OT: bunkbeds at home

[DisFam95]

Do you have your kids in bunk beds? If so how do you like it/not like it?

Where did you get your bunkbeds?

Is the ladder angled or straight up/down? (I've heard those are harder to manuever)


My kids will be 3 and 6 this summer and the 6yr old is begging for bunkbeds and to share his room w/ his little brother! I think would be good sharing a room together. Bedtimes might take a littl longer than usual!

Any stories will help w/ my decision.

I'm trying not to let the fact that I could get my scrapbook room back if I do let them share a room

Thanks

 

[Mouse House Mama]

We have twin over full bunkbeds in an L configuration. (full on the bottom). Our boys are 5 and 2. They really like them but to be honest, most of the time they snuggle and sleep on the bottom bed together (the full). We have flat steps on the ladder and they do not have to climb over a railing to get into the top bunk. My ds did not like the beds that you had to climb over the top bunk railing. He felt like he was going to fall. Ours is open on top where the ladder is. The ladder is slanted so it is easier to climb. It has a book shelf on the side as well as 5 drawers. It is a really nice piece of furniture.

 

[DisFam95]

Mouse House Mama: I like the idea of the full/twin and the book shelves and drawers woudl be good storage.

Where did you get it?

I've seen so many in many different prices ranges. $1800 at Pottery Barn to $250 at Ikea. The Ikea ones seem sooooo flimsy. I can put my hand on the floor model and rock it side/side!

 

[brymolmom]

We have them but I kind-of regret it. I am a worry-wart by nature and they are a risk - playing on them, falling off them, etc. Nothing has happened (we've had them for almost a year), but it doesn't change the fact that they are a risk.

My kids are ds5 and dd4, they used to take turns on the top bunk (I am the youngest of 5 so I don't go for the 'oldest gets the better spot' rules) - but somehow the dd3-at-the-time convinced ds that he liked the bottom better - so I had dd3 up there until she turned 4.

It works out well -- they've always shared a room and bunkbeds work best in the room they are in now, but we'll take them apart and use them as twins when we move them into separate rooms.

We got them at a local woodshop - the good ones are EXPENSIVE IMO. But I at least feel comfortable that the ones we have are very heavy and sturdy and well made. The best thing we did was pay for these HUGE drawers (2 deep) that are GREAT for storage. Definitely an expensive endeavor overall - but that has been a huge decision.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Mouse House Mama: I like the idea of the full/twin and the book shelves and drawers woudl be good storage.

Where did you get it?

I've seen so many in many different prices ranges. $1800 at Pottery Barn to $250 at Ikea. The Ikea ones seem sooooo flimsy. I can put my hand on the floor model and rock it side/side!

I did a search all over and found the one I wanted on Ebay but I didn't want to buy it that way so I found out the manufacturer and went to a local store that sells mainly kids furniture and they price matched and even put it together. It wasn't cheap ($1200.) but it is a really nice piece of furniture that will grow with them. I can buy other pieces that will match it from other places. We plan on expanding our home and then each child will have their own room and one of the boys will take the bunks. It really is pretty. I will see if I can find a picture of it.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

My younger boys share a bunk bed. Ds(4) was having issues staying in his bed all night, so the incentive to get a big boy bed did the trick. I figured we may as well get ds (2) a big bed, too, so they would match.

My four year old was dead set against bunk beds. He didn't like the idea at all..until the lady in the store let him climb up (they had guards to avoid having kids climbing in the store). Once he tried, he loved it. It is twin size, shaped lik an L. The bottom bed is really low to the ground. Overall, the entire bed is much lower than my ds (10)'s bunk bed. The ladder is angled and it has a nice, secure guard rail the entire length around the top bed. It has a desk built in to one side, and a bookshelf on the other. It's really nice and sturdy. We got it from Furniture4Kids (I don't know if that's a chain).

After ds had tried the bed at the store (but before we bought it), we had a great offer of purchasing a friend's bunk bed, since her son wanted something different. It was basically the same set up..desk on one side, bookshelf on the other. The difference was that the ladder was built in and was straight up and down. My ds wouldn't even try to climb it. He was so scared of that ladder. It's a shame because I'm sure we would have saved a bundle. But, we're happy with the bed we got.

We do have issues with getting the boys to go to sleep at night. It's mostly because of my 2 year, though. He's not at the point of being able to reason with him. I anticipate it will get easier as they get a little older (at least I pray so).

Our bunk bed only cost about $800. We did run into issues when it was delivered because no one had told us to order "bunky boards" (or something like that), which go across the slats on the bottom. I'm so happy that the delivery guy offered to come back out with them so the boys could use the beds that night. Be sure to ask about those.

 

[jeepgirl30]

We bought DS5 a loft bed type bunk bed from Value City.

http://www.vcf.com/webapp/wcs/store...r=searchResultsPage&returnedProductIds=71604,

He sleeps on the top and on weekends DD7 has a "sleepover" and sleeps on the bottom.

I liked this because it has the bookshelf, drawers and computer desk all with the loft (think college!) and the bottom bed is seperate.

We went with valuecity because it was the lowest price I found. Roomful Express and Levin both had similar products just a different color.

DS loves his "new" room! The ladder is angled and he is fine with it.

 

[kldmom2000]

My DD's have been sleeping in a bunk bed now for about 2 yrs.... they each had separate rooms and twin beds, but my younger DD needed someone to sleep with her-lots of nighttime fears (this was back when she was 3.5). We couldn't fit 2 twins in either room-too snug, so we bought the bunk beds from BJ's (had a coupon and it came out to $225!) We used their twin bed mattresses. It's an oak frame and the ladder is affixed straight up/down. My older DD sleeps on top (she's 7.5 now) and younger DD on the bottom (5 and still terrified of sleeping alone)....

 

[surfgirl]

We have the angled ladder -- takes a little more floor space, but is much easier for kids to get in and out of (esp if half awake in the middle of the night).

One tip I learned about how to 'teach' them to fall asleep - we would read books and for the last book, I would pick a book with big pictures. They would get in bed, get comfortable, lay on their sides. I would lay on my back on the floor holding the book so they could see pictures. I would then read it.... it gave them that 'breathe' time so they could get tired. (as they got older and we moved to chapter books, pictures were no longer an issue) After that, I would turn off the light and sit for a minute to make sure all the wiggles were gone. As they got better at learning to go to sleep, I was able to read and then turn off the light, and leave immediately. It is great tho, b/c now they know how to sleep in a room with another person!

Think of it is 'training' to learn to put themselves to sleep

 

[rbork]

We have solid wood bunk beds that can either be stacked or separated into two individual twins. This was a nice option because as DS11 and DS8 are pretty tall now, stacking was getting uncomfortable height wise. Our sons have their own rooms but still choose to sleep in the same room? DS 11 hasn't kicked the little one out yet.
Also had the angled ladder with rail opening when the beds were stacked..it was easier for the kid's to get down especially when still sleepy if they had to go to the w.c. in the middle of the night. The ladder just hooked over the side and when other little (too young) kid's were over I just pulled off the ladder and layed it on the top bunk...that way I had no worries of them playing up there.
p.s. don't forget to get the bunky boards ~25$ each I think... I have a friend who still doesn't use them

 

[mama4]

We have solid pine bunk beds we found at Big Lots. Very sturdy construction- I was shocked how sturdy they were because they were only around $200. They can be seperated into twins as well. Bunky boards and matresses came from Big Lots- can't remember the price but pretty reasonable and the matresses are very nice. My dsis paid much more for her two bunkbeds and she likes mine more so I think we got a great deal. Also, we have the straight up and down ladder. My son has no problem getting up and down it- in fact he usually just climbs up on the end of the bed which is much like a ladder. My boys are 5 and 4.

 

[lkaanda]

We have bunkbeds from BJ's, probably the same as the other poster. We found that once we put my daughters mattress on the top, the bedrail did not seem high enough. We put an extra high foldable bedrail as backup. It makes us feel better that she won't accidently roll out in her sleep. Good luck.

 

[tweedlemom]

DS5 and DS6 have twin bunkbeds, angled ladder, from Raymour and Flanigan. About $700. They LOVE them!