Ever since we embarked on the bunk bed journey with our kiddos, my e-mail, blog, and Instagram have been flooded with questions about how we make it work, so today I'm dedicating the whole post to answering all of your questions about bunk beds!
1. Where did you get your bunk beds?
Our kid's sleep setup has me so happy these days! The bunk bed frame is this one and stained with a white wash eco-friendly wood stain. I'm often asked about the stain and sadly I forget which company makes the stain, but just ask your hardware store for a wood stain that is safe for children/animals/the environment and they'll show you the one! I found the pine on the frame too yellow-y but I love the look of wood too, so a white stain is perfect. You can still see the knots from the pine and there's no glossy varnish either, so it's very much a natural feel.
2. Where did you get their mattresses?
We recently changed up the kid's mattresses in partnership with Casper and we couldn't be happier with them! Many of you have asked how the Casper twin sized mattresses are for kids because they're on the softer side. To me, this is 100% a strength of the Casper mattress. The memory foam isn't a bouncy mattress, so your kids can't bounce off or get very high if they're jumping on them, so I'd say they're a safer option for kids! They are also insanely comfortable. Lily and I are the nappers of the family and within the first week she and I had already had a couple of naps on her twin sized mattress, haha! I'm telling you, tucking in the kids and saying bedtime prayers has never been more of a challenge! I just want to join them for the night! For $75 off any size Casper mattress, just use this link.
Until now, our kids had some very old hand-me-down mattresses on their triple bunk and as they're getting older and growing like weeds, we felt it was time for them to have a more supportive bed. They'll have these mattresses for the next 10+ years so I'm glad we chose now to switch them out. They say to replace your mattress every ten years, and ten years from now our older two will already be off to college and Chloe will be 15! What!! Cue tears.
3. Where did you get their bedding?
We've had a few bedding options over the years but the past three years we've been settled on simple white sheets and duvets with a pop of colour in their pillow cases. With three kids, both girls and a boy sharing one small space, I think it's important to keep things simple and neutral. All of the white linens are from IKEA. I know the arguments for allowing your kids to create and design their own beds/spaces/rooms, but I can't help but think it's rather indulgent. My children would probably all love some sort of Disney themed bedding on each of their bunks (even though they've never seen a Disney film, lol) but they're also really happy with their room and have never complained. I picked up several vintage pillow cases from the thrift store one day and told them they could each choose one for their bed. They were thrilled! Oli has orange floral, Chloe has blue and green stripes, and Lily has white with a few multi-coloured flowers. The pop of colour is fun along with their various books, Lego, toys, costumes, and stuffed animals, but the bedding and walls and most of the furniture is white. I like the balance and white bedding makes the room look so tidy when they beds are made (when being the operative term!)
4. Did you always have bunk beds for your kids? How old were your kids when you introduced bunk beds?
We started out with a twin bed with a trundle frame underneath for Lily and Oli, back when Chloe was a baby. When Chloe was ready to leave her crib (18 months or so?), we transitioned to the bunk bed. At first, she was sleeping on the pack and play mattress on the floor and Lily and Oli were on the bottom bunk and floor bunk of the bunk bed, but by the time Chloe was 2.5 (and Oli was 4 and Lily was 5) we had all three on the triple bunk.
5. Who sleeps on which bunk?
This is such a popular question! The answer is - we change all the time! Normally Oli takes the top bunk because he wakes up last, so as the girls are leaving the bedroom he isn't disturbed. We have a little clip on light on his top bunk so when he tiptoes into their room and the girls are fast asleep (he's our night owl), he can just click it on and it's not bright enough to disturb them. The girls alternate between bottom and floor bunks almost nightly, and occasionally Oli ventures down and one of the girls migrates up too. Another reason I love neutral bedding is that they can switch beds any time and still feel like it's theirs.
6. Are you afraid of someone falling off the top bunk/ ladder?
Not now, but we were at the beginning. Before we'd let our kids sleep on the top bunk they had to prove to us that they could climb up and down effortlessly. Oddly enough, our oldest child had the hardest time with this, so she was the last one to sleep on top! I know bunk bed manufacturers have age limits that they're forced to set, but for us we cared more about our children's physical abilities to climb up and down (in the dark, too), and their maturity to follow rules for safety.
7. Is changing the top bunk the bane of your existence?
It's really not that bad! Especially with such a low top bunk - the Mydal bunk bed is very low to the ground compared to some other bunks, so that might be why (plus I'm really tall!) I definitely find bunk beds a pain to change, including the bottom bunk where I'm often hitting my head or back on the top bunk frame, but for us it wasn't enough of a hassle to even come close to changing our mind about having them.
