My boys are almost 3 & 5.

We had bought seperate twin beds, but the beds take up so much room.

I'm not interested in getting a bigger house, to accomodate my growing family, so once again I am toying with the idea of bunk beds.

I never had them growing up. I have heard so much negative info about them, but the boys are just dying to get one.

If you have one, what is your opinion/advice about them?

How long can the kids stay in them?

M'ija had them when she was younger - they came in handy for overnight guests because M'ija's room was small.
They can use them until they outgrow a twin size mattress or outgrow sharing a room.

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Bunk beds are great. I had one growing up - I was on top, Tracey on the lower. There was also a pullout trundle beneath that for sleepovers. We shared a room until our older sister got married, so I was 10 & Tracey was 15.

My best friend has her girls in bunks. They are 15 & 13. That one is a single bed on top, double bed on bottom. I don't care for that as the lower bunk takes up too much floor space.

I don't really know what is negative about them. Put the older one on top & make sure there is a safety bar so they don't roll out of bed.

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I got some for my oldest 2 boys when they were very little. They were the wooden kind that you can separate into 2 twins. We still have them, so they have lastest a long time. The only negative feedback I have is that there was so little space between the beds when they were "bunked" that once they got older they felt like they were going to hit their heads. I bought a twin over full bunk bed at a garage sale that I liked much better. It was clearly meant for older kids and there was more space between the beds. Plus, having a full on the bottom meant that you could put two kids on the bottom and 1 on the top (or the kid on the botton had tons of room).

My 4 year old has them and we put them in his room when he was 3 1/2. I posted a bunch of questions about it here too. We are using the bunk beds that my dh and his brother (2 years apart) used growing up. They are super sturdy. My 9 year old has his own room, but he sleeps over in the top bunk quite often! The boys just love them and I am very happy with them too.

My little one isn't going to be allowed to sleep on the top bunk until he is 6, but he goes up there with his books and toys just about every day. No safety issues at all and he is a major daredevil! His room is small and I needed to be able to put both boys in there when we have company (9 year old has a queen sized bed) and they work great!

[quote=jjmix7;1095047] The only negative feedback I have is that there was so little space between the beds when they were "bunked" that once they got older they felt like they were going to hit their heads. QUOTE]

This is a good point. I can see that this will be an issue when my ds gets older, plus my ds is going to be very tall so I don't think he will be comfy in a twin bed when he gets into double digits. But I figure I have about 5 years before that becomes an issue and it is a good solution for now. I'll probably get him a double bed with a trundle when he outgrows the twin.

We have bunk beds at our house. I think it really depends on the kind as to whether it's safe for a five year old to be up top. My son started sleeping up top last year when he was five, we have the one from IKEA in his room. My older boys have a metal bunk though and I wouldn't want the younger one up there for sleeping.

The thing I've heard about bunks being unsafe is that a smaller child's body can slip through the bars or boards but their head doesn't and a few kids have died that way (almost like hanging, very sad).

We have them for my boys too, we also got it from Ikea, it is working well. It makes room for a desk in their room.

Well, one of my DDs (now an adult) broke her arm when she jumped off the upper bed. She was 4 or 5 at the time. The other downside is that they are hard to make.

My DD has a loft bed that looks like a house.
Tradewins Doll House Loft Bunk Bed

It DOES take up a lot of room but it is so enclosed on the top that (1) I never see her messy bed and (2) it is harder to jump off (harder, not impossible I have learned). And it did free up a lot of room for storage underneath.

If you consider a bunk bed, I highly recommend some kind of canopy cover over the top of the upper bed.
Knight's Castle Loft Bed

A canopy takes up more visual space but deters jumping. Sadly, it also deters adults from going up there and reading or snuggling with their child. Plus it is A LOT harder to carry a sleeping child to bed and put them in an upper bunk, especially with very tall bunk beds. The drawback to all bunk beds and loft beds, in my opinion, is those darn stairs and ladders. If it is a minimal ladder, it is difficult for adults to get up. If it is a stair system, it takes up more room.

Lastly, remember that heat rises. It is always hotter in the upper bunk - good during the winter, not so great during the summer.

Whatever you decide, keep in mind that a bunk bed or loft bed takes up A LOT of visual space. They can quickly overwhelm a room. DD's loft bed barely misses her ceiling fan. Once you narrow your choices down to a few options, use the dimensions to map out exactly where it will go in the room. Will it block windows? Lights? Doors?

Oh, and I'll mention one more thing ... with young kids all sorts of things used to fall behind the bunk bed - which is NOT a piece of furniture that is easily moved so you can vacuum under it. I was forever digging out tiny toys and broken crayons from behind the mattresses. As a matter of fact, with DD's loft bed. It is nearly impossible to extract the mattress so if something falls under it, I practically have to be a contortionist to remove it.

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we love our bunks. during the day when my 2 year nephew is over we take the ladder down so he doesn't climb on the top bunk (his mother bought him superman jammies with a cape so the little turd thinks he can fly!) but other than removing the ladder when we have itty bitties over we have no problems. We did add extra bracing on the sides of the top bunk so no arms or legs (or heads) could slip out and get stuck.