Bunk bed practices

Bunk beds are one of the favorite furniture for children to sleep on and of course, the upper one is the one with the most followers, perhaps because it is reserved for the "little ones" due to security issues and hence its appeal to those who still do not They meet the minimum age to enjoy them, which according to the AEP (Spanish Association of Pediatrics) is located at six years of age.

Although they emerged as a popular alternative to maximize space, in large families, today they go beyond this functionality and become both a decorative and a playful element, since they have been modernized to become high beds (mostly used by teenagers), which allow the lower space to be used to create a play or study area or in the so-called modular train beds, which incorporate several elements in addition to the surface used for sleeping.

As already indicated, although some manufacturers lower the minimum age to 5 years and even to 4 to use them, if the child has demonstrated ability to climb and descend stairs, European regulations and the Spanish Pediatric Association, insist that age minimum is 6 years, with a period of maximum monitoring of parents in the adaptation phase, in addition to that said furniture has the required quality. If you have two children, it is advisable to place the older one in the upper bunk, even if the child is 6 years old. While the climb on the stairs is an adventure the first time, the descent can be intimidating, so it is best to accompany your child in this learning and teach him to hold on to the bars to ensure their safety and lose fear.

Many accidents are caused by games, improper maneuvers and the elimination of security elements, so insist to your children that the bunk beds are the space for rest and are not their playing area.

A minor but very common accident is the head butts against the roof. European regulations require that the distance between the upper bed and the ceiling must be at least 60 cm to allow children to remain seated. At the same time, accessories or decorative elements should not be placed on top, with which they can also be tripped.

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The AEP guides on other rules that will ensure that your children do not suffer accidents such as ensuring that the beds have rails on all four sides, even if the child is larger; have fixed stairs to go up and down; avoid that the bars of the guardrails have a distance between them of between 7 to 9 cm maximum, to avoid that the small ones can get between them; place the litter on a corner of the room so that it is supported between two walls or at least one; place a carpet on the floor, to one side, so that if a fall occurs, the impact is reduced; have some auxiliary light, especially in the upper part of the beds, so that when you get up at night, no harm is done.

In turn, care must be taken that there is no furniture, toys, accessories, in the area where the child could fall from the upper bed, as this would aggravate any injury. All the edges of this furniture must be rounded, they must be fastened to each other with firm fittings, of good quality.

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In turn, it is convenient to fix the bed well to the wall, for which screws and plugs are useful. Bunk beds should not be placed against false walls or lightweight elements such as dry wall. The box or bed base must hold at least 70 Kgs at any point and there must never be a gap greater than 7 cm after the mattress is placed on top; this means that if the bed measures 90 cm, you can not use a mattress of 80 cm, nor of 1.90 in length if the box measures 2.00 cm, because in those holes a thin child can put their limbs and cause an injury.

The rails do not have to occupy the entire side, but the recommendation is that the free space of the upper bed does not exceed 37.5cm. As for their height, they must have a minimum distance of 13 cm between the highest part of the railing and the upper section of the mattress, so if you are going to use a mattress 20 cm thick, each railing should have a minimum height of 33 cm.

Every so often, you should check the status of the box or upper sommier, in terms of the stability of the structures on which the mattress is based, especially if the children have become adolescents, with a considerable increase in weight.

The fastening elements of the guardrails also tend to weaken over the years, so it will always be a good idea to hire a carpenter to check them and make maintenance and, if necessary, make or repair the existing railing. No matter how old your child has become, do not let him remove the railing and repair it as soon as possible if it has broken.