The bunk beds attract children’s attention with their unique design and colors. Moreover, the children’s bedroom often requires some more space for extra toys, or study desk, or other things. So, a bunk bed can fulfill your need for a bed for two or more kids in a limited space. However, it is important to know if the bunk bed is safe to use for children and if your kids are at an ideal age for bunk beds or not.
The bunk beds are built in various designs including bunk beds with stairs, bunk beds with trundle, bunk beds with slides, bunk beds with drawers, and many more. However, it is not the design or color but the material quality and proper finish that make the best bunk beds that offer sleeping comfort and last for years. So, your children’s safety is the most important point to consider when you are buying a new bunk bed and/or using it daily.
How to Make Your Bunk Bed Safe and Secure
Bunk beds have many safety risks for children and teenagers. Because most bunk beds are either used by children at home or teens in hostels. According to a health research organization, around 36000 bunk bed-related injuries occur to children in one year. It is an eye-opener for parents who allow their children to use the bunk beds carelessly.
In order to save your children from injuries caused by bunk beds, you need to take some effective action. Here we provide some important tips to make your bunk bed safer and secure as much as possible. By following our bunk bed safety tips, you can reduce the chance of bunk bed-related accidents and injuries that may occur in your house.
- Bunk Bed Size and Quality
- Check Ladder Quality
- Bunk Bed Placement
- Recommended Age for Bunk Beds
- Guardrails Height and Gap
- Mattress Thickness
- Mattress Foundation
- No Hanging Allowed
- No Jumping or Kicking
- Never Exceed the Weight Limit
- Frequent Inspection
Let us discuss the bunk bed safety tips one by one in detail.
1. Bunk Bed Size and Ladder Quality
Before we discuss how to make your bunk bed safer, we request you to check the material quality at the time of buying it. If you buy a cheap quality bunk bed then the safety tips cannot help you much as the bunk bed is not sturdy enough to withstand day-to-day usage. So, you must choose one of the best bunk beds with stairs to ensure good quality and long-lasting use.
The ladder quality should be good enough to provide safe climbing for everyone. The bunk bed ladder with flat steps is safer than the ladder with rungs. You should check the ladder quality and make sure it is sturdy enough to hold one person’s weight at a time.
2. Bunk Bed Placement
The experts recommend placing the bunk bed in a corner of the room. Because the bunk bed becomes safer and secure with two walls support on its back and aside. If you put a bunk bed in the middle of the room, it will interrupt the walking area and the chances of bunk bed collapse will also increase. The wall support adds more stability to the bunk bed so that your children can sleep comfortably and you remain worry-free.
3. Add Night Lights
The children often have a habit of waking up between the period of night and morning. You should add one or two night lights near the bunk bed. These lights will make things visible for your kids so that they don’t miss a step on a ladder or stairs when climbing up or coming down the bunk bed in the dark.
4. Recommended Age for Bunk Beds
In the product description of every bunk bed, it is clearly stated that the ideal age for bunk beds is 6 years minimum. You can find the best bunk beds with solid construction and high safety rails to make them safer for your kids. But you should also not forget the recommended age, so you should not allow a toddler or child under 6 years to use the upper bunk bed.
The upper bunk has a 6-year minimum age requirement, however, the lower bunk has no such restriction. The experts recommend allowing kids under 6 years to sleep on the bottom bunk bed only under an adult’s supervision. There is no upper age limit for using a bunk bed, but the user must not exceed the maximum weight limit of the bunk bed.
5. Guardrails Height and Gap
The bunk bed must have guardrails around the top bunk to prevent the sleeper(s) from falling off the bed. The guardrails must be at least 5-inch above the top of the mattress and the gap between the guardrails should not be more than 3.5-inch.
6. Mattress Thickness
Every bunk bed supports a twin or full-size mattress with the thickness varying from 5-inch to 10-inch. You must check how thick a mattress your bunk bed supports and use the same to keep it safe for your family.
7. Mattress Foundation
Most bunk beds include bed slats kits that work as a foundation for the mattress. If your bunk bed has come without bed slats then you should add a box spring or bunkie board as a foundation. Only then the mattress can stay straight and comfortable for the users.
8. No Hanging, Jumping, or Kicking Allowed
The children are naughty and they want to play and fight everywhere. You should make sure that none of your kids or their friends are hanging or jumping or kicking when on a bunk bed. It can lead to bunk bed collapse and other accidents that can cause serious injuries in children’s bones, neck, head, and other body parts. So, don’t allow the children to jump, hang or kick on the bunk bed.
9. Never Exceed the Weight Limit
Every bunk bed has a certain weight limit for upper bunk, lower bunk, and trundle bed if any. You should check the weight limit before first-time use and never allow your children to exceed the maximum weight limit of the bunk bed. Even if you have the best bunk beds at home, exceeding the weight limit is never safe.
10. Frequent Inspection
You should keep checking your bunk bed once a week or two weeks. During the inspection, you should check if there is a crack or any screw/nut is loose. Your frequent inspection of the bunk bed can save your children from an unwanted accident in the future. So, it is your responsibility to take care of the bunk bed condition for your family’s safety.
Final Verdict:
We have suggested the top 10 simple safety tips for bunk beds that are very useful. You should apply these safety tips on your bunk bed to protect your children from the risks of bunk bed injuries that occur to many children across the United States. If your friends or relatives have a bunk bed then share these bunk bed safety tips with them so that they can prevent bunk bed-related accidents in the future.