8. How did you choose the bunk bed you now have?
I did a ton of research before deciding on the kid's bunk bed frame. I wanted something simple and streamline - so many bunk beds are hugely bulky and take up way too much space (the very problem we were hoping to solve by going with bunk beds!) Cost was definitely a factor too. I'd rather my kids have amazing mattresses and cheap bed frames and sheets than splurge on the bed frame.
9. Do you have a trundle frame on the bottom bunk?
We actually don't! It's just a mattress on the floor and we pull it out each night and push it in each morning. Because we have wood floors, it slides so easily, but this might be harder with carpet. The bunk bed frame was too small to allow for a trundle frame underneath, but it fits a mattress nicely.
10. Do you have any safety measures for the bunk beds?
We do! We only allow one child at a time on the top bunk, even during the day for playtime. And one child is allowed at a time on the ladder too. I know a lot of kids see a bunk bed as a jungle gym but we've been really strict and consistent with our kids, so for them it's just a place to sleep and build forts on the bottom bunk, of course. And no jumping, which as I said above, isn't really a problem with Casper mattresses.
11. How long do you foresee your kids sleeping in the triple bunk?
Great question! We have no plans to move from our little two bedroom nest in the near future, which means our kids will continue to enjoy the triple bunk for now. Right now they're all about to have birthdays and turn 5, 7, and 8, and they still love sharing a room (and triple bunk!) I think whenever we do move to a three bedroom condo, Oli will eventually have his own room and the girls will be together. I think we'll give Oli the triple bunk and give the girls a queen sized bed to share which will then be the guest room whenever family comes into town, and the kids can relive their glory days of the triple bunk in Oli's room :)
1. Where did you get your bunk beds?
Our kid's sleep setup has me so happy these days! The bunk bed frame is this one and stained with a white wash eco-friendly wood stain. I'm often asked about the stain and sadly I forget which company makes the stain, but just ask your hardware store for a wood stain that is safe for children/animals/the environment and they'll show you the one! I found the pine on the frame too yellow-y but I love the look of wood too, so a white stain is perfect. You can still see the knots from the pine and there's no glossy varnish either, so it's very much a natural feel.
2. Where did you get their mattresses?
We recently changed up the kid's mattresses in partnership with Casper and we couldn't be happier with them! Many of you have asked how the Casper twin sized mattresses are for kids because they're on the softer side. To me, this is 100% a strength of the Casper mattress. The memory foam isn't a bouncy mattress, so your kids can't bounce off or get very high if they're jumping on them, so I'd say they're a safer option for kids! They are also insanely comfortable. Lily and I are the nappers of the family and within the first week she and I had already had a couple of naps on her twin sized mattress, haha! I'm telling you, tucking in the kids and saying bedtime prayers has never been more of a challenge! I just want to join them for the night! For $75 off any size Casper mattress, just use this link.
Until now, our kids had some very old hand-me-down mattresses on their triple bunk and as they're getting older and growing like weeds, we felt it was time for them to have a more supportive bed. They'll have these mattresses for the next 10+ years so I'm glad we chose now to switch them out. They say to replace your mattress every ten years, and ten years from now our older two will already be off to college and Chloe will be 15! What!! Cue tears.
3. Where did you get their bedding?
We've had a few bedding options over the years but the past three years we've been settled on simple white sheets and duvets with a pop of colour in their pillow cases. With three kids, both girls and a boy sharing one small space, I think it's important to keep things simple and neutral. All of the white linens are from IKEA. I know the arguments for allowing your kids to create and design their own beds/spaces/rooms, but I can't help but think it's rather indulgent. My children would probably all love some sort of Disney themed bedding on each of their bunks (even though they've never seen a Disney film, lol) but they're also really happy with their room and have never complained. I picked up several vintage pillow cases from the thrift store one day and told them they could each choose one for their bed. They were thrilled! Oli has orange floral, Chloe has blue and green stripes, and Lily has white with a few multi-coloured flowers. The pop of colour is fun along with their various books, Lego, toys, costumes, and stuffed animals, but the bedding and walls and most of the furniture is white. I like the balance and white bedding makes the room look so tidy when they beds are made (when being the operative term!)
4. Did you always have bunk beds for your kids? How old were your kids when you introduced bunk beds?
We started out with a twin bed with a trundle frame underneath for Lily and Oli, back when Chloe was a baby. When Chloe was ready to leave her crib (18 months or so?), we transitioned to the bunk bed. At first, she was sleeping on the pack and play mattress on the floor and Lily and Oli were on the bottom bunk and floor bunk of the bunk bed, but by the time Chloe was 2.5 (and Oli was 4 and Lily was 5) we had all three on the triple bunk.
