3rd Trimester

Bunk Beds or Twin Beds - what did you decide?

My girls need to move into a room together soon due the arrival of #3. We only have a 3 bedroom home. They are about to be ages 3 & 5. My husband is set on bunk beds strictly bc the room is not large and this will save space. I am set on two twin beds. What do you think and why? And if you have kids that share a room which did you decide?

My logic for twin beds is: Bunk beds or not, the room is small, we won't be saving a significant amount of space. My oldest is adamant about not being on top and I am not comfortablt with putting a 3 year old up top. Concerned about them falling down the ladder when having to go potty. And most important, and selfishly, when they want mommy to lay with them I don't want to climb my ass up to a bunk bed!

My estimate is we will leave in our home for another 3 years so he thinks when they are 4 and 6 a bunk bed will be better and I should "look to the future".

Re: Bunk Beds or Twin Beds - what did you decide?

  • My girls need to move into a room together soon due the arrival of #3. We only have a 3 bedroom home. They are about to be ages 3 & 5. My husband is set on bunk beds strictly bc the room is not large and this will save space. I am set on two twin beds. What do you think and why? And if you have kids that share a room which did you decide?

    My logic for twin beds is: Bunk beds or not, the room is small, we won't be saving a significant amount of space. My oldest is adamant about not being on top and I am not comfortablt with putting a 3 year old up top. Concerned about them falling down the ladder when having to go potty. And most important, and selfishly, when they want mommy to lay with them I don't want to climb my ass up to a bunk bed!

    My estimate is we will leave in our home for another 3 years so he thinks when they are 4 and 6 a bunk bed will be better and I should "look to the future".

    I personally wouldn't do bunk beds at such a young age. But I don't know that if get two twin beds either. Maybe something smaller? Or what if they share one twin bed? I feel like there are more options you can look into. 
  • I've seen on Pinterest where you put a square table in the corner with two twin beds on either side that way the center of the room is still clear. But at 3 and 5 do they still fit in toddler beds? 

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  • There are also bunk beds that have staircases instead of a ladders you could look into. They would be safer to get up and down but you still have a fall risk.

    I'm in a similar situation with a 2 and 5 yr old, but my 5 yr old is happy to have a top bunk. My current thought is to get a staircase bunk with a trundle so if it looks like the top is going to be an issue we can block it off and still have two low beds. 
  • in reference to bed size / sharing ... I know that with my 4yo that would be impossible to share a twin or to have anything smaller than a twin, but you know your girls best.

    What about doing a lofted bed, not as high as a bunk, but high enough that you could use the room under for storage or make into a type of fort for the girls to use as play space.

     

  • Lurking from 2nd tri.

    My friends boys are about 2 years apart, and they have an ikea "loft" bed, similar to the bottom picture @Jules08 posted. They put the youngest under there on a single size mattress until they moved into their new home that was big enough to have the boys in twin size beds. 

    Or or you can always get a twin bed with a trundle underneath. Just push it under once the girls are up. Plus it teaches them early to make their beds :) my sister and I had that every summer when we would go out of town.

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  • Our boys are 3 and 18 months. DH is building custom bunk beds, but we won't add the ladder to the top until the boys are older. DS2 is staying in his crib until he's 2 and then we will put him in one of the beds with a safety rail. 


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  • We have a 4 bdrm but we did not want to move our eldest (7 this month) in the downstairs bedroom yet and our newborn stays in our master bedroom loft. So our two daughters share a room. They are 19 months apart. 4 (5 next month) and 3 years old. They were both in toddler beds and now twin beds. My husband and I personally thought the girls were too young to be in bunk beds. My eldest falls out of her twin bed now (crazy sleeper) so I'm glad we chose not to do bunk beds. They would save a lot on space but it guess it depends on the room size as well because they still have a big area to play etc. I also thought eventually they will get over bunk beds and probably want their own bed etc. Lol I know I got over my bunk bed quick as a child and I shared it alone. Just depends on your children as well. 
  • The Ikea children's loft/bunk bed is a great idea. It's suuuuper low (the bottom one can have a mattress straight on the ground) and the top is about shoulder height with several options for safety. 
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  • my 8yr old nephew always wants to sleep in the top bunk in our guest rooms, but usually can't sleep well and eventually sleeps on the bottom bunk. 

