have one set of bunkbeds and are in the process of getting a second set. The safety stipulations are that the top bunk child needs to be age six, although I think it may be later depending on the child. We didn't bunk them until the oldest was 7.
They really open up floor space in their room. We love them!
Blessings!
H.

We have them. Just a quick note though, make sure you do not have a ceiling fan around the bed. Even after strick warning on multiple times, my son thought it would be fun to play merry-go-round with the fan (It was never turned on). Our two-year old got a good grip and made it half way around and then a big thump. Luckily everything was fine, but we have never had a problem with horseplay on the top bunk since. Have a great time with the bunks.

Actually I have a friend who is selling bunkbeds & she's having a garage sale to get rid of them. She has them on Craig's list if you want to look at them. Her name is Marcie from Savage. Let me know if you are interested, I think she's selling dressers with it too & it came from a boys room. Not sure how much she is selling them for but if you are interested, let me know & I can give you either her e-mail or phone number is she wants that, I will talk to her about that if you are interested in them.

The general rule for the top bunk is age 6. If you are considering it earlier, it depends on the construction of the bed and personality of your child. Our oldest was very mild and took safety instructions to heart and the bed has up and down rails all the way around except for the small opening to the ladder. We put her up there at age 4. If you have a child that likes to take risks and they are younger I would definitely wait. As far as safety guidelines for purchasing, we bought a very expensive wood one on clearance from a furniture store...probably the most expensive piece of furniture in the house. It comes apart with bolts to become 2 twin beds and is very sturdy. It also has the rails all the way around the top that go up and down like crib rails.

We got ours at Pottery Barn when they were having a sale and we love them. My girls have been using them since they were 4 and 2. The oldest is really good about climbing up and down the ladder. It was a learning curve at first, especially trying to get the 2 year old to not climb. We had to remove the ladder in the beginning, unless they were sleeping. Like all new things, the excitement died down and now the ladder is up all the time. The thing I like about our bunk beds is that they can split them apart if they ever get their own room.
We also have a 3rd and I think she's going to be jealous that she doesn't share a room. We might have to build a 3rd bunk for her :)
Good luck

I also have a small home, and only have one bedroom for my two boys, ages 3 and 5. I put them in bunk beds about a year and a half ago. I put my older on top and the younger on the bottom, but have switched them a couple times as we were taking them out of overnight pull-ups. We have not run into any problems at all with the move to bunkbeds, the boys think they are a lot of fun, though they both want the bottom bunk.

We purchased ours at HOM. The nice thing about the set we bought was that the bottom bunk tucks under the bed, so during the day we can push it in and create more room for them in an already very small bedroom.

Good Luck!

Like other people have said, the bunk beds come with a warning not to put any children under age 6 in the top bunk. We got bunk beds for our twin daughters when they turned 3 (maybe 4). At any rate, less than 6. The top bunk was completely railed in except for a small opening where the ladder was. We never had a problem with anyone falling out of the top bunk. When we took the bunk beds apart to let our daughters have their own rooms, the child who had been sleeping in the top bunk started falling out of bed - we took the railings off, and she had to relearn how to sleep without falling out of bed.

How about a trundle bed?

We got bunk beds last fall, and my girls (6 and 8 yrs) loved them although there was a lot of climbing and jumping and playing with the ceiling fan. I took off the ladder so my two year old son wouldn't climb up, but by the time he turned 3 he was able to climb up without the ladder (and get down). His sisters taught him how. We have had no accidents. The extra space in the room was great. But...

I took the bunks down and separated them into two twin beds for the following reasons:
-After the novelty wore off, the girls tended to sleep together in the bottom bunk.
-It was a major nuisance to try to make the bed or change the sheets.

My advice: get the beds that can be separate twin beds in case you don't like bunks. Or try a trundle bed. My 3 year old son has one that slides under his sister's bed during the day.

My girls were three and five years old and it has worked out great! I do advise to put the ladder up when friends come to visit. I know my girls are responsible and won't jump off the bed or rough house on the top bunk but would hate for anyone to have an accident.
Two cons to having a bunk bed is that it is hard to make the bed and when my daughter has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night sometimes she pees on the way down the ladder.
Even with the cons I'm glad we have bunk beds.

Hi Angie:

The bunk bed we got for our son has a full mattress on the bottom and a single on the top. When I get in the the bottom bunk with him to ready, it is easier for me to get in and out. The top also lifts off, so when he is older, we can separate the beds and have a full and single in his room for sleepovers. Make sure your ceiling is high enough, so they don't sit up and hit their heads when sleeping in the top bunk.

We grew up with trundle beds - a great option for lower ceiling. The trundle can easily be put away during the day for more play area in the bedroom.

We bought a bunk bed at HOM Furniture when my daughter turned 4. She has slept on top or bottom, it has been great!

Hi Angie,
I have trundle beds that convert to bunk beds. I think there would be less safety issue with those if your children are young. We actually use it because the room is small and has a lower ceiling. Our son is almost 14 and we use it for sleep overs.
Blessings,
S.
A little about me:
Homeschool mom and Mamasource business listing.

I see you already got responses to age appropriateness. I will tell you about a really cool bunk bed from Ashley furniture. The bottom bunk is a full-sized and then the top bunk is a twin (with a rail across) and is perpendicular to the bottom bunk, it is called 'McKensey.' There is lots of storage in it and it has a built-in desk on the end. Go to www.ashleyfurniture.com and you will see it.
S.

Angie,

The textbook answer is age 6 for the top bunk. The real answer is when they are old enough not to roll out and know better than to play on them, so it can vary. We got a really low set. The headboard on the top bunk is less than 5 feet tall.

Good luck,
S.

My two oldest children (4 and 6) have bunkbeds. We got my 6 year olds when she was 3 and half. We got my 4 year old's bunkbed when he was 2 and a half. I know it is really early but I was pregnant with my third child. We needed the crib. Both kids didn't want to sleep on the top bunk. They would go up there to play but when it came to sleeping, they wanted to be on the bottom bunk. Besides, the kind of bunk beds we got have a full size mattress on the bottom and a single mattress on top. The both like more space. I think you really just have to look at the child and whether they think they can handle it.

Good Luck,
B.

My kids got bunkbeds for Christmas from their great aunt. My daughter is 4 and my son at the time was 2. They loved them and still do. They started playing on the top bunk for a while but then it ended up not being as much fun I guess so they stopped. I didn't even have to tell them that I would have to take the ladder off. Now my son is 3 and he likes to play around on the ladder but I now have to tell him I'll take down the ladder and he stops. For their bedroom being so small I love the bunk beds. Theirs were gotten at Hennen Furniture out of St. Cloud, MN