5. Who sleeps on which bunk?
This is such a popular question! The answer is - we change all the time! Normally Oli takes the top bunk because he wakes up last, so as the girls are leaving the bedroom he isn't disturbed. We have a little clip on light on his top bunk so when he tiptoes into their room and the girls are fast asleep (he's our night owl), he can just click it on and it's not bright enough to disturb them. The girls alternate between bottom and floor bunks almost nightly, and occasionally Oli ventures down and one of the girls migrates up too. Another reason I love neutral bedding is that they can switch beds any time and still feel like it's theirs.
6. Are you afraid of someone falling off the top bunk/ ladder?
Not now, but we were at the beginning. Before we'd let our kids sleep on the top bunk they had to prove to us that they could climb up and down effortlessly. Oddly enough, our oldest child had the hardest time with this, so she was the last one to sleep on top! I know bunk bed manufacturers have age limits that they're forced to set, but for us we cared more about our children's physical abilities to climb up and down (in the dark, too), and their maturity to follow rules for safety.
7. Is changing the top bunk the bane of your existence?
It's really not that bad! Especially with such a low top bunk - the Mydal bunk bed is very low to the ground compared to some other bunks, so that might be why (plus I'm really tall!) I definitely find bunk beds a pain to change, including the bottom bunk where I'm often hitting my head or back on the top bunk frame, but for us it wasn't enough of a hassle to even come close to changing our mind about having them.
8. How did you choose the bunk bed you now have?
I did a ton of research before deciding on the kid's bunk bed frame. I wanted something simple and streamline - so many bunk beds are hugely bulky and take up way too much space (the very problem we were hoping to solve by going with bunk beds!) Cost was definitely a factor too. I'd rather my kids have amazing mattresses and cheap bed frames and sheets than splurge on the bed frame.
9. Do you have a trundle frame on the bottom bunk?
We actually don't! It's just a mattress on the floor and we pull it out each night and push it in each morning. Because we have wood floors, it slides so easily, but this might be harder with carpet. The bunk bed frame was too small to allow for a trundle frame underneath, but it fits a mattress nicely.
10. Do you have any safety measures for the bunk beds?
We do! We only allow one child at a time on the top bunk, even during the day for playtime. And one child is allowed at a time on the ladder too. I know a lot of kids see a bunk bed as a jungle gym but we've been really strict and consistent with our kids, so for them it's just a place to sleep and build forts on the bottom bunk, of course. And no jumping, which as I said above, isn't really a problem with Casper mattresses.
11. How long do you foresee your kids sleeping in the triple bunk?
Great question! We have no plans to move from our little two bedroom nest in the near future, which means our kids will continue to enjoy the triple bunk for now. Right now they're all about to have birthdays and turn 5, 7, and 8, and they still love sharing a room (and triple bunk!) I think whenever we do move to a three bedroom condo, Oli will eventually have his own room and the girls will be together. I think we'll give Oli the triple bunk and give the girls a queen sized bed to share which will then be the guest room whenever family comes into town, and the kids can relive their glory days of the triple bunk in Oli's room :)
Coming soon will be a post answering all of your shared room questions, so feel free to submit them below in the comments section or to ask me on Instagram and I'll include them in my post!
Thanks again to Casper for sponsoring this post and gifting these mattresses. We truly love them and found the experience of ordering mattresses online a breeze. I don't know about you but I often suffer from paralysis of choice when I'm shopping, and buying our last mattress was absolutely overwhelming. Casper has done endless testing and research to find the most comfortable fit for the widest majority of sleepers, and the result is truly the most comfortable mattress I've ever slept on, trust me! And if you don't love it, you have 100 nights to test drive your mattress before returning it for a full refund. And you can test them in various stores and pop up shops around the country, so there's really no risk, just a much easier experience. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me, or come by our place for a test nap, haha! Also, here again is the link to save $75 on any Casper Mattress - http://www.casper.com/friends/EMMORRICE
Thanks again to Casper for sponsoring this post and gifting these mattresses. We truly love them and found the experience of ordering mattresses online a breeze. I don't know about you but I often suffer from paralysis of choice when I'm shopping, and buying our last mattress was absolutely overwhelming. Casper has done endless testing and research to find the most comfortable fit for the widest majority of sleepers, and the result is truly the most comfortable mattress I've ever slept on, trust me! And if you don't love it, you have 100 nights to test drive your mattress before returning it for a full refund. And you can test them in various stores and pop up shops around the country, so there's really no risk, just a much easier experience. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me, or come by our place for a test nap, haha! Also, here again is the link to save $75 on any Casper Mattress - http://www.casper.com/friends/EMMORRICE
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