Conserving space with bunk beds

Bunk beds can be a great way to have additional sleeping space while saving floor space, but they need to be utilized with a certain amount of caution. A new study discovered that nearly 36,000 adolescents and children are treated for bunk bed-related injuries every year. From 1990 to 2005 approximately 573,000 children from infants to age 21 experienced injuries serious enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room. Nearly half of the injuries occurred in children under 6, but there also was a surprising jump in accidents among 18 to 21-year-olds, who were more than twice as apt to be hurt as kids ages 14 to 17. Learn more about kids tent bunk beds.

Nearly three-fourths of the kids were hurt by falls, with approximately 30 percent suffering serious cuts, nearly a quarter reporting scrapes and bruises and about 20 percent suffering fractures. More than one in ten experienced concussions. The study showed half of the children suffered injuries to the neck, face or head, and that children younger than 3 years old were roughly 40 percent more likely to suffer head injuries than older kids. About 60 percent of the kids injured were boys (are we shocked?!) Learn more about soft bamboo sheets and queen comforter sets.

There are voluntary safety guidelines for bunk bed manufacturers that have been issued by both the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the American Standards of Testing and Materials. You need to ascertain whether or not the bed you are considering meets these standards.

1) Thoroughly check and test the frame of the bunk bed for sturdiness. The best test is for someone to climb onto the bed and move back and forth, and side to side; the bed should easily support an adult’s weight without making any noise or feeling any movement of the frame. Better yet, make the salesperson climb up on the top bed to prove its strength.

2) Inspect the whole bed from top to bottom to ensure that there are no possibly unsafe parts protruding, that there are no sharp edges, and that the entire construction is smooth. Be certain the bedposts don’t have knobs or finials that could hook clothing and other things.

3) The top bed should always have rails attached on all sides, even if one side is next to a wall. To prevent a kid from slipping between the rails or stuck between the bottom rail and the mattress, no gap should be more than 3

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