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Keep Kids Safe with These Bunk Bed Safety Tips and Products
Keep kids safe when they have a bunk bed in their bedroom
Emma Kim
While bunk beds are a great way to save space in your child’s bedroom, are perfect for siblings who are sharing a room, and make sleepovers more fun, there are dangers associated with children and bunk beds. An average of 36,000 bunk bed-related injuries occur every year to children in the United States, and half of those who are injured are under the age of six years old, according to Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
What starts out as bedtime or playing in their room can quickly turn into a dangerous situation. If you decide to put bunk beds in your child’s room, there are a few things you can do to make the beds safer:
- If you purchased the bunk beds used or inherited the beds, be sure they meet all of the current safety standards and that all of the pieces are in working order.
- Use guardrails on both sides of the top bunk, and make sure the gaps in the guardrails are smaller than 3.5 inches to prevent strangulation.
- To prevent rolling off the bed, guardrails should always extend at least five inches above the top of the mattress (including a mattress pad and bedding).
- Children younger than six are too young to sleep in the top bunk. Keep those kiddos on the bottom bunk for their safety.
- Make sure kids know to never play on the top bunk or on the ladder and always have a night light handy to make climbing in and out of bed easier in the dark.
- Always remove dangerous objects from around the bed.
- Keep the top bunk away from ceiling fans, and disconnect the ceiling fan if it’s close to the top bunk.
- Teach kids how to carefully climb the ladder, and do not use the ladder if it is damaged.
There are also products that can make the bunk bed and the mattresses more secure. This way everyone in your house will sleep better at night. Even if the beds are brand new and your kids are older, adding an extra level of security and stability to the beds is always a good idea.
Check out these products that can easily be installed on your child’s bunk bed.
Even if the bunk beds feel sturdy and secure, furniture anchors are a must-have to ensure the heavy beds never fall over when kids are climbing in the bed. These anchors are easy to install and will give you peace of mind that their beds are always secured to the walls.
To prevent the mattress from sagging on the top and bottom bunk, use a Bunkie Board to help make the bed more secure. This fabric-covered board is a great option for kids because they can’t get their fingers pinched in the slats.
If your bunk beds do not come with a guard rail, or the current rail needs an upgrade, this extra long guard is a great option.
By securing the ladder to the bunk bed, each step will be more sturdy and kids will be less likely to fall when they are climbing up and down. Instead of the ladder leaning on the bed, these hooks add an extra level of safety.
If the bunk bed is near a window, you’ll want to make sure there are no cords or strings that kids could get tangled in, pull on, or worse. Not only will these blinds block out light, but they are a safer option.
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