Last night, Chase’s bed bit the dust. His was the nicest of the three toddler beds and the one I had the highest hopes for reselling when the time came. Instead, his was the first (and probably not the last) bed to break. His bed actually broke a couple of weeks ago too, but Nick rigged it back together with some wood glue and stronger bolts.
Sadly, the bed could not withstand the brute force of three almost-4 year olds. And no, they weren’t jumping on it. They were moving it when the foot board broke off.
.jpg "DSC_6811")
So last night (I was out), Nick let the boys all put their mattresses on the floor together. When I peeked in on them before I went to bed, all three boys were curled up together on the middle mattress. Seriously, the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time! Made me wish I had a night-vision setting on my camera so I could take a picture.
Anyway, now that a bed is officially broken beyond repair we have a dilemma. Part of me feels like they aren’t old enough for bunk beds yet (I believe the age on those things is 6), but at the same time I don’t want them all sleeping on the floor for the next 2 years. I also am cheap and don’t really want to buy another toddler bed.
Before we bought the toddler beds the plan had been to buy two twin beds and put a trundle under one of them, but that wouldn’t all fit in the room. Ultimately we want to get one of those sweet triple bunk beds that is shaped like an “L” – two beds are on top, one is on the bottom and then there’s a storage type area under the loft on one side. I believe it’s the only kind of bunk bed we’ll be able to get into that room. Unless we do the trundle kind, but that’s not as cool obviously.
So parents – how old were your kiddos when you put them on the top bunk of a bunk bed? How did the transition go? How was it for middle of the night bathroom trips? We’re looking for a solution that doesn’t involve buying a bigger house (even though that’s what I really want to do).
Man, that’s tough! I’m not sure what I’d do if one of the boys’ toddler beds breaks. But our plan (and thankfully we have just enough room) is to get bunkable twin beds when they outgrow the toddler beds, and bunk them when they’re older.
My thought is, if they’re jumping on their beds, they’re not to be trusted with bunk beds just yet! (Imagine if they were jumping on the top bunk…shudder…)
Oh they don’t jump on their beds (except when they’re mattresses are on the floor like they are right now). We made a strict no jumping rule because of how rickety the other two beds are. LOL! My worry with bunk beds is mostly the midnight bathroom trips that still happen sometime. Or, more selfishly, the pain in the butt it’ll be to change the sheets up there. Ha!
I know I’m not a parent, however, my brother and I shared a bunk bed before we moved into our new house. We were about two (almost three) and five at the time, I slept on the bottom and he slept on the top, we had our beds like that until we were about four and six (almost seven.) I think that the boys will be fine sleeping on bunks as long as you set ground rules. We’ve had kids from church break an arm or two from brothers pushing them off the latter at the ripe age of two or three. Good luck!
They make bunk bed with stairs on them and also ones called loft bunks with “trundles” under them, and they. Stand no more than 4 foot in the air. Ashleys has them and so far they have held under the pressure. We moved our girls when they were 2 & 4.
Strangely I would have trusted my 3 year olds on bunk beds more than my 4 year olds!
Anyway though, if you have any worries at all about them being on bunks at this age, you should wait. Much better safe than sorry.
While it may not be ideal, 2 years (or maybe even just one depending on what they are like at 5 – I know a 5 year old on a top bunk and he does fine), will go by fast – why not just keep the mattresses on the floor?
I know this probably sounds crazy, but couldn’t you just put a full size mattress on the floor for now? That would give you time to save up money for the triple bunk bed and them time to mature. We have the bunkable twin beds, but I’m not ready for them to be bunked. I too worry about getting up in the middle of the night for potty breaks. My 7.5 year old just got a loft bed (with desk under it) and he has done great. Not that I’m saying you need to wait that long 🙂 And unfortunately to confirm your suspicion, putting sheets on the top bunk is NO fun! I dread it every time I need to do it 🙁
Oh, duh, I missed the “weren’t” in “jumping on the bed”. ha ha!
Yeah, I dunno. Bunk beds scare me. Bunk beds + little boys TERRIFY me. 😉
With my 3 girls, I put my oldest on the top bunk at 3 years old without any issues. And she is a very deep sleeper. But she has not fallen out of bed, or getting up and down.
I had the same worry with my oldest, but she got her loft bed, which is as high as a bunk bed shortly after she turned 4. She has done great with it and I’ve had little to no problems. She still gets up in the middle of the night to potty and hasn’t had any issues. I did get a bunkbed shelf at Bed, Bath and Beyond and she has a small push light on it if she needs to see to get down. She loves being up there and we played it up to her being a “big girl” now. We also set strick rules that only one person is on the bed at anytime, including being on the ladder. I did so much research on beds trying to find the right one and as someone mentioned, they do have bunk beds with the stairs. Good luck! It is never easy to make the switch! 🙂
I would think one of them (Chase?) could handle a top bunk that has a “gate” on one half of the bed, especially with the rules mentioned above. He certainly can handle a ladder (you climbed a ladder to the roof when you were 3 and your sister was climbing the ladder to the treehouse before she was 3.) 🙂
My son uses a twin bed with the boxspring on the floor. I would just have all the beds on the floor.