Bunk Bed Safety - Keeping your Family Safe
Safety for your family when using bunk beds.
When it comes to your family, you want to keep them as safe as possible. Many parents fear bunk beds aren’t as safe for their children as regular single story beds. The truth of the matter is that bunk beds pass through a lot of safety inspections before they are able to be sold to the consumer. While the bed itself might be safe by design, that doesn’t mean accidents can’t happen. Here are a few tips regarding bunk bed safety to make sure your family stays safe and sound with their new sleep space.
Keep it age appropriate.
While bunk beds are a lot of fun and help create fond childhood memories, it should be noted there is such as thing as too young for this type of bed. For example, while there is no recommended age for a bunk bed, it is not recommended for children 2 years and younger to sleep in a bunk bed. It is worth noting that the majority of accidents happen to children 3 and under, so many parents choose to wait until their child is 3 or 4 years old for this type of bed.
Older children get the top bunk as long as they meet the age.
Keeping in line with the previous safety tip, it is important to make sure older children get the top bunk. The suggested safety guideline is that children younger than 6 years old should never be placed on the top bunk. If you have two children under the appropriate age of 6, maybe single-story beds are the better bet until one of them is old enough for the top bunk.
Teach children that the ladder isn’t for playtime.
Another major safety concern with bunk beds is the ladder. Too many children think of the ladder as just another play thing in their room and this can lead to possibly fatal consequences. From a poorly secured ladder coming off and pinning a small child underneath to the potential for falling off the ladder and suffering a head injury, there a lot of reasons why you should teach your child that the ladder is only for going up and down to get to the bed and not for play!
Teach kids safety rules.
Along the same lines as the ladder not being for play time, you also need to teach kids that the bunk bed in general is only for sleeping and not for playing. The bed isn’t a place for jumping or roughhousing and the sooner they understand this, the safer they will be for it.
Be mindful of ceiling fans.
It should go without saying that a ceiling fan and a bunk bed are a bad mix, but this is still a common safety mistake. Many parents think because the fan is in the center of the room and the bed is usually in a corner off to the side, the hazard is minimized. Anyone with little children knows how curious they are, and that curiosity can lead to a lot of trouble. If you want to get bunk beds, consider removing the ceiling fan and putting a light fixture instead to remove the temptation a child may have to try reaching for the blade of a spinning fan.
Add night lighting for visibility.
Even in you are there when your little one goes to bed and wakes up in the morning, the ladder or steps still need some nighttime illumination. Whether they are getting up to go to the bathroom or because they had a bad dream, not having enough lighting in this area can lead to half asleep accidents that quickly become serious. Place a night light by the ladder to make sure your little one has enough visibility.