Bunk bed furniture can be a very practical and fun way to cater for your children’s sleeping arrangements. You can put two beds, one on top of the other, so that more floor space is cleared in the room for other purposes, including desks and dressers or just more open space for playing or other activities. However, there are some things you should know in order to limit accidents with this type of furniture.

First of all, very small children should not be allowed on the top bunk. Recommendations usually say children should be at least six, but the risk of accidents lowers much more as children get older, with 9 to 12 being a better minimum age for the top bunk if you can wait that long to start using bunk bed furniture for your kids.

Other safety measures include making sure that you choose a sturdy and heavy bunk bed frame. You don’t want to be able to easily move it once it is set up. The railings should be high enough that they will keep a child from rolling out of bed with the mattress that you are planning to use. It is also a good idea to choose the shortest bunk bed that you can reasonably use, since this will give a shorter distance to fall should an accident occur. Some beds meant for small children have the bunk beds in an L shape rather than having one directly over the other, and this allows for them to be lower and for stairs to be used instead of ladders to reach the top bunk.

These days all sorts of different bunk bed furniture designs are available. Younger kids can get bunk beds designed to look link castles or boats, and older kids can get bunk beds that are designed with a full bed either on top or on the bottom, or with a desk or dresser under the top bed. There are options for top beds with a chair underneath that folds out into a twin or single bed for guests as well, which can be convenient if you have an only child that likes to have friends stay over.