    Based solely off his reaction I would probably just get 2 twin beds to save on possible sleepless nights if the top bunk is too high and gets scary at night. 

    It also maybe be hard for your 4-5 yr old to use the bathroom in the middle of the night if she has to climb down a ladder or use little steps to get down. 

    Good luck with whatever you choose! 
  • We moved my boys to bunks at 3 and 5 and it went really well. We do enjoy the extra space in the room. My older son was super excited about being up top though so that made it easy. When they want to lay with me we all lay together on the bottom bunk. It was a little hard to give up being comfy laying with him at night, but he rarely needs that now anyway. I agree with ppers about getting the twins that convert to bunks so you have options. 
  • I personally think floor space is more valuable if that is the room where they will play the most, which would call for bunk beds. If they don't play in their room much then twin beds is fine. 



  • My IL's got my DD and niece a really awesome trundle bed. Saves a whole lot of room.
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  • My boys are 5 and 3 and are in bunk beds now. My 3yr old is not allowed on top and they don't play in their room.  Their bed can be bunks or taken apart to become two twin beds. Best decision for us.  
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  • On a safety note, the AAP recommends no younger than 6 be allowed on top bunks. You can google the safety facts and huge rates of injury for kids under 6 (and makes 18-21 which is no surprise there). 





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  • i vote trundle

    although that pic of the murphy twin beds is pretty awesome

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  • We just moved our 2 yo daughter and 4 yo son into bunk beds in preparation for #3. We got the Donco Kids Princeton staircase twin over full model. I really wanted the staircase kind to avoid dealing with a ladder, and the upper railings are pretty high compared to other models. With the full on the bottom, I'm able to lay down with the kids to watch a movie, say prayers and goodnight, etc. Plus its big enough that if my son is in a mood where he doesn't want to be on the top bunk, they can both sleep on the full with no issue.

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  • so we got bunk beds that turn into twins. my girls are in heaven and the oldest happily sleeps up top now and doesn't require me to any longer lay with her for an extended period of time. I MISS that time apparently more than she does.  
  • so we got bunk beds that turn into twins. my girls are in heaven and the oldest happily sleeps up top now and doesn't require me to any longer lay with her for an extended period of time. I MISS that time apparently more than she does.  
    glad they are adjusting well!!
    we did bunk beds with my 3.5 & 2.5yos when baby number 3 came (and also had a toddler bed in the same tiny room). 2yo was in tot bed and 3yo was on bottom bunk. when #3 turned 1, we moved 4-5yo to top bunk and 3-4yo to bottom bunk so #3 can use tot bed and leave cosleeper for #4. baby refuses to sleep without us though, so for the time being i guess we will be bedsharing with 2 (yay LOL)

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  • We had the EXACT same issue....what to get. My 2 oldest girls are 8 and 5. We've done a few "trial sister sleepover" runs to see if they don't kill eachother. I think if we DO decide to stay in our house (we're considering moving before the baby would be in a big girl bed) we're going the bunk bed route. Just provides more space and many of them have storage options built in.

    For the time being though we are letting the girls keep their rooms and the baby is bunking in our master bedroom. There's room for a crib in there when it's needed. 
  • Definitely bunk bed. I loved mine as a kid. We just got one for our boys. Lie with the kids while they're on the lower bunk. 

    My son just turned 3, and I'd be nervous about him being up on the top too, but if your girl can handle the latter during the day then she can handle it at night.
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  • Just my two cents...sorry for bumping...

    We looked at metal ones but many of them seemed a bit ricketty and I couldn't imagine them standing up to hard use.

    Also suggest when you buy looking at how difficult the beds will be to make e.g. one that has a ladder on the side or is hard to pull out from the wall will make it harder to make the bed. I've seen some where I think the only way you could make it would be to climb up make it while clambering over the mattress and ain't nobody got time for dat.

    We also got secondhand Bunkers https://10restbest.com/best-storage-beds (new is very pricey) when my DSs were about 9 and 7 and my now 22 year old still sleeps in the top bunk. Uses the bottom as a clothes pile except when friends stay over and sleep in it.  The end of the bed has a couple of solid boards across it that can be used to  climb to the top bunk, but the bottom one is missing now after a tall mate unintentionally kicked it off while sleeping in the bottom bunk one night. 


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