Advice on kids beds

[mom2aiden]

I need help on deciding what kind of bed to get for my DS. He's 4.5 and is currently sleeping in a toddler bed (a race car bed for his Disney Cars themed room) which he is outgrowing.

My DH really wants to get him bunk beds. He thinks they're fun and he had them growing up. I'm not so keen on the idea of bunk beds, for safety reasons and also b/c he's an only child (and right not we're not planning for anymore), so we really don't need two beds. I want something he can grow into and have until he moves out. So, I'm thinking about either a twin or full size bed. His room is rather small (I need to measure it) and one entire wall is all shelving and another wall has his closet and a built-in alcove with a small built-in desk....just big enough for a computer and mouse.

Any experiences with bunk beds, good or bad? Is 4.5 too young for a bunk bed...I know he'll want to sleep up top. He may end up being tall (DH is 6'1"), so that's why I'm looking at full size beds too, but DH thinks a full will be too big for his room.

Thanks!

 

[ireland_nicole]

DS has a mickey mouse bunkbed that had extension rails to make it a twin over full. It can also be taken apart so you have two twins or a twin and a full. We just didn't put the ladder on until DS was 6, that way he couldn't get up on top. He loves it, and it's great when we have people to visit. If he has a sleep over, each boy has one bed, and if we have a lot of family visiting, a couple can share the double and their kiddo can sleep above, basically housing a whole family comfortably in the room. The panels that make it"mickey" come out and can be changed out with plain ones that came with the bed. We got it at rooms to go kids, but I'm not sure if they sell it anymore. You could search twin over full though, and then just make sure they can be seperated when he gets older.

DS loves, loves, loves his bed; the top has been a pirate ship, a tree house, a secret room, the turret of his castle... he'll take his big pirate map or a sheet hang it from the top to turn the bottom bunk into a cave, or a tunnell, or a secret hideout, or a space ship... you get the idea. We chose a mattress for the top bunk specially made for bunk beds, so it's lower profile, and we felt safer with that. Also, the ladder comes out from the bed making it more like steps, and the railings go all the way across w/ no gaps except on the ladder. We've had it three years now and are very happy with our purchase.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

How about a low loft instead of bunks? That way you still get storage space (or a fort) underneath and he's not as high as with a bunk bed. Lots of options out there - I'm a fan of this company in particular as we have their low loft with the fort underneath and once the boys are bigger, we can get a dresser that fits right underneath. And if he ever has a sleepover, you can toss an air bed or mattress underneath for his friend to use. This is my favorite out of all our kids' beds as it's the perfect height for me to still be able to tuck him in and give him a smooch and it's not as hard to change the sheets as on our oldest's top bunk (we have bunk beds which our oldest and youngest share).

We have the low loft with the fort underneath and the angled ladder with handrail (I think that's a great feature and feels very safe).

http://www.maxtrixkids.com/

 

[MSSANDRA]

most parents do the bunk beds at least once! We did about 3 when we bought the first bed. I think 4 is too young to sleep on top. 6 might be the min. age???? DS hated them except to play on and if you have to sleep, lay down with you son, they are a true pain!!!

We gave up and got rid of them and bought a day bed with a tunnel bed underneath. That worked much better till DS hit the teen years and needed more room!!!

We now have a full size bed in there and wish we had just bought a goood full bed and been done at 3!!!

 

[Avonlady1001]

How about a low loft instead of bunks? That way you still get storage space (or a fort) underneath and he's not as high as with a bunk bed. Lots of options out there - I'm a fan of this company in particular as we have their low loft with the fort underneath and once the boys are bigger, we can get a dresser that fits right underneath. And if he ever has a sleepover, you can toss an air bed or mattress underneath for his friend to use. This is my favorite out of all our kids' beds as it's the perfect height for me to still be able to tuck him in and give him a smooch and it's not as hard to change the sheets as on our oldest's top bunk (we have bunk beds which our oldest and youngest share).

We have the low loft with the fort underneath and the angled ladder with handrail (I think that's a great feature and feels very safe).

http://www.maxtrixkids.com/

Those are awesome!! My DD4 1/2 is looking over my shoulder saying, "I want that!" LOL And so do I...would've loved that as a kid! There are no prices on their site...the one you have sounds like the one I would buy...mind if I ask about what that one cost? Thanks!!

To the OP, I had bunk beds as a child that my sis & I shared...I slept in the bottom b/c I was afraid (I was the older one. LOL) We had a guard rail up there & never had any problems, but I hear so many horror stories about kids falling out it scares me. I don't think I'd get one for my kids. That's my opinion, of course. There are SO many amazing beds...and a trundle would take care of future sleepover problems (though we always slept in sleeping bags on the floor when we were kids. LOL).

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Those are awesome!! My DD4 1/2 is looking over my shoulder saying, "I want that!" LOL And so do I...would've loved that as a kid! There are no prices on their site...the one you have sounds like the one I would buy...mind if I ask about what that one cost? Thanks!!

We paid just under $900 for it. (We're in NJ - I'm sure different areas would have different prices) We found a local dealer and the kids got to play on the various models and they are certainly sturdy! The angled ladder was a bit more than the straight ladder and we added the fort as well. I expect it to last until my kids have kids...

ETA - Never mind - I see you're in NY so you know all about how much stuff costs here!

If you want to go really crazy, these are super-cool beds - our bunk bed is the Sierra twin over twin with the stairs on the side as my oldest is, um, less than graceful and he and ladders don't mix!:
http://www.bergfurniture.com/bigkids.asp
This one was about twice as much as the Maxtrix kids but I absolutely love it! Hate changing the sheets up top, but the boys love it. They have very nice low lofts, too.

 

[WantToGoNow]

My dd started sleeping on the top bunk at age of 3 when ds suddenly developed a fear of heights. She was fine - fell off once but that was while walkig around up there not sleeping (ds did the same thing). The bed had a full rail on both sides that was 3-4" above the mattress. The beds are unbunked now and each child has one in their room. I think bunds for an only is not a bad idea - there will always be a place for a visiting child to sleep.

 

[Erica09M]

My (almost) 4.5 year old has bunk beds. They're absolutely sturdy and I feel they're very safe. She knows she's not allowed to play on them, no jumping off, etc. Of course she's very reserved, and she wouldn't dream of jumping off the top bunk anyway... that would be way to scarey! We got her bunk beds because we're hoping to move our 1 year old into her room so they can share. But that's still at least another year away, maybe more. We went ahead and got the beds because #1 she was in need of a new one, and #2 we didn't want to waste money on buying her a single twin bed now, and then bunk beds a couple years later.

Your son is getting older and will be asking to have friends (or cousins?) spend the night in a couple years. The extra bunk could be used for that.

 

[dyna]

If you want something that is going to last till college you need a bed without a footboard or a very low footboard so feet can hang off foot of bed if need be. Been there done that with the bunk beds an having to buy another bed cause DD's got to tall for reg twin bunk beds.

 

[sl_underwood]

We have bought captains beds for each of our kiddos. They are somewhat higher than a box springs and mattress are. They have 6 drawers underneath and a stepstool that can be pulled out to help them on the bed. Our youngest still has the slide attached to his. The kids love them and they are great for storage. We also like that our kids cant shuck everything under their bed and say their room is clean, lol.

 

[Fabinva]

When my son was 4 we got him a loft bed from Ikea, one that did not sit very high and gave him space to play under. Once he got too tall for it I got him a Captain twin bed, I loved the looks of it but recently replaced it with a full size loft bed as he missed his and loves the extra room under.