Bunk beds for children - yes or no?
Bunk beds for children are a piece of furniture that evokes dual feelings in many customers, so here’s a look at whether this type of children’s bed would be suitable for your home!
Is a bunk bed a lifelong trauma?
My husband asked me this question when he found out that my brother and I shared a bunk bed when we were teenagers, he was sleeping upstairs, me, as the big but short and chubby sister, taking the respectful place closer to the ground.
Oh, how I wanted to sleep upstairs!
But I took revange on my brother for the order of things:
while he slept, I occasionally kicked the slats holding the mattress in place with my feet! This, of course, resulted in the collapse of the 2nd floor… At least that way I could show which of us was the boss after all.
In our family, the only reason we slept in a bunk bed was because of the limited living space, as the five of us lived in a small two-bedroom apartment.
Looking at the beds we’ve made makes me wish I was a kid again… How fantastically designed and rich in options are the beds we’ve made, and how happy would I be on the ground floor!
If only my bed had a platform to store the memory books, the latest entry by the crush of the moment, the new lipstick shades bought without my mum knowing (because can you ever have too much lipstick, especially dark, dark lilac?)..
So the question of lifelong trauma remains open.
Why do parents choose bunk beds?
The reasons for this choice vary from family to family, but by observing and talking to our clients, we have filtered out some of the main reasons.
1.Restricted space in a room or part of a room for children.
Bunk beds are a great way to save space by sleeping two or too many children in one “foot” of bed (depending on the type of bed, layout, etc.)
2. Design
Customers often choose bunk beds as the main furniture in their nursery because it is so large, impressive and versatile. It seems that no other children’s bed can be made in as many variations and configurations as bunk beds. You can also see how many different options there are for even just bunk beds in our gallery, where we’ve posted some of our favourite projects. And there are plenty of other ideas and solutions waiting for the right customer!
3. Co-existence
Many parents choose bunk beds because they want their children to spend more time together. Mums and dads want their children to learn skills and knowledge from their big brothers or sisters when they are around them.
In addition, if the bed includes a play area, it can become an organic part of the nursery and complement the play area. This creates opportunities for even more time spent playing together.
When would a bunk bed not be the right option?
We never tell our clients what to do or what to choose, but we can advise them based on what we have observed in our years of experience.
1.We do not recommend bunk beds if one baby is very small, unsteady on their feet and at high risk of trauma. No matter how safe our beds are, there is always a risk of falling from the stairs, platform or second floor.
Even the lowest bunk beds have a second floor almost a metre above the ground. Falling from such a height is very risky for very young children! Of course, falling is traumatic at any age, but very small people most often fall head first. Consequently, the most important organ – the brain – is potentially injured by falling!
We highly recommend choosing bunk beds for children from the age of ideally 5 years, if this is not possible, it would be great to wait until the little one is moving steadily on the stairs AND you can agree with them on the behaviour on the stairs and second floor.
2. We strongly recommend that parents of children who are extremely active and unpredictable in their behaviour should not consider a bunk bed. Reasons – the same risk of trauma.
Where possible, we recommend that very active children choose single beds without a roof or with as few horizontal joints as possible.
Why choose ZiPa bunk beds?
If you read our blog, you will already know about us and our fantastic craftsman who can make practically any piece of furniture.
Many customers find us because they have seen our children’s furniture in the homes of relatives, friends and acquaintances. Word of mouth has always been the best advertisment. It’s also our favourite way to get customers.
Zipa.lv bunk beds are different from other bunk beds first of all because of their quality!
The timber we use is made specifically for us, to the highest quality standards. For this reason alone we can call ourselves a Premium Furniture Manufacturer!
To prevent children sleeping on the ground floor from being able to treat their siblings like me, our slats are screwed to the foot of the bed!
This way we ensure that children don’t lift each other up with their feet and fall on top of each other!
Step width, height, stair slope and spacing, are calculated to ensure compliance with safety requirements. In addition, we also offer various accessories for our beds to provide extra safety, such as safety gates for walkways.
There are endless variations of beds. We can do everything – the configuration, the size, the type of bed… The window panes can be made in different numbers and shapes… The number, distance, size and type of slats, even their presence, can be varied.
And of course, a huge catalogue of colours from which to choose one or more favourites.
Zipa.lv bunk beds for children can also be used safely by teenagers or even adults. The beds have been safety tested to ensure that each bunk can safely sleep up to 130 kg!
Of course, sleeping in a 160 cm bed will not be comfortable for an adult sleeper.
If the plan is for adults to sleep in the bed, we recommend you choose one of the large bed sizes!
What are the alternatives?
For families with very young children, we recommend either very low bunk beds like these or corner beds with both sleeping areas close to the ground!
And of course, if space allows, there is always the option of two separate kids beds for two little personalities. 🙂
Safe sleep and beautiful dreams to the little ones!
On behalf of the ZiPa.lv family,
Baiba, who has an interesting experience with a bunk